The monthly meeting of the Broadus School Board Trustees took place in the auditorium at the high school on Monday evening, with the matter of sportsmanship shown by fans at sporting events forming a central topic for the evening.
Earlier this fall a situation arose during two football games where Broadus fans were taunting and/or cussing at the refs, and in the case of the final home game, partially in response to the coach and players being ejected from the game.
Broadus fans have not been the only fans causing problems at sporting events – last winter a visiting group of fans were getting a little rowdy with their comments on reffing during a home basketball game, and were asked to be quiet or leave, and in years past similar conflicts have risen on numerous occasions with visiting fans.
The board discussed these matters and looked at several options to encourage better sportsmanship from parents and fans, voting in favor of a motion to encourage parents to view the film titled “The Role of Parents in Athletics”, which will be shown during parents’ nights before sports seasons. This 46 minute film is presented by Bruce Brown, a former coach at Northwestern College, and shares topics such as parental roles during competition, after game recovery time and space for the athlete, and “just be the mom or dad” instead of trying to coach the game.
Board President Amanda Zimmer commented that she and her husband had viewed the film and it opened their eyes to some things that would help them to become better sports parents.
Athletic Director Mike Richards noted that during his time coaching at Ekalaka in the late 2000’s, the film was required viewing for sports parents, and it seemed to help make for better sportsmanship from fans at the games – when the parents behaved in a respectful sportsmanlike manner it seemed to trickle over into the rest of the crowd.
Another topic discussed by the board was potential consequences for fans who act up at sporting events. Currently, if a player or coach is kicked out of a game, they have to sit out for the next game. If they are kicked out of a second game they then are forced to miss four games, and a third offense carries a 90 day penalty. Those rules do not currently carry over to fans, who may return to the next sporting event following an ejection.
The board spoke briefly on whether the consequences for players and coaches could be extended to fans; that matter will be covered in a future activities committee meeting and brought forward to the full board if a decision is made.
Other topics on the board’s agenda included hirings and resignations. The board voted to accept Jim Kolka as a wrestling volunteer coach, Beau Kuhbacher as a substitute teacher, and accepted the resignation of Kindergarten Teacher Paulie Isaak, who will retire at the end of the school year. The board also re-hired the current crop of activities bus drivers.
Five year extensions to the Moorhead and West Powderville bus driver contracts were also voted on and unanimously approved.
Reader Comments(0)