A football-crazy kid I know recently suffered an injury while playing. I was told that he started crying, which is natural, but not because of the pain (well maybe a little). It seems that some of the others he was playing with laughed at the manner he got injured and that humiliation is what brought tears to the kid’s eyes.

Fortunately, the injury wasn’t too bad and he’s on his way to a recovery. But, then again, is that all there is to it? I know this kid, he’s sensitive. I was too at his age. I still am. Being laughed at when you’re in pain, when you are cursing yourself for a foul-up, when you get taunts instead of support, that’s something that doesn’t go away. And it is at these times I wonder what the so-called sportsperson spirit is all about.

[I should point out that my experience, limited to begin with, is about boys and men playing sports. I do not know what the experience is of women and other lesser represented groups. I would like to imagine there is more support in those locker rooms.]

One hears and would like to believe that playing sports spontaneously brings about the experience of team-work and this sportsperson’s spirit. But I’ve seen enough games, professional and amateur, which prove otherwise. And how could it be different is this is how players behave at a young age?

Honourable behaviour is something to be taught, to be adopted, and one has to actively make the choice to practice. Just playing a few games of football or cricket doesn’t bring it out on its own.

If you think about it, why should a team sport be any different from working in an office. After all, when at work we are also part of the same team, and yet office machinations are terrible and sinister and nobody really emerges unscathed. Being on the same team doesn’t mean you behave honourably. Even members of the same family sometimes behave badly with each other.

Players have to actively pursue the sportsperson’s spirit and follow its code. They need to make it a part of their training and their gameplay. Everyone doesn’t need to be a Ted Lasso, but they can just be compassionate and respectful.

To be honourable is a choice.

And, let’s not let the fans off the hook. They need to support their teams in a genuine sense. Sports aren’t gladiatorial bloodbaths for your pleasure. Spectators should perhaps create some kind of Spectator’s Spirit code as well. Behave respectfully, don’t hurl abuses from the stands, don’t turn games into wars or identity games, be happy for the time you’ve spent in the company of others, watching athletes perform to the best of the abilities.

I’ve noticed that a certain category of sports seem to engender sporting behaviour all around, both from the players and the audience – single-player sports which are not nation-based. In other words – sports where the players play alone (or in doubles) and represent themselves and not their country.

Take Wimbledon, Formula 1 racing, or PGA Golf, or Chess, or Marathon running. These players are out there on the playing field alone and the only other person there who comes close to understanding the magnitude of the situation is their opponent. And the audience tends to cheer for both sides, even if unequally, because no harsh lines are drawn between sides. There’s true spirit here, a true appreciation for what the player’s are going through while the spectator’s watch.

Can’t all sports be like that? Or is there something about team sports that will always bring out the worst in all of us? Alas.