By Dana Hess
For the S.D. Newspaper Association
PIERRE — At some South Dakota schools, students are taking the lead in trying to get better sportsmanship at athletic contests.
During a discussion on Wednesday of the association’s initiative to increase sportsmanship among players, coaches and fans, members of the South Dakota High School Activities Association’s board of directors heard a message recorded by grade school students at Hoven.
“You are our role models,” the young narrator tells the fans. “We see and hear everything you say and do. Please refrain from making any negative comments.”
The message also asks for respect for game officials and ends with this piece of advice: “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
“If second and third graders can figure it out,” SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Jo Auch said of sportsmanship, “why can’t adults figure it out?”
The association reached out to the state’s student councils to get them involved in the sportsmanship effort. The message from Hoven, as well as one from students at Hitchcock-Tulare, can be found on the association’s website.
Auch said the association hopes to make some sort of progress on increasing sportsmanship before the start of the basketball season.
“We know that everybody’s an expert in basketball, as they are in every sport,” Auch said. “Our officials are, quite honestly, tired of it.”
Auch noted an effort in Lead/Deadwood in which visiting teams are greeted by a welcome banner and gifts for the visiting players. “Little things like that go long way.”
During the fall sports season, schools were asked to recognize sports officials as part of an Officials’ Appreciation Week. Auch said that took many forms, from announcements at games to photos with the teams to flowers and gift cards.
“I think it’s just a kind gesture on our part and a very easy way to say thanks for what you guys do,” Auch said, noting that there would be appreciation weeks Jan. 23 to 28 for officials in winter sports and April 10 to 15 for officials in spring sports.
The efforts to promote sportsmanship are needed as board members learned that ejections from games have increased dramatically this year. SDHSAA Assistant Executive Director Randy Soma said there were 30 ejections in the entire school year last year. This year, in just the fall sports, there have been 58 ejections.
Last year the ejections were seven in boys’ basketball, 10 in boys’ soccer, four in boys’ wrestling and nine in football. So far this year there have been 24 in boys’ soccer, 25 in football, three in girls’ soccer, three ejected coaches and three ejected fans.
“We have really taken it to another level,” Soma said, noting that these are just the ejections that have been reported to the SDHSAA office.
Infractions that lead to ejections in games include illegal hits in football, language, talking back to officials and fighting.
“It starts with our coaches and our kids,” Soma said. “Our kids have to be respectful and so do our coaches.”
SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos said the staff would try to work out a best practices plan for school districts to use when they have to remove an unruly fan from the stands.
Soma, a former athletic director in Brookings, knows how difficult it is to confront a fan. “It’s a hard situation, as an athletic director, to walk up to somebody you know in the stands and get them removed.”
