When an opposing player bangs his stick on the ice or against the boards, I tell my team we'll never do that. There won't be any temper tantrums. We've had teams not line up after a game to shake our hands. They'll skate directly to the locker room while we're waiting at center ice. I tell the kids we'll never do something like that.
Sportsmanship is very important.
Deborah Czupek, a clinical psychologist at Hope Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn, believes a coach has the potential to be a positive influence in the development of a child. But it's important that a coach does not focus on just the outcome of a game. Winning and losing is part of athletics, but it's more than just who won the game. It's important for a coach to focus on the positives, even if his or her team lost, and tell the children what they did right. Individual effort is more important than the outcome.