Posted: 03/28/07

New regulations on "booing" at high schools
High schools want better sportsmanship

Alex McIntire | contributing writer
amcintire@smcvt.edu

Recently, there has been a rising concern about“booing” at high school sports games and competitions in the state of Washington. An ABC News article, printed on March 4 addressed the “booing ban” for all high school sports in the state due to the idea that crowds are becoming increasingly violent and rowdy.

This issue has raised questions in many other states over whether or not fans should be allowed to boo, what should be done to promote good sportsmanship, and if crowds are really becoming detrimental to high school competition.

Is it a real ban?

The idea of a “boo ban” is really almost a non-issue, according to Mike Colbrese, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, which has spearheaded the new development. While booing has always been existent in high school sports, there is not really a set of rules to govern booing, he says.

Calm fans watch the St. Michael's men's lacrosse game. (Alex McIntire, photo)

According to Colbrese, the topic came up during the 2006-2007 basketball season. The state of Washington has three different levels of play throughout the season, league play (the regular season), district play (qualifying for the state tournament), and finally state tournament play.

“The guidelines (for the three levels) are in a lot of times different from each other,” Colbrese says. “What we did was come up with a list of what we thought was unacceptable behavior and what would not be tolerated. These were just guidelines, not rules or regulations. This issue blew up because of headlines in the media. We’re not putting a ban on booing.”

Recently, the state of Washington has not had to deal with any particular instances that may have lead to this new structure of handling poor sportsmanship, Colbrese says. The issue has been when fans get personal whether it’s directed at an official or an individual player. Also, organized cheers aimed at particular players have been a problem as well, he says.

“The problem has always been student bodies always trying to one up each other from the seats and the in-your-face kind of things that go on that sometimes escalate to wanting to take things outside,” Colbrese says. “High school sports playing fields are an extension of the classroom, and they should be used as a teaching device as any classroom would.”

Bringing good sportsmanship

According to John Kunkle, a junior at St. Michael’s College, booing is unavoidable at any game.

“I don’t think you can or should put a ban on booing,” Kunkle says. “It’s part of the game. I understand they want to get rid of swearing and stuff like that but you can’t ban booing.”

Like Kunkle, several people who were interviewed by ABC News for the March 4 story on banning booing agreed that there should be no ban, and that fans shouldn’t be told what they can or can’t say at a game. Unlike the Washington fans, Kunkle is able to find perhaps the lone positive aspect of jeering from fans.

“In my experience, as a player, I love it,” Kunkle says. “When you’re in the middle of a game and fans start getting on you, booing or heckling, it gets me all pumped up to play and beat them.”

This December, however, at a Vermont high school boys basketball game between South Burlington and Burlington, fans bagan resorting to hurtful chants. According to a Burlington Free Press article, South Burlington unleashed with chants of “welfare” and “food stamps,” toward the Burlington fans. Though the chants were quickly stopped, the incident created a stir in the two communities, according to the article.

Other schools in Vermont have set up guidelines to prevent such instances from occurring in their schools. Keith Lyman, who is the Leland and Gray Union High School athletic director, says that like all other schools in Vermont, there is no official ban on booing.

The Marlboro Valley League that Leland and Gray is part of has set up a spectator code of conduct that states, “Under no circumstance will harassment of opponents or officials will be tolerated. Booing, disrespectful remarks, or cheers will be avoided.”

“These are our only expectations,” Lyman says. “If there is a problem, the athletic directors try to address any booing that goes on in the crowd. We’re a small state, a small school.”

Maturing fans?

While most of the talks of a “boo ban” revolve around high school sports, the issue of booing and sportsmanship is just as prevalent at the collegiate level. Geri Knortz, St. Michael’s College athletic director, sees booing as a negative behavior but has trouble seeing the practicality of banning all booing. According to Knortz, what is important is staying at a respectful medium.

“I don’t know that I could speak in terms of a ban per se,” Knortz says. “But anything that is considered disrespectful towards officials or to other team members I would certainly oppose.”

Officials would encourage good sportsmanship. Posters hang in a St. Michael's college townhouse window supporting the men's rugby team. (Echo archive)

According to Knortz, St. Michael’s has had little trouble in the past dealing with unruly fans and has not had any instances of violent behavior out of fans. The only incident that involved an ejection of a fan came last year when a student inadvertently threw a headband on the court after a controversial call.

“We had an outstanding record
even in this first year, and the fall season is the only one that is completed,” Knortz says. “We had one team win the sportsmanship award in the NE-10 and two other teams finish in the top three for their sports.”

Knortz says that there really is no rule or policies for fans, but only a set of guidelines that the school strongly encourages fans and players to follow.

“Basically our guidelines are all about respect,” Knortz says. “We want our fans and our student athletes to respect the other team members, themselves, the rules of the game, the other team members, and the officials.”