The Mount Hood Ski Race League participates in the OISRA Racer Sportsmanship Program.  The program’s purpose is to acknowledge good sportsmanship during training, racing, or gathering.  Good sportsmanship entails such things as cheering for, and supporting, teammates, assisting coaches and volunteers with set up/break down of the course, helping teammates with whatever they may need. The goal is to uphold the values of showing support and good etiquette on and off the hill.

This is how the program works: Coaches, race officials and sportsmanship volunteers take note of good sportsmanship acts/behaviors on race days. Those notes, consisting of a racers bib # and/or name as well as the school they ski for and the what the skier did, are kept track of on a link on the team website.  This process is carried out throughout all competitions for the season.  Racers who accumulate a great deal of sportsmanship votes are acknowledged at the end of the season.  The awards are presented within each league, honoring the top group of racers who consistently exhibited great sportsmanship, with special acknowledgement going to the top boy and top girl in the league.

Sportsmanship has been integral in OISRA since its inception. Good sportsmanship is the cornerstone of what makes competitive racing more enjoyable.  While winning may be the most important aspect of ski racing, the team cohesiveness, spirit, fun and lifelong memories come from good sportsmanship.  Sportsmanship lays the foundation of respectful, gracious, and connected personal qualities that build top competitors. When any individual athlete goes above and beyond, it benefits the entire team. With our Sportsmanship Program, we have a way to celebrate it.