NEWS BLOG (WSAU) The WIAA, the group that oversees high school sports in Wisconsin, proudly carries the banner of good sportsmanship. I stand with them.
A high school athlete is in an entirely different category than a professional or a college athlete. And because of that, what is and isn't acceptable for crowd behavior is different. Most high school athletes are just kids who like playing sports. They’re not millionaire-celebrities. They’re not getting free rides to prestigious colleges with the hopes of launching themselves into a pro career. Those who watch high school sports should realize for the vast majority of athletes, when their high school careers are over the only playing they'll be doing is in the YMCA rec league or their driveway. And some of the kids we're watching are as young as 15. I want those kids to have the most positive athletic experience as possible.
The WIAA has been roundly criticized for an email sent to high schools around the state asking that taunting cheers from student sections be stopped. I agree.
But…
As a practical matter, there's very little that can be done. Should a team be penalized because their fans are taunting? Should the game be stopped or suspended? Should students be disciplined for cheers that administrators deem inappropriate? Will be we playing in front of empty bleachers? And there may be some people within the WIAA who want to go down that road. That's overreach. Playing in front of a crowd is also part of the experience for high school athletes. And I don't know of a good way to separate the positive experience of having athletes playing in front of a crowd and the possibility that some cheering might be negative. It is not easy to create a great game-day experience without negativity. Sports creates an emotion response in those who watch. If people didn't care that their team wins, they wouldn't go. There’s nothing wrong with the spontaneous cheering, or booing, that comes after a controversial call or a close play. Just like with the athletes themselves, a spontaneous show of emotion is expected. But taunting cheers are different. It’s an area where people need to do the right thing… just because. It's probably a fool's errand.
But picture this: His team is trailing by one point in the state finals. The senior captain takes the final shot that will lead to a championship or a defeat. It's the moment that every athlete has dreamed about. But as he's shooting the ball slips out of his hands. The buzzer sounds. And it's over. All of the work and practice and self-sacrifice has ended. He feels horrible and has that empty ache in the pit of his stomach; it’s the moment of defeat. A flood of emotion comes over the young man — he's 18 — and he begins to cry as he walks off the court for the last time.
Are you going to be the person who starts the “air – ball” chant? Are you going to yell “season over!” at him? Is his final memory of high school athletics going to be the “scoreboard!” cheer? That's not the environment I expect high school athletes to compete in. And fans who cheer that way should reflect on what they're doing. And I’m on the side of the WIAA — the group that says that's not right.
Chris Conley
1.13.16
Image:
Basketball fans by Tulane Public Relations (Uploaded by AlbertHerring) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
