East volleyball coach, player recognized for sportsmanship

Good sportsmanship is a lot like the weather -- everybody talks about it, but nobody does much about it.

Not so with Glenbard East High School girls volleyball coach Marci Maier and her junior co-captain Amanda Peterson.

The two were awarded certificates from the Illinois High School Association for good sportsmanship demonstrated at the Schaumburg Varsity Tournament last fall.

"It's not something that happens everyday and it is nice to see sportsmanship recognized, at least recognized in a positive manner," Maier said. "A lot of times when you read things in the newspaper it's not always a positive side."

The IHSA took steps to remedy that by implementing their Do What's Right! Sportsmanship Program for the 2007-2008 school year. The program is designed to recognize sports programs for entire schools, but individuals can be honored as well.

Maier and Peterson earned SAWA (Sport A Winning Attitude) certificates for their efforts, although both like to think of good sportsmanship as just part of their job.

Peterson can barely recall any single moment or incident in the tournament that stood out as going beyond business as usual.

"I just played how I always play," she said. "And then going up after each match and thanking the officials."

Respecting the integrity and judgment of the game officials, however, is one of nine expectations in the IHSA Do What's Right! Program.

Peterson's approach to the game officials obviously caught the eye of someone, but she learned several years ago to respect what they bring to the game.

"When I was 13, I had a coach for club volleyball, and she had the captains go up after every match and thank the officials for the game," she said.

Maier also believes in treating game officials with respect and courtesy, and puts a premium on self-control as a coach.

"I just think it's all more of a coaching philosophy," she said. "In most sports, when coaches question calls, there are many different ways of doing so. And depending at the point in a certain game, different coaches might have the intensity get the better of them at that particular time. A lot of times I prefer to ask a question instead of screaming or yelling about a call because they're not going to change it anyway."

Maier asks no more of her players than she demands of herself, and tries to model self-control during the matches. Peterson approaches the game the same way, so Maier is not surprised her junior co-captain received a SAWA certificate.

"Amanda is one of our captains, and she obviously represents us very well," Maier said. "For the most part we have a standing rule that we treat officials with respect."

Peterson, a six-foot setter/hitter, has always strived to do her best and plans to play volleyball at Ohio University. Yet she believes the pressure to succeed can sometimes get the best of players and coaches -- and even fans.

"I think that it's kind of that people put so much pressure on winning," she said. "They feel pressured to do whatever it takes. Sometimes that comes out in a negative way."

Seldom did that pressure come out in a negative way for the Glenbard East volleyball squad, according to Peterson.

Perhaps the eight seniors on the team brought a higher level of maturity to the team. Or perhaps the team's unselfish approach to volleyball, another of the nine expectations in the Do What's Right! Program, was a winning formula.

"We worked well as a team this year," Peterson said. "It wasn't the individual talent that won most of our games. It was that we were able to cooperate and communicate a lot. We all pulled together."

What about next season, when the seniors are gone?

"Pretty much everybody was a leader on our team," Peterson said. "So I'm not too worried about next year, but we're definitely going to miss the seniors."

As a high school coach, Maier has to juggle that age-old question -- which is more important, winning or good sportsmanship?

"Obviously good sportsmanship is," Maier said. "That's probably part of the reason that we received the award, because it is kind of a program philosophy. Winning isn't everything, and we try to back that up as much as humanly possible.

"Definitely, we're out there to win, but it's kind of the icing on the cake. The cake is being out there. If you win, that's the icing on the cake, but the cake still tastes good regardless."