The perfect opportunity to be gracious.
We love our sport in the summer. As I type the world cup and also the cricket is all happening.
And yes it’s nice to watch your team win. Yippee! But it’s also interesting to listen to the speeches afterwards. To see how the person/team who lost responds to their trouncing. And right at that moment is a perfect opportunity for a spirit of graciousness.
How refreshing would it be if the loser paid glowing tribute to the victor? And what if we rewarded them for this humility with post-match points for the next time they played?
I wonder if that would change the way we do sport, the way we play sport, what we say, how we say it and the spirit in which we play sport.
Just as interesting is the winner's speech. Who do they pay tribute to and in what tone?
One of the things that made Ash Barty such a fantastic tennis player was not only her competent action with the racquet but what she said afterwards. I reckon she would have gotten top points for her graciousness with a speech like this.
“First and foremost I have to say congratulations to Danielle (the opposition) and your team. It has been an amazing fortnight for you and you are in the top 10 and that is absolutely where you belong. Congratulations and I know that you will be fighting for more of these in the future.
And to all of the umpires, ball kids, everyone who makes this so easy for us to come and enjoy it and do what we do and love what we do and we love to come here and compete... you guys make it seamless and without you, we would be lost.”