On the Bleachers: C'mon! Let the students cheer!

Having been a high school student once, way back in the dark

ages when internet was reached via dial up and cell phones didn't

have such things like "apps" and "reception," there is nothing

quite like being part of the student section at athletic

events.

Having been a high school student once, way back in the dark ages when internet was reached via dial up and cell phones didn't have such things like "apps" and "reception," there is nothing quite like being part of the student section at athletic events.

You can't put the price on cheering on a basketball team in the state tournament or playing against a bitter conference rival in your home gym.

That only gets better in college, when more slack is given to the leash of acceptability and kids start to get really creative. Going to Eastern Washington University, I did my fair share of heckling other Big Sky schools... including Montana.

Fellow Leader staff member Dylan Kitzan and I can lay claim to getting into the head of Weber State superstar Damian Lillard and rattling him so bad that the guy would roll his eyes every time he'd come down the court and we'd remind him that his jersey number (1) was higher than his point output.

I'll also never forget watching now NBA point guard Rodney Stuckey play for the Eagles. He had Reese Court rocking more than that earthquake in Dixon last week.

They are memories you can't put a price on but it's also not high school. Prep gyms should be held to a higher civil standard. High school athletes shouldn't have to worry about being humiliated out on the court. However, it would be nice to see that same kind of frenzied passion in high school.

From what I can remember in high school, there was plenty of after-the-fact quarterbacking by parents and administration.

Understandably so, since we all know fans can get a little out of control sometimes. What always seemed unfair was the inconsistency and sometimes over sensitive ways students in our section were punished or reprimanded.

Why is yelling airball or warm up the bus alright in some gyms but not others? Why is one kid singled out for saying something when the whole section chanted it? I've seen this happen so many times at high school gyms, we need to approach things differently.

What gets me is that there are no clear rules on what a student can or can't say.

Other than a cryptic message about sportsmanship by the announcer before the game, what other guidelines are students given? You're asking a teenager to make a split-second judgment call on what they deem is offensive to the other school? Most adults don't know when they've crossed the line at sporting events, so why are our students expected to know exactly where the line in the sand is drawn?

Also throw in that some schools have that line of acceptability in a different spot and things are downright impossible to gauge.

High schools are learning environments, and this should be an opportunity for kids to learn how you should act at a sporting event. Administrators and parents should see this as an opportunity to educate and not punish.

I really sympathize with school administrators that don't want high school athletes heckled out on the court, that kind of stuff just shouldn't happen.

But you also have to consider that the guidelines are very vague.

No negative comments toward the other team? Fine, but then why do you allow cheering when somebody fouls out of the game or misses a free throw shot?

What I would like to see is more teacher/parent/student involvement with student sections.

Teachers - Why isn't there a student section advisor or some sort of leader that can help kids make signs before big games, approve chants and cheers and monitor the kids during the game to make sure they don't get too out of control?

This kind of side-by-side interaction, I think it would be a lot better than adults just playing police officer with students.

Make student sections like the Kennel Club at Gonzaga, where there's ample amount of coordination from everyone. If you don't want kids yelling negative comments, make sure they're yelling positive comments. Dancing up and down to Zombie Nation? Chanting MVP? If a staff member could be coordinating these things I think it would be a lot more fun for everyone.

Parents - I remember in high school we had more than one or two parents feel the need to come down to the student section and chew us out for one thing or another.

That again goes back to the adult policeman feeling that tends to creep up on students. It's also highly hypocritical. There are plenty of parents in the crowd yelling negative things... but they don't have to worry about getting in trouble.

If parents want a positive environment as well, why not coordinate with the student section? Do the same thing the students are chanting and cheering? Police one another for negative behavior. I've been in a few gyms where a nasty behavior is set in place by the adult crowd, not the student section when it boils into a bad situation.

You cant pick on the kids if adults can't control themselves.

Students - Students should be given clear guidelines at school about what is acceptable at sporting events and what isn't. If parents and teachers can educate them on this, then students will know just what is acceptable at the high school level.

If you want to hold students accountable for their actions, make sure you have the rules beforehand. It wouldn't be fair for police to arrest someone and then come up with a reason they were arrested after the fact, right?

My point is simply this, if we want to foster good sportsmanship to our students we have to teach them good sportsmanship. We can't expect it to spontaneously happen with no guidance.