ROSENDALE — High school sports are about more than just winning. They are about building character in juvenile men and women.
Nothing exemplifies good character better than sportsmanship. This week on Youth Sports: Beyond the Score, NBC 26 sat down with the Laconia Spartans softball club, a team honored for their behavior on and off the field.
“Playing softball is amazing,” Spartans coach Scott Ritzema said. “But it’s life that matters, and I always want to tell my team and my kids, ‘Hey, this is temporary, but what you take with you into the future is going to make a difference.’”
Following the mid-season 2024 defeat, Ritzema exchanged a few words with his team.
“I said, ‘You’re better, we have more potential, we have more skills,’” Ritzema told the team.
They then reeled off 9 straight wins to get to state. As the fourth-seeded team in the Division 3 state tournament, they defeated No. 1 seed Mishicot to get to the title game.
“We came from behind twice and won the game. That has to be one of my biggest wins as a coach,” Ritzema said, which is quite an accomplishment considering he has won multiple state titles.
“Just winning and getting to the state finals was a great feeling,” said Gwen Westphal, now a senior at Laconia.
They lost in the final to Prescott, but after talking to several leaders, the team knows that winning isn’t everything.
“Sportsmanship builds the game,” Westphal said. “I mean, the game actually does that, wins and loses, but I don’t think it’s about winning and losing. I think it’s more about playing, having fun and respecting each other along the way.”
Ritzema claims to instill humility in the girls. They are no better than anyone else.
“Being a good sportsman and being able to respect your opponents and the referees is very important and builds character for the future,” he said.
The sportsmanship and respect caught the attention of even opponents.
“I’ve heard from people I play with on our conference travel team that every time they play us, other parents say, ‘That’s the best team we’ve played this year,’ and that’s really nice to hear,” said senior liaison Emma Bohn.
And not only did their opponents take notice, but the WIAA did, too. They were named one of the Sportsmanship Award winners for the 2024 spring state tournaments.
“It shows how much we care about each other and how much we care about the other teams, it’s not always about winning and losing,” said senior Cambree Johnson, who plays second base. “It shows your true colors when you’re playing against teams that you don’t really like, or even if you do like them, it shows who you are,” Johnson added.
It wasn’t just the team that won. It was a team effort from everyone involved in and around the program.
“It means a lot to us and I couldn’t be more proud of our kids to be an example of that, our fans, this community, I have a great coaching staff, it’s a team effort, from the parents in the stands to the girls on the bench and everyone in between.”
This is the third time the Spartans have received the award – in 2002, the basketball players also received the award, and in 2017 – the baseball players.
