PUBLISHER’S MEMO

from Referee Magazine - August 2021

ALL SPORTS

Ejection Election

Well, the recent NBA playoffs have been instructional. Great video clips are available that can be used in future training sessions for arena security personnel. We saw a fan drop popcorn on the head of a departing player. We saw a fan hit a player with a water bottle. We saw a fan charge onto the floor from the baseline area, to be wrestled to the ground by an alert security agent. That last one made me wonder what I would have done as the referee on the baseline if no security guard was there to instantly intervene.

The media waves furiously cascade with more reports of despicable fan behavior than I can remember. And most of this is taking place at sporting contests well below the pro and major college levels. High school, youth, club and rec-level games have become rife with such bad behavior. In the NBA situations above, none of the actions were directed against the officials. At the grassroots levels, the behavior is most certainly being directed at the officials.

This relentless increase in bad behavior by fans/parents has caused sports administrators to now get ever more serious about doing something to corral the problem within their athletic facilities. One very good example comes from right here in my home state of Wisconsin. Just weeks ago, based on the recommendation of its Sportsmanship Committee, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) amended its bylaws to increase the penalty for any spectator ejected from a competition. In effect, the new policy gives equivalency to the penalty for a player ejection and that for a spectator ejection. Here is that amendment:

A spectator removed or ejected from an interscholastic athletic competition for flagrant harassment or unsportsmanlike conduct is suspended from attendance for no less than the next competitive event (but not less than one complete game or meet). Host school administration is required to record and submit an ejection report to the WIAA. The spectator’s athletic director will inform the spectator and, if the next event is an away event, they will contact the next opponent’s administration. Note: The suspension shall be served in the same sport at the same level of competition that the ejection occurred. If the sport season is completed, the penalty will be applied in the next sport or sport season.

It is a sad day indeed that we find ourselves at this juncture needing ever-harsher penalties to impress on spectators that harassing and violent behavior will be dealt with. I commend the WIAA for stepping up to this challenge. Players had been covered, now fans are covered. Makes one wonder if coaches might be next. Many states have enacted that very provision.

Ejections have always been a serious matter in officiating. We do not take them lightly. We resist having a fan ejected or ejecting a player or a coach. That is a reasonable approach. Yet with so many incidents being witnessed in so many places, we need to get more serious about enforcement. To do that in a thoughtful way, we need to network at each game site. We need to talk through this topic in our own pregame. It will greatly help matters for us to have a pregame conversation with security/site/game administration about the protocols for handling any such incident. Our job is to observe, enforce and then refer the matter to the designated administrator, who sometimes might be a coach. It is a team effort to defuse the situation as quickly and quietly as possible. When there is no game administrator available, know your options ahead of time rather than trying to figure them out as the storm is raging. Find calm out of chaos.

Let me close with a shout-out to one member of the WIAA committee: Mike Carr. Mike is a high school athletic director in our area. He brought special energy to the committee’s work. By the way, Mike is a down judge in the NFL (No. 63). So when the NFL game you are watching has No. 63 on screen, give him your personal round of applause!

screen, give him your personal round of applause!

Chief Strategy Offi cer/Publisher Barry Mano Chief Operating Offi cer/Executive Editor Bill Topp Chief Marketing Offi cer Jim Arehart Chief Business Development Offi cer Ken Koester Managing Editor Brent Killackey Assistant Managing Editor Julie Sternberg Senior Editor Jeffrey Stern Associate Editors Brad Tittrington Scott Tittrington Assistant Editor Luke Modrovsky Copy Editor Jean Mano Director of Design, Digital Media and Branding Ross Bray Publication Design Manager Matt Bowen Graphic Designer Dustin Brown Video Coordinator Mike Dougherty Interactive Media Developer Michael Kielas Director of Audience Development Dan Olson Comptroller Marylou Clayton Data Analyst/Fulfi llment Manager Judy Ball Account Manager Joe Jarosz Director of Administration and Sales Support Cory Ludwin Offi ce Administrator Garrett Randall Customer Service Support Specialists Michelle Murray Lisa Burchell

Editorial Contributors Jon Bible, Mark Bradley, George Demetriou, Alan Goldberger, Jerry Grunska, Judson Howard, Peter Jackel, Steven L. Tietz, Tim Sloan

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Editorial Board Mark Baltz, Jeff Cluff, Cynthia Do, Ben Glass, Reggie Greenwood, Tony Haire, Wade Labecki, John O’Neill, George Toliver

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