We believe there’s something more important than just winning or losing a tournament. We believe that the team, school, and fans who support their athletes with dignity and class are the true champions. That’s why we’ve proudly sponsored the WIAA/Rural Mutual Insurance Sportsmanship Award for more than 50 years.
We would like to congratulate the Plymouth Baseball team on being this year’s recipient of the Summer Baseball Sportsmanship award. This is the first time Plymouth has been selected for the Sportsmanship Award.
When talking with Head Coach, Francis “Butch” Cain we asked him what this award meant to him as a coach, the team and community along with how they teach their athletes about sportsmanship:
Sportsmanship matters and we are very proud of all our student athletes! Winning this award means that others have recognized that our team values the importance of being good sports win, lose or draw. It means our student athletes are doing a great job of doing what is right while representing our program, school and community. It is a non-negotiable expectation in our program and we are very proud of every one of our team members for holding themselves and their teammates accountable.
As a team this award should make our guys proud of how they have gone about their business day in and day out again this season. They respected the game, their teammates, the opposition, umpires, families and fans with class.
Our community expects our teams to play hard. They also appreciate when our teams hustle and leave everything we have on the diamond, court or field and that we play within the rules of the game. Also, when it’s over that we are going to shake hands and acknowledge our opponents’ efforts even if we didn’t end up on top in the contest. Our community played a big part in this award and should be congratulated for their support and efforts to help us achieve this award.
We discuss the importance of being a champion no matter what the score is on the board or in life. We will all be on the losing end at some point or in an event in our lives and we don’t appreciate people talking down to us, so we can’t be doing it to others. We talk about pride, acting like you have accomplished great things before, putting yourself in their position, not rubbing it in etc. etc. We talk about being winners in how you handle defeat, understand it happens. Don’t accept it but learn from it and move on.
Sportsmanship is one of the main qualities of being a true champion and having good character in life. If we don’t make excuses, point fingers or put blame on others we will be more likely to find happiness, health and success in life.
Coach Cain has been the Plymouth Baseball coach for 21 years. His favorite part of coaching is seeing his athletes grow as individuals, teammates, players and representatives of their program, their families and community over the years. He wants them all to know that he would be there for them at any time, that they are always welcome to stop in, call or email. “Once in the family always in the family!”
Congratulations on a great season and a great achievement for the Plymouth community.
Rural Mutual Insurance has been a sponsor of the WIAA Sportsmanship Award since it was started in 1965. The Sportsmanship Award recognizes the entire community for their conduct and appreciation for good sportsmanship – not just the athletes and coaches – but their fans and community and how they present themselves at state tournament events.
