By Mike Phelps
In our August/September 2010 issue we reported on an incident at a boys' lacrosse game between two Rochester, N.Y., area high schools last spring and the response from administrators. Here, we follow up with Brighton Central Schools Superintendent Kevin McGowan to see what progress has been made on a new policy to prevent future incidents.
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Following the initial incident, which involved two players from East Rochester High School making anti-Semitic remarks to players from Brighton High School, McGowan formed a committee through the Monroe County Athletic League (MCAL), comprising athletic directors, superintendents, principals, an officials' representative, and two community members.
The players who made the comments apologized and were punished, but McGowan found that similar incidents had happened for years and weren't brought to light because an official never heard them on the field, which is necessary for action to be taken under New York State Public High School Athletic Association rules. So he created the committee to delve further into the issue. Some ideas the group began discussing were increasing punishments for hate language, changing the rule that requires an official to hear the remarks for action to be taken, and providing education that teaches all involved about the effects of such language.
The committee spent the summer meeting and working on solutions and thus far McGowan is encouraged by what he has seen. "I would say it is better than what I would have anticipated," he says. "This group of people really understands this topic, is smart about it, and wants to make a difference. They've taken it in a great direction that I think will have positive results.
"The committee has worked hard to rework the taunting definition to include wording about hate speech," McGowan continues. "They are also working on a sportsmanship presentation for preseason meetings. And they're talking about increasing penalties and designing a protocol for how to handle them, especially if an official does not hear or see the incident. Essentially, the goal is to strengthen the consequence for these types of actions."
While exact details have not yet been hammered out, the committee has presented some preliminary findings to area athletic directors in league meetings and will be providing an update to the Section V executive committee later this month. They will also be looking for feedback from the league at a mid-November meeting.
Mike Phelps is an Assistant Editor at Athletic Management.