Sports:

Spirit of the Game

Spirit of the Game is the most important rule in flying disc sports. It is summarised in this preamble to the rules of play:

"Flying disc sports have traditionally relied upon a spirit of sportsmanship which places the responsibility of fair play on the players themselves. Highly competitive and committed play is encouraged, but never at the expense of the bond of mutual respect between players, adherence to the agreed upon rules of any event, nor the basic enjoyment of play. Protection of these vital elements serves to eliminate adverse conduct from the playing field. The responsibility for the maintenance of this spirit rests on each player's shoulders."

Ultimate and spirit

As Ultimate is a self-refereed sport, maintaining spirit of the game is essential to making the game work. And good spirit makes the game more enjoyable.

At a bare minimum, ultimate players should hold themselves to the same code of conduct as referees would be expected to conform to at their level of play.

The following are considered essential elements of good spirit:

Know the rules
Be truthful about your observations
Be fair-minded to both sides
Be clear in communication
Be respectful and civil to your opponents

Additionally, going out of your way to be friendly to your opponents and to help them enjoy the experience of playing against you will always increase the spirit.

Improving spirit

Here are some ways you can improve spirit of the game in your team:

Read the rules
Write a rules quiz and test your teammates with it.
Realise that there are always two perspectives to every situation, and everyone's judgement is clouded somewhat by the outcomes they desire.
When making calls, encourage your teammates to be loud and clear.
Never swear or use personal attacks.
Adopt a team code of conduct that outlines expected behaviour and penalties.
Discipline any teammate who breaks the spirit.
Introduce yourself to your opponents before the game or on the sideline.
Give your opponents a gift after the game.

Feedback

An important part of maintaining good spirit of the game, is by providing direct feedback. Any feedback should be constructive. There are various ways that feedback can occur:

Collect spirit scores at the end of each game, and award a spirit prize at the end of the competition
Let you opponents know at the end of the game what spirit score you are giving them, and why.
Talk to players on your own team if you think they have problems with their spirit.
Get your captain to talk to the opposing captain if there is a problem with spirit during a game.
If you are an event organiser, reward teams who get good spirit scores with automatic bids next year, and consider banning teams who get consistently poor spirit scores.