ALBUQUERQUE – By a wide margin, New Mexico Activities Association member schools voted in favor of a proposed update to sportsmanship bylaws.
NMAA high schools voted by nearly 80% in favor of Bylaw 7.7.4 – Crowd Control and Unsportsmanlike Conduct. The new policy will be enacted beginning with the 2023-24 school year according to a statement released by the NMAA.
“We are glad to see our member schools approve this updated bylaw which coincides with our Compete with Class initiative and hope this will help eliminate much of the growing bad behavior,” said NMAA Executive Director Sally Marquez.
The amended guidelines were seen by coaches and administrators in San Juan County as something needed to help alleviate issues created by fans as well as parents and participants.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s come to this, regarding inappropriate behavior at sporting events,” said Piedra Vista head softball coach Kevin Werth. “But I do see the need for something like this based on the behavior that is witnessed at events.”
The updated bylaw now specifies the possibility of suspension of a team/fan from athletic activities for Unsportsmanlike Conduct and included the following verbiage:
1. Any time an egregious act of unsportsmanlike conduct by a team participant, including a coach, occurs two or more times during the same season, at the same school, in the same activity, the team will be suspended from participation in that activity for the remainder of the season.
2. Any time an egregious act of unsportsmanlike conduct by a non-team participant occurs two or more times during the same season, at the same school, in the same activity, the non-team member, along with all school spectators will be suspended from attendance in that activity for the remainder of the season.
3. Unsportsmanlike conduct is defined in the NMAA Handbook as noncompliance with sport specific rules and NMAA policies, including behaviors incompatible with “Compete with Class” and the interscholastic educational objective. Examples of egregious unsportsmanlike conduct by participants, coaches, or spectators include but are not limited to, fans entering the playing surface to engage in acts of violence or abuse, constant verbal attacks on officials, attacking other fans, coaches physically or verbally attacking officials, players fighting other players during post game handshakes, or student sections verbally chanting inappropriate or demeaning comments toward individuals, teams or officials.
The NMAA news release also went on to say how implementation of the new bylaw would be handled if penalties needed to be enacted under certain circumstances.
“In the event the second act of misconduct occurs when there are no contests left in the current season, the penalty may be applied to the next season in the same activity. The NMAA will notify the school that the team and/or individual/spectators has been placed on warning after the first offense.”
“I think it starts with coaches and administrators to make sure things don’t go too far between fans and officials,” said Navajo Prep boys basketball coach Matt Melvin.
Several states have instituted similar guidelines as part of their high school sports associations.
The Oklahoma Secondary Schools Activity Association implemented a new “sportsmanship rule” last summer. With the new rule, teams can be suspended for the rest of the season after two reports of unsportsmanlike behavior.
Louisiana and Washington have also added versions of Two Strikes, and many states, like New Mexico, are joining the fray. The New Mexico approach would differ only in the sense that both spectators and athletes are going to fall under the same category.
Whether the new rule will actually have an impact on the behavior of fans at future sporting events or the reactions to those fans from officials still remains unclear.
“For officials to think people are going to watch and not say anything is crazy to me,” Melvin said. “But some of the stuff I see is crazy and dumb.”
For more information on the new rule, visit the NMAA’s website.
