It’s not if you win or lose, it’s how you play. And how you play determines whether you’re great or not.

If you browse the web for a story on sportsmanship, you will be bombarded with acts of good, the kind of articles that fill you with pride for your fellow beings. So often at competitive events, it can feel as though the stadium is split in half, that it’s one side versus the other. But during moments of truly good sportsmanship, the stadium is instead full of people who are together, enjoying the sport.

In October at the State Cross Country Championship, Blake Lewis, approximately 200 meters from the finish line broke his tibia and fell to the ground. His teammate, a Riverton senior Sean Rausch, first asked if Lewis wanted to finish the race, and then proceeded to carry him piggyback to the finish line. Of course, this disqualified them. As a senior, this was Rausch’s last time at a Riverton State Championship, yet he still picked up his teammate. In an interview with Deseret News, Rausch described that he had seen such acts before, and had been inspired by them. This event made it all the way to the New York Daily News. Sports are fun, but acts of true sportsmanship are defining. They show who the truly great people are. The people you want to be like. The people that inspire you.

It’s clear that the idea of sportsmanship and the environment it creates is something that’s important to Bingham High School. At a recent Principal’s Round Table – meetings held between SBOs, club leaders, and the principal periodically throughout the school year – the topic of sportsmanship was brought up. Assistant principal Ms. Jacobson went over how we deal with bad situations, and how to turn even a poor hand dealt with you into a good one. According to the Utah High School Activities Association, we should try to learn “…acceptance of victory and defeat in a graceful manner.” Good sportsmanship should buoy up others, it’s good sportsmanship that makes people great.

But it’s easier to say you want to have good sportsmanship than to actually have it. Admitting defeat with grace? Not so easy. Containing your glee at a win and instead of complementing the loser? Pretty hard. So it’s time Bingham took a good look at itself and asked whether or not we’re living up to our own standards. It’s no secret we have some amazing sports teams, but we can never be truly great until we also have mastered good sportsmanship. So, how’s our sportsmanship doing, Bingham? We know we’re good, but are we great yet?