Athletic Directors Outline Steps to Improve Behavior at Games

Issues with sportsmanship and fan behavior at games have been a problem for decades. As with most aspects of athletic administration, improvement or solutions involves analyzing the situation and developing a plan of action. Very little is accomplished without an objective and conscious effort.

“The key to creating a positive sporting environment is by building relationships and prior planning before events with the athletic community,” according to Matt Heckel, athletic director, Dakota Ridge High School, Littleton, Colorado. “One of the best tools is the pre-season parent meeting, and using a PowerPoint presentation increases the effectiveness of the message. The most important part of the presentation is sharing our expectations for communication and behavior at games.

“The next step in building a positive environment is to get the student body on board, and we’ve done that by selecting a group of leaders called ‘Super Fans.’ We train these student leaders and meet with our spirit squads, and marching band to review cheers, and how we are going to guide our fans based upon our expectations.”

Utilizing a similar concept, Lefteris Banos, athletic director for the Haddonfield (New Jersey) Public Schools, meets with his leaders of his student cheer section prior to each season.

“It is imperative, I feel, to be proactive and to review our expectations,” Banos said, “During the season, an administrator, and often it is me, is positioned near the student bleachers so that any inappropriate cheers or harassment can be dealt with immediately before it becomes an issue.

“If a spectator – student or adult – does not meet our standards of acceptable behavior, we will ask them to leave the contest. However, before any fan can attend any future events, they have to show proof of completion of one of the NFHS courses such as Sportsmanship, The Parent Seat or Positive Parenting within School Programs.”

At Housatonic Valley Regional High School in Falls Village, Connecticut, Athletic Director Anne MacNeil takes an identical approach with her student leaders. In her pre-season parent meetings, MacNeil reviews the school’s sportsmanship expectations and explains,

“In our league, every team rates the opponent’s players, coaches and fans regarding sportsmanship after every game. This system leaves no doubt how successful we have been. I always add that exhibiting good sportsmanship is essential in education-based athletics, and that we all have to understand the proper perspective for high school sports.

“One of the greatest challenges is that visiting fans may not understand or appreciate our expectations. But being present, immediately dealing with a situation, and having a quiet conversation with an offender usually works, and consistent standards within our league also helps a great deal.”

Heckel noted another critical component with regard to the shortage of officials.

“There is a major shortage of officials in our state, and the top ones can often decide what games they want or don’t want to work,” Heckel said. “Will the best officials come to our gym if they are constantly verbally harassed, and treated disrespectfully? A positive, respectful environment is essential not only as part of the education-based athletic experience, but also to have enough officials for our contests.”

Chris Brown, athletic director at Park Ridge (New Jersey) High School, points out that home and away fans have separate seating areas that are clearly marked, and there are management personnel at every site in order to promote and ensure positive, proper behavior.

“All coaches, our athletic trainer and all security personnel have radios in order to proactively intervene should a possible problem arise,” Brown said. “We post our conference expectations and refer fans to them if there ever is any negative behavior. The conference has a standard letter that can be posted on websites, and shared with families via social media and email outlining expected behavior. Also, the conference honors a student-athlete from each school who epitomizes the essence of good sportsmanship. And lastly, our state association has created public-address announcements that we use to emphasize that poor behavior pushes officials and coaches out of high school athletics.”

Missy Townsend, athletic director at Prescott (Arizona) High School, tries to identify a student leader who attends most games, build a relationship with this individual, and explain the behavior expectations for contests.

“Once we find that student leader, we provide a sports pass and some swag so that he or she is recognizable to influence the student section,” Townsend said. “In addition, we promote and recognize the student section for their positive approach at a game on social media.”

Townsend also noted that she “reviews their expectations at the pre-season meeting, and parents have to sign off on the document. As an incentive, parents are given a free pass when they complete the NFHS Positive Sports Parenting course.”

Also, Townsend said sportsmanship announcements are read before all events, and signs promoting positive behavior are posted in the various venues.

“We also try to be vigilant and quickly address any potential problem. When people know that you are not going to allow negative behavior and that you actually practice what you preach by following through, there are fewer problems. It is also important to train other administrators and event workers so that they know what is appropriate and inappropriate.”

Fritz Kilian, athletic director of the Fairport (New York) Central School District (New York), said his district makes every attempt to meet and welcome visiting teams as the arrive, and game management personnel are strategically placed around each event to provide proactive supervision.

“We make it a point to greet fans as they enter a venue with ‘Good evening. Welcome to Fairport, and thanks for attending.’ Making eye contact goes a long way toward making a personal connection, which sets the tone for a positive environment. When sportsmanship expectations are announced before the game, the fans may have a greater ownership due to this initial interaction.”

Kilian also emphasizes the league’s sportsmanship and hate speech initiative at pre-season parent meetings. In addition, New York State Public High School Athletic Association members are required to follow established, prescribed steps when dealing with sportsmanship issues with fans, and he also reviews these provisions during his pre-season meetings.

When judging the success of various approaches to improve behavior at games, Heckel might have stumbled upon a great benchmark.

“We had four new teachers join our staff this year, and they commented that one of the reasons that they chose to work at Dakota Ridge High School is due to our reputation of creating a great, positive, respectful and fun environment at contests,” Heckel said. That’s a pretty good endorsement for taking the right steps!