Sportsmanship Article

Sportsmanship, not steroids, called nation's top high school issue

Survey of state prep associations reveals the nation's top issues

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By Jake Trotter
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, July 08, 2007

While the state Legislature made national headlines this spring by passing a steroid-testing bill, another much smaller meeting went unnoticed.

But the latter gathering underscored a larger problem in high school sports than steroids, at least according to a survey of state high school athletic associations around the nation: sportsmanship.

Matt Rourke (AMERICAN-STATESMAN)

This past spring, Flower Mound Marcus High School's boys soccer team went 30-0 and won the Class 5A state championship in dominating fashion.

And yet after the championship season, Marcus' athletic director, coach and star player found themselves in front of the University Interscholastic League executive committee, with the school receiving a one-year probation and a public reprimand.

That's because in the waning moments of the state championship game, that star player spat in the face of an official. Steroid testing may be the top issue at the moment in Texas. But a polling of high school association commissioners and directors across the country revealed that a plunge in sportsmanship — not steroids — is the greatest danger to the integrity of high school sports.

This year, only Florida, New Jersey and Texas will test their athletes for steroids. Illinois is the only other state that is considering similar measures.

More than a dozen other states, however, cited sportsmanship as a top concern.

According to a 2004 sportsmanship study by the Character Counts Coalition, more than one in three males surveyed agreed that winning was more important than being a good sport.

In Utah, 111 boys soccer players were ejected this past spring, by far the highest number since the Utah High School Activities Association sanctioned the sport in 1983.

The association has placed the entire sport on probation and has threatened to abolish boys soccer if the number of ejections stays the same or increases next year.

"We are trying to find ways to discipline the bad behavior, both on the field and in the stands," said David Wilkey, assistant director for the association. "This is an issue that has received national attention."

But the problem doesn't just end with poor sportsmanship. Because coaches, players and spectators increasingly berate officials, state associations have struggled to find enough referees.

In Utah, the number of soccer referees dropped 15 percent from 2005-06 to 2006-07. Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and South Dakota all indicated that they're struggling to find officials because of how they have been treated.

"Officials are in shortage because they are tired of being mistreated and yelled at by coaches and fans," said Ruth Rehn, assistant executive director for the South Dakota High School Activities Association. "This is something that you see happening all over the nation."

In Florida, fan ejections rose by almost 9 percent this year, with 1,286 spectators being tossed in 2006-07 compared with 1,186 in 2005-06.

"We're starting to see a number of instances where fan involvement is becoming more negative," said M. Denarvise Thornton, senior director of athletic operations and officials for the Florida High School Athletic Association. "Parents think buying a ticket gives them a right to berate an official."

In Montana, after a fan hit an official with a water bottle and another fan assaulted a coach this past year, the Montana High School Association is requiring an administrator from all 180 schools in the association to attend a sportsmanship seminar.

"Sportsmanship is a problem," said Mark Beckman, executive director of the association . "And I think it has become a national problem."

jtrotter@statesman.com; 445-3952