By Nate Dougherty

Nate Dougherty is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management. He can be reached at: nd@MomentumMedia.com

For years, Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School in Virginia Beach, Va., had a cheering section many considered the envy of the league. During boys' basketball games, a group of boisterous students would wave a school flag and cheer loudly for the team. They came up with creative chants and even used their Catholic faith to give themselves a name: the Holy Land.

During a contest this winter, with one minute remaining and the game well in hand for Sullivan, the group began to chant something they thought was really clever. Aimed at an opposing school they believed to have a large Jewish population, they cheered, "We love Jesus."

Western Michigan University's men's ice hockey games also garner great fan support. Enthusiasm and a no-holds-barred attitude of the home crowd have given the Broncos one of the best home-ice advantages in college hockey. It's also made Lawson Arena the place for WMU students to be on winter evenings.

But in recent years, foul language and obscene gestures became part of student fans' repertoire, and administrators began to wonder if such behavior was turning away non-student fans, especially those with young children. They've since implemented a program to work closely with spectators and more clearly define arena policy.

Every sports program wants a loud, energetic cheering section. But what types of chants cross the line from creativity into inappropriateness? When should you regulate what your fans say in the stands? And how do you effectively put policies in place? This past year, a number of schools were working on answering those questions.

OUT OF THE HOLY LAND
At Bishop Sullivan, the "We love Jesus" chant did not come out of the blue. Over the past few seasons, Principal Dennis Price says he had begun to see students turning pride in their Catholic faith into insults against opponents. In a game against a Christian school that was not Catholic, students wore shirts with the word "Infidel" printed on the back. Price responded quickly, speaking to the students and explaining that the school would only allow cheers for their own team, not any kind of statement against opponents.

He thought that would do the trick, but the inappropriate chant this season proved otherwise, and Price realized he needed to do more. "The next day I addressed the students and told them, 'If I thought you were really doing it because you love Jesus, I'd say that's fine,'" Price says. "'But you weren't. You were doing it to antagonize an opponent.'"

Price found many students didn't even realize how inappropriate their actions were. Leaders said they were taking cues from the well-researched insults they saw during college contests and others were simply joining in. "In today's world, some adolescents think everything is a joke," Price says. "They wondered why our administration was making such a big fuss over the incident."

In response, the school decided students should learn to see supporters from other schools not as faceless adversaries but as fellow fans. "So I took a group of eight students to the opposing school and we had lunch with some of their students," says Price. "They ate together and talked about how they viewed the incident, and it turned out to be very productive for both sides."

Back at school, Price took the education a step further, instituting a diversity day for upperclassmen. Speakers representing different ethnic and religious groups spoke to students about accepting all cultures, and about the seriousness of mocking other groups.

But perhaps the biggest change will be in the very way his students identify themselves. "Because the cheering section wasn't about the students' pride in their religion but a way to confront opponents, we decided it had to change," Price says. "I said they could still have a cheering section, but it couldn't be called the Holy Land anymore."

Price is asking students who will be seniors next year to lead the way, giving them the power to pick whatever name and identity they wish (while he retains final approval). He hopes doing that will help the students learn to police themselves and take control should inappropriate incidents occur. "If someone starts a chant against our opponent, we need 10 students to turn around and say, 'That's not right,'" says Price. "If that message doesn't come from students, they'll always be trying to see what they can get away with."

AN ONGOING PROCESS
This season, no news has been great news for the University of Maryland. After a men's basketball game in 2004 during which fans chanted swear words at Duke University players and ongoing incidents of rowdy behavior following other big contests, the university beefed up its efforts to address fan conduct. And these efforts are bringing results--to the point that the student newspaper now publishes stories about the lack of rude behavior in the stands.

Like Sullivan, Maryland knew it needed student buy-in. But with a much larger student fan base to deal with, it also needed a multi-pronged plan. To start, it adopted a program called "Act Like You Know," which encourages fans to display behavior that matches its teams' high level of accomplishments. To get rid of offensive T-shirts during basketball games against Duke, the school started an exchange program where students can trade in their inappropriate shirts for official Maryland gear. To replace profane chants, administrators worked with the Student Terrapin Club to come up with clever alternatives. And a sportsmanship committee consisting of the faculty athletics representative, students, and coaches was formed to discuss all these issues and help come up with other ways for student fans to support the school.

One of the ideas generated by the committee was to give students a place to go after big games to eliminate the destructive behavior of past years. "Those high profile incidents were happening after big wins and losses because there were a lot of people coming out of the arena with nothing to do and nowhere to go," says Associate Athletic Director Chris Boyer. "Now the committee plans postgame social events on campus with games, giveaways, and music. This gives fans a structured event with plenty of control."

Another key to student buy-in was getting athletic and campus leaders to spearhead the positive messages. "We had the university president, the athletic director, and head coaches speak to students," Boyer says. "Several of the teams also had student-athletes write letters to the student newspaper encouraging support for the program. To be effective, the message needed to come from the people the students are there to support."

A final element of the plan, says Boyer, is understanding it's an ongoing process. "I think most people at Maryland can look back and say that 2004 was a negative time, and we don't want that reputation ever again," he says. "But the fact that we went through it helped us get better. As the culture changes and new people come in, they're strengthened by our ongoing commitment to change the past."

ALL IN THE LEAGUE
When Nicole Viele took over as Athletic Director at Somerville (Mass.) High School this past fall, she crafted what she thought was a strong policy of sportsmanship for her teams. The school also employed a large event staff to keep an eye on fans during games. What Viele wasn't prepared for, though, was how the students acted once they left the strict control of Somerville home games.

On Feb. 6, during a boys' basketball game at rival Arlington High School, students from both sides engaged in an exchange that began when a group of Somerville students chanted, "Who's your daddy?" Arlington students replied, "We have daddies," and "We have futures." Subsequent chants touched on the racial makeup of each team and Somerville fans made what Viele believes were homophobic comments.

While both Somerville and Arlington administrators afterward condemned the incident, Viele found athletic directors in the Greater Boston League have different ideas of what chants or behaviors are acceptable. She realized there was a need for league-wide discussion and more specific policies on sportsmanship, and has submitted a draft proposal to be reviewed by other principals and athletic directors outlining what is expected of spectators.

The proposal forbids foul language, taunting, and any chants that include racial or sexist comments. It empowers contest management staff to remove spectators who engage in such behaviors. And it also tries to foster a more civil atmosphere, by requiring spectators to stand and remove hats during the national anthem and encouraging them to "appreciate outstanding plays by either team."

"Bringing this issue to the league and having everyone work on the language and the consequences was important," Viele says. "Our incident opened up a can of worms because there are some athletic directors who don't even like playing negative songs during contests and others who think that's part of the game. We needed to come up with a universal code to make sure similar situations don't happen again."

An important part of the proposal would require each home team to provide sufficient game-day security, which would be charged with addressing problems before they escalate. It also encourages teachers and parents in the stands to take an active role when inappropriate chants start to form, whether by confronting students directly or alerting one of the game management personnel.

If an incident occurs, the proposal has a protocol for how administrators should respond, stressing communication between schools to come up with a solution. First, the host athletic director would review the incident by speaking with the administration of the contest in question, the coach of the team involved, and any players or spectators who may have taken part. The athletic director would then report the incident to the league's sportsmanship chair and review it with the opposing athletic director to work on resolving the matter.

Viele suggests Somerville and other schools form ongoing athletic advisory committees made up of student leaders, athletic directors, coaches, and principals. This group would help make any needed updates to its school's sportsmanship code as well as promote positive cheering during games.

"It's important to sit down with our students and ask them what they feel is appropriate and what's not--to get them thinking about these situations," Viele says. "The biggest thing we emphasize is their role as leaders in our community. We ask them, 'Is that the kind of thing you would want your little brother or sister to hear?' That has a bigger impact than, 'Is this what you think is right?'"

SIGNS OF THE TIMES
Norm Antinetti, Commissioner of the Valley Oak League in central California, is all for student buy-in when it comes to sportsmanship, but he's also all for strict and precise rules. Over the past year, he has implemented policies that define exactly what is and is not appropriate at his league's contests.

The league started by assessing the signs displayed during games. Too often fans would use these to put down their opponents, and even seemingly innocuous messages like "Beat the Buffaloes" were beginning to lead to confrontations.

"We now only allow signs that are positive and promote your own team," Antinetti says. "In the past we had people bring signs that said, 'Cage the Dogs,' or 'Declaw the Cats,' and pretty soon we would have other fans coming across the gym to tear them down."

Next, the league targeted public address systems. While the intention is usually to encourage more fan support, Antinetti found that what came over the loudspeakers during games often only created more friction. "We established a code defining what is acceptable for the public address announcers to say during games," Antinetti says. "We didn't want them to yell out, 'It's a threeeeee' when the home team hits a three-pointer but barely make a peep for the visitors. That's not setting a good example of sportsmanship, and it's actually encouraging fans to look down on the opponent."

The league also ruled that music used during warmups would have to come from an approved list, meaning nothing with questionable lyrics would be allowed. Songs used to humiliate opponents, like "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye," were out of the question at any point during the game.

At basketball games, since a majority of the problems came from rowdy fans sitting near the court and harassing opposing players, Antinetti cleared the front two rows and reserved those seats for elderly and disabled fans. "The kids who sat in the front rows were just there to talk to players and try to distract them, especially during warmups," Antinetti says. "Moving them back proved to be a real positive for all fans and went a long way in eliminating friction during games.

"Then we went a step further, telling teams that when they come out of the locker room before a game, they can't run around the perimeter of the court," Antinetti continues. "We found a lot of times they would run right into the layup lines of their opponent, and it would start scuffles that just brought more friction during games."

Though he faced some initial skepticism about the changes, especially from players who didn't agree with the music restrictions, Antinetti says the rules have led to far fewer incidents of fans clashing and using inappropriate chants. By filtering the message through student governments and cheerleading directors, the league was able to build grassroots support and help students understand why the changes needed to take place.

"Our position was to be proactive and solve sportsmanship issues before they became a big problem," Antinetti says. "I'd rather our league be viewed as too restrictive and have no problems than to be looser with our rules and worry about when the next incident is going to happen."

HAVING IT BOTH WAYS
At Western Michigan, the challenge was to retain a boisterous atmosphere and let students have their fun while also maintaining a family-friendly environment. So athletic administrators came up with an ongoing program to speak to fans, using everything from public address announcements to letters signed by players that discouraged offensive behavior.

"We make our student fans aware of the big picture, and that's worked as well as anything," says Assistant Athletic Director Bob D'Amelio. "In past years we've had a party for students at the beginning of the season where the coach gets up and talks about how fans should behave with class, and how to be creative instead of lewd. When the coach in particular is addressing the students, there is a lot of respect for what he's saying."

Another effective tool is the Lawson Lunatics, a student fan group. The Lunatics work with the sports marketing department to discuss issues, come up with cheers, and even police the stands. Games against the team's fiercest rivals draw larger-than-average crowds, and the Lunatics work harder during these games to curb the behavior of fans who aren't as familiar with the school's conduct rules.

To keep new students updated on what the school is emphasizing, there is a get-together at the beginning of the school year called the Bronco Bash. A large number of freshmen show up and the athletic department encourages them to sign up for the fan groups and e-mail lists that update them about the rules of conduct.

While WMU has cracked down on the worst of the offensive language, D'Amelio says it would be nearly impossible to eliminate all negative chants against opposing teams. "We had some give and take with them at first, and it got to the point where the students asked us for a list of words that would be appropriate," he says. "We've thrown out fans who have flipped someone off, and if they make any kind of obscene gesture, they're out of there. But there still are situations where they use creative chants against the other team and we'll allow it.

"For example, a common one is for them to chant 'Sieve' when an opposing goalie lets in a goal," D'Amelio continues. "Or when an opposing player goes into the penalty box, the leader of the Lunatics will yell out to the crowd, 'Everyone, this is Steve,' and the crowd yells back, 'Hi, Steve.' But if I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say 'suck' in the stands, I would be a rich man. Although I personally get very tired of it, it's not a word we view as offensive."

With guidelines clear to all fans, security personnel are armed with a no tolerance policy toward those who violate rules against offensive language or gestures. "For example, if they use the f-word, they're ejected and not allowed back in the arena the rest of the season," D'Amelio says. "They then face the student judicial process and possible further reprimand. For them, knowing how dire the consequences could be makes a big difference."

D'Amelio says all efforts come back to finding the right balance. "Over the years, the challenge we've faced is to create an atmosphere that's attractive for everyone, but it's difficult when you're trying to get families to attend the games, and at the same time keep students enthused," he says. "You need both, but sometimes it can take hard work to get them to co-exist peacefully."