By Austin Block
A teacher ejected two students from the Sept. 16 girls’ volleyball game against Redondo Union in the most recent manifestation of the school’s new emphasis on eliminating unsportsmanlike conduct.
Though the Sportsmanship and Fan Behavior Review Committee was not involved in the ejections, it is moving closer to finalizing its draft proposal to improve sportsmanship and fan behavior.
The committee recently met with coaches, the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, and the Character Education Committee to discuss the draft proposal.
The consulted groups ranked the proposals in order of importance.
Schuhl said the committee, which has also worked with the Prefect Council, the Faculty Academic Committee, and the Sports Council on the proposal, will bring a streamlined document back to FAC at its next meeting with the suggestions “that the community thinks are going to be most effective.”
Once the committee has approved this document, these suggestions will start to be implemented.
“Then the ball will get rolling,” Schuhl said. “You’ll probably start to see more aspects of what we’re trying to do.”
The committee also hopes to get two faculty members to attend each home game this year, though there will be no rule requiring faculty attendance.
“We’re going to ask members of the Sports Council, groups of coaches, the Character Education Committee, administrators to make sure there are at least two of us at every single home game in the gym and on the field here with the intent of engaging students, parents, and whatever about the conversations we need to about behavior,” Schuhl said.
Schuhl said SAAC will take charge of informing students about sportsmanship expectations in conjunction with the Prefect Council.
“We’re looking to have them work with the Prefect Council to come up with a variety of things, first to get what they would like to present to students as to what expectations are and how … to behave at games and then take that out to the dean meetings,” Schuhl said. “So rather than my committee going to every dean meeting and saying ‘here’s what the expectations are,’ the students are going to kind of devise them, develop them, put together the program and give it out to the student body.”
A section has been added to the document with suggestions for teachers.
The committee has already received a lot of support from the Athletic Department, the administration, and the Prefect Council.
“I think there’s just a general awareness of this being an issue that’s slowly permeating out,” Schuhl said.
“I think as important as any action that comes out of the committee’s work is the fact that the committee has brought appropriate fan behavior and sportsmanship into the community’s conversation,” Head of Athletics Audrius Barzdukas said.
“It’s at the point now where we’re just about ready to sort of finalize the document and then provide the specific actions that we want teachers and students and administrators and everybody to do,” he said.
