Description:
Many years ago my sports idol, Willie Stargell of the Pittsburgh Pirates, started issuing a Star to fellow players for "making a difference in the game". Most frequently the star was issued to a player for making a key play in the game.

When I began coaching a teenage softball team, I was distressed over the excessive amount of competition to the point of cheating and occasional intent to injure an opposing star player. I quickly realized that lecturing or benching players was not getting my point across. All it was doing was causing a greater rift between myself and certain team members.

I thought back to Willie and his “stars”. Before the next game, I purchase a handful of lapel pins in the shape of a star. During the game, I intently watched for small gestures of sportsmanship. On one play, the young lady playing first base collided with the base runner sending runner sprawling. The deed I was waiting for happened. My player offered her hand to the opponent. After the inning, I and my female coach approached the young lady (being a male I wouldn’t venture in to physical contact with female players, just to be safe). With her permission, my coach placed the pin on the players jersey, no explanation. The other players were all asking, “What is that for?” or “What did she do?”. My assistant and I just smiled at each other and ignored the questions. Later in the game, another action caused another star to be issued. This time the players caught on to what was happening. Within the next two games, every player on the team had gone out of her way to show sportsmanship to fellow players and opponents. In a story book ending the team would have been transformed into a fun-filled powerhouse charging on to the championship. That is not exactly how the season ended, but I can say we had more fun and became the envy of many other teams.

Appropriate age group(s):
Preschool and Younger
Elementary School
Middle School
High School & Beyond