By Abigail Funk

Fan behavior at high school basketball games is a continuing concern for athletic administrators, with negative incidents making headlines across the country. Here, we take a look at how athletic programs are handling the issue.

Basketball players are much more apt to hear a fan’s belittling comment than a football or soccer player would be. Because basketball is played indoors, sound stays close by and isn’t carried away with the wind like it is at an outdoor contest. Fans are also much closer to basketball athletes, especially when sitting in a front-row bleacher seat.

Just ask one of the nine Palatka (Fla.) High School boys’ players facing disciplinary action after engaging in a physical altercation with opposing fans and players during a game last week. Palatka officials have taken a hard-line stance, barring all fans from home contests for the rest of the season (although the incident was during a boys’ game, girls’ games are also affected by the ban). An upcoming host team also requested a list of fans identified as having been involved in the skirmish, and is banning them from attending the contest.

“We’re trying to deal with this in a way to show this is not acceptable behavior and we’re not going to tolerate it from our athletes and certainly don’t want to see it from our fans,” PHS Athletic Director Wilson Edwards told the Palatka Daily News.

At Cumberland Valley High School in Mechanicsburg, Penn., students were recently presented with new fan guidelines in a Sportsmanship Statement and Expectations for Behavior handout. The new rules and regulations prohibit jeering, standing for the entire game, and painted chests. The handout will also be read aloud before each contest.

The decision to implement the rules, however, has been met with much criticism by the community, including vocal disdain from a local radio sportscaster, parents, and the student body.

“I think the large response against this is interesting because a large majority of people have complained about our students behavior and what they’re chanting,” Principal Mark Blanchard told The Sentinel. “You just can’t win in the court of common opinion. In our minds, we want to restore a sense of decorum, and show our students this is what you should act like in public.”

Middlebury (Vt.) Union High School is facing similar criticism for too-harsh rules against fan cheering and displays of bad sportsmanship. Some say that fans have chosen to not attend games because of the cheering squash. From The Addison Independent:

“We realize that there are legitimate concerns about crowd control at any sporting event and do not wish to limit the administration’s ability to deal with these concerns,” resident Linda Pitkin told the school board. “And we certainly do not want the players, coaches, or officials to be taunted or disrespected.

“However, the current extreme policies have driven away students who feel they won’t have any fun at the games and (the policies) are now even causing some of the loyal fans to rebel,” she continued. “We cannot believe that this is the intention of the administration. When there are less than two-dozen students who show up for a big game and the visiting team has a larger cheering section than the home team, something is clearly amiss.”

To read approaches on how to develop and put in place clear guidelines for fan behavior, check out the article Rules For Rowdiness, which appeared in the June/July 2007 issue of Athletic Management.

Abigail Funk is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management.

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