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Sportsmanship Through Shared Meals

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Jack Bowen, a past Double-Goal Coach® award winner, is an author, water polo coach and philosophy teacher at Menlo School in California. To see him in action and to hear what his players say about him, see this video, made when he won the PCA Double-Goal Coach award.

To help his athletes understand the importance of respecting opponents and sportsmanship, Bowen regularly hosts dinners with opponents after matches. This allows his athletes to grasp that, even after a hard-fought game, their opponents are still people. Competition can set teams against each other, but afterward, a meal together is a chance to understand that even your opponents can still have all your same hopes and fears. Bringing opponents together in social situations often helps reinforce why and how athletes should Honor the Game.