If you are a parent, you would have at least one child who participates in sports – and if you are anything like your child, there is a good chance you are hoping their team wins every game! But even though sports are fun and are important for your child’s development, and though it is great to win games, it is important that you also teach your child the value of being a good sport – which means having a good attitude even when they lose!
Be a model: The first thing you need to realize is that much of your child’s behavior will be “caught” rather than “taught,” and this means that the way you react to adverse circumstances or to setbacks will greatly influence the way your child reacts to the same sorts of situations!
Explain: Rather than just telling your child that they should have a good attitude even when they lose, explain to them that competing and winning are both important and wanting to win is a good thing! However, you would need to explain also that keeping a good attitude regardless of what happens is the most important thing of all!
Learn: You can use nearly everything in life as a learning opportunity, but a loss in sports is practically tailor-made for learning; rather than simply being upset that their team lost, your child should learn to use the loss as an opportunity to learn what they can do differently next time.