11/20/2025
The Erosion of Sportsmanship: Reclaiming the Soul of Our Hobbies!
I want to address a topic that cuts to the very heart of most competitive hobbies: the erosion of sportsmanship.
Not the occasional lapse. Not in the heat of the moment. I am talking about a cultural shift, slow, steady, and corrosive.
We see it at shows, we feel it online, and we hear it whispered in marshalling areas. And it is time we confront it head-on.
Somewhere along the way, the priority changed. For too many, the objective is no longer to exhibit an excellent animal, accept a judge’s decision with grace, and strive to do better next time. Instead, we see: People who believe they are entitled to win. Exhibitors who treat every loss as a personal attack. Individuals who cannot celebrate another’s success without bitterness.
A mindset that says, “If I didn’t win, someone cheated.”
This is not competition.
This is ego masquerading as passion.
And ego is the toxin that destroys good sportsmanship. What used to be quiet internal frustration has become open commentary, loud, sharp, and meant to wound.
We all know the lines:
“She shouldn’t have won.”
“That judge is clueless.”
“That animal didn’t deserve it.”
“They only win because of who they know.”
“They are part of the boys club.”
These aren’t comments:
They’re excuses dressed up as opinions.
And the worst part? They teach newcomers that disrespect is normal.
Sportsmanship isn’t just about your behavior, it’s about the example you set. Today, complaints that once died in the parking lot now live forever on Facebook.
Losses turn into accusations.
Disappointments turn into conspiracies.
Jealousy turns into public humiliation.
Screenshots travel further than truth. And suddenly, a single bad day becomes a permanent stain.
Social media didn’t create poor sportsmanship. But it amplified it, rewarded it, and normalized it.
Let’s be clear:
A judge’s job is not to validate your opinion of your own animal. A judge evaluates what is on exhibit on that day, at that moment.
Not what your animal looked like last month.
Not what you think it should have looked like. Not what your friends told you all week.
Yet today, judges face more disrespect, more public criticism, and more pressure than ever before. If we continue down this road, we won’t have judges left to criticize.
Good sportsmanship doesn’t mean pretending you’re happy. It doesn’t mean swallowing your disappointment. It means handling that disappointment responsibly.
It means:
Accepting the loss without assigning blame.
Congratulating the winner, genuinely or silently, but respectfully.
Reflecting on what you can improve, not who you can attack.
Remembering that this is a sport, not a battlefield.
Sportsmanship is the discipline of replacing ego with humility. This erosion of sportsmanship has a cost: We are losing new exhibitors. No one wants to step into a hobby where they are judged more harshly than their animals. No one wants to learn in an environment filled with negativity. No one wants to invest their heart, time, and money into a community that punishes enthusiasm.
If we want a future, we must build a culture worthy of one.
Sportsmanship is not optional. It is not outdated. It is not “soft.” It is the foundation on which our fancy stands. And it is time to bring it back, not quietly, not passively, but deliberately.
We reclaim sportsmanship by:
Correcting behavior when it crosses the line.
Supporting judges, not tearing them down.
Refusing to participate in gossip and negativity. Celebrating others openly and sincerely. Teaching newcomers by example.
Holding ourselves accountable before we demand accountability from others.
This is how we rebuild the culture we once had, and desperately need again.
Every show day, we choose who we are:
Do we rise above the noise, or contribute to it?
Do we respect the process, or weaponize it?
Do we uplift the fancy, or erode it one comment at a time?
Sportsmanship is not about perfection. It is about discipline, maturity, and integrity. And integrity is the one thing that, once lost, takes generations to restore.
The erosion of sportsmanship is real. But so is the solution. It is us:
Our words.
Our actions.
Our standards.
Our leadership.
Let us be the generation that reversed the decay, not the one that caused it. Let us choose dignity over drama, respect over resentment, and integrity over ego. And let us restore the sportsmanship that is worthy of the animals we claim to honor.
📸: A pic from the vault. Winning the first ever National Rabbit Show with UK Judge Derek Medlock.
