Greater Spokane League sportsmanship summit brings together athletes, leadership from diverse network of schools

The high school sports season is right around the corner, with fall practices starting Wednesday. In preparation for another season, Greater Spokane League officials brought together athletes, leadership and administrators from the 17 league member schools for a “Sportsmanship Summit” at Mt. Spokane High School on Monday.

The goal of the summit was simple enough: How can the league instill an optimistic spirit of sportsmanship that will infuse each school with a practical and purposeful goal for the year ahead?

“Thousands of student-athletes are engaged in dozens of sports and activities throughout the fall, winter and spring with hundreds of coaches and teams that make up the schools in the league,” GSL director Paul Kautzman said. “We just wanted to ask the ones who will be participating ‘How do we get better at what we do?’ ”

Athletic competition, by its nature, can be confrontational. But the league wants to reinforce the idea that all involved – athletes, coaches, official and fans (student and adult) – can find a way to make the moment be a memorably positive one for all, based upon winning or losing with class and mutual respect.

“There is always something to be learned from the experience and good can come of any outcome,” Kautzman said.

Many of the presentations over the five-hour summit were participation-based in breakout groups, allowing the students a direct opportunity to discuss the ideas of leadership and sportsmanship in a collegial atmosphere – and a chance to get to know some of their peers from other schools in the process.

“They’re getting the chance to share their own experiences, which are all true and valid, while learning from the perspectives of people who live across town or in a smaller community, ” Mt. Spokane principal and GSL vice president Chelsea Gallagher said.

“I think it’s important because we have to recognize that we operate within a system larger than ourselves,” Ridgeline ASB president Cooper Shadd said. “We always think that ‘larger than ourselves’ means me and our classmates, but it’s also our school and the district, the district and the state – and I think that’s important to think about.”

The league doesn’t just comprise Spokane schools anymore. It encompasses 4A, 3A and 2A schools in urban and rural neighborhoods and runs from newest member Deer Park in the north to Cheney in the west and Clarkston in the south. The summit brought athletes and leaders from vastly diverse demographics for a common goal.

“I think it’s important because it’s bringing our whole community together,” Gallagher said. “Sometimes it’s really easy to get focused on our school spirit and our sportsmanship and who we are as leaders just in our individual schools. But when we all get to be together, we get to build camaraderie and really focus on what we’re all doing well, but also notice some small tweaks we can do together to get better.

“They are getting to see each other as leaders from different places and have those conversations about what sportsmanship could look like.”

Very little of the day’s information was delivered by an adult issuing directives of “can or can not.”

“This is all about them,” Gallagher said. “Everything that we do in our schools comes back to what’s good for the kids. If we can do something with them and they’re telling us ‘Well, this is what sportsmanship looks like,’ rather than us trying to dictate it, they’re gonna buy in. This is what they’re excited about – going to games, going to competitions and cheering each other on.”

Shadd added: “Good sportsmanship and engagement has to be authentic. Kids don’t always want to listen to adults if they don’t have to, so if they see everyone around them doing the right thing, they’re more likely to be responsive in a positive way.”