Spectators removed or ejected from a high school sporting event will now face further sanctions following the approval of a new KHSAA policy.
At their Wednesday board of control meeting, the KHSAA approved the policy that states any adult spectator removed from a KHSAA sports contest by a school administrator or law enforcement for unsportsmanlike conduct “shall be suspended from attending, at minimum, the next contest at that level of competition and all other contests at any level in the interim.”
The policy was enacted in an effort to further promote sportsmanship and support contest officials and administrators, according to the KHSAA.
“It is my sincere hope, and I believe that of our Board, that this penalty never be implemented, and this be yet another tool in the toolbox of our school administrators to address some of the concerns we see throughout the year,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “Hopefully this is a deterrent that, when implemented in our schools, becomes that one last chance for people to stop short of acting in such an unsportsmanlike manner that ejection is the only option.”
The KHSAA has seen a decline in numbers of officials and referees in certain sports over the past five years. Some of that attrition has been attributed to verbal abuse by adult fans at the contests. A sports official can ask school administrator to remove a fan from a contest, but it falls upon the school or law enforcement to follow through on that request.
One issue not addressed in the media release from the KHSAA is how schools of future games will be notified that a fan from a traveling school has been ejected from the previous contest and not be allowed to attend a game in another region. In other words, how would Ballard Memorial know not to allow a fan ejected from a game the previous day at Trigg County when the teams play the following day.
The policy will take effect in the 2019-20 school year.