Sports Gone Sour?

by Betsy Van Dorn

There's a disturbing trend in high schools across the country: Violence and unsportsmanlike conduct are on the rise. It's happening in cities, in suburbia, and in rural school districts, and it cuts across gender and type of sport.

In Michigan, a girls' state basketball championship was marred when an angry female coach threw a chair across the court. During the state finals, a television producer had to silence the court-level mikes because of the trash talk by female players. The Michigan High School Athletic Association enacted new rules in May 1996 to safeguard officials and maintain order: Three ejections, and a player is not just out of postseason play for the year -- he or she won't even get to sit in the stands. And it's not just kids who need to tidy up their attitudes. Michigan will also publish the names of coaches who engage in unseemly behavior -- as well as those whose records are unblemished.

Sportsmanship gets a grade
The Iowa High School Athletic Association now rates all its schools on sportsmanship every year and newspapers in the state have published the lists. The Alaska School Activities Association placed interscholastic hockey on a one-year probation. Here, there's a push for administrators to become more involved in athletic events -- especially those that occur away from school grounds. Apparently, some youthful athletes are more inclined to be obnoxious on foreign turf.

Who's responsible?
Who's responsible for the level of civility in your child's athletic program? It's not enough that parents promote decent behavior at home. Standards for sportsmanship need to be established throughout the community. Michigan's John R. Johnson, director of communications for the Michigan High School Athletic Association, says, "Expectations have to come down from boards of education right down the line to students and the community."

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