Post by IdahoBoy on Oct 18, 2007 16:33:30 GMT -5
www.signonsandiego.com/sports/preps/20071018-9999-1mi18harass.html
Name-calling targets girls at match; boys remorseful
By Linda Lou
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 18, 2007
A group of Mission Hills High School football players has made an unusual apology to the Valley Center High School girls' varsity volleyball team following an incident in which the team was heckled during its match last week.
About a dozen football players sat on benches on the Valley Center side of the court and loudly yelled comments, including “whores” and “lesbians,” at the volleyball team, said Diana Sourbeer, a parent who was at the game watching her daughter play. Other hurtful comments were directed at the girls' physical appearances, Sourbeer said, declining to repeat them.
About 20 football players representing Mission Hills traveled to Valley Center High on Monday to apologize after Sourbeer and other parents complained. They made the trip on a bus with their athletic director, Ken Putnam.
The football players delivered apologies in person because they were remorseful for having acted inappropriately and for being unsportsmanlike, said Mission Hills Principal Brad Lichtman. Not all of the players who went to Valley Center were involved in the incident, he said.
They apologized out of respect for the Valley Center team and community, which has shown “the highest degree of compassion and support for Mission Hills” over the past month, Lichtman said. Mission Hills has received an outpouring of support after one of its football players, Scott Eveland, suffered a severe brain injury during a game about a month ago and remains in serious condition.
The volleyball team was about halfway through its match Oct. 11 when the football players, carrying their helmets, joined the spectators, Sourbeer said.
She said the volleyball players on the bench and on the court could hear the comments and were affected. “The girls wilted,” she said. “They lost the two games after the guys came in.” The match victory went to Mission Hills, three games to two.
Sourbeer's daughter declined to talk about what happened. Her mother said the 17-year-old wanted to avoid potential conflicts.
Good sportsmanship has been emphasized by the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports. It adopted an educational program called Pursuing Victory With Honor in 1999. It sets expectations of good sportsmanship from high school athletes and spectators alike.
The San Diego Section bylaws state that everyone involved in competition has a duty to treat other participants with respect.
According to the same bylaws, “coaches have a special responsibility to model respectful behavior and the duty to demand that their student-athletes refrain from disrespectful conduct including verbal abuse of opponents and officials, profane or belligerent trash-talking, taunting and inappropriate celebrations.”
Sourbeer said she thought the referees or the coach from Mission Hills would reprimand the misbehavior on the spot. She said a referee did tell the football players to quiet down, but it did not stop the name-calling.
The volleyball players “were upset and kind of wondered why it was allowed to happen, to go on,” Sourbeer said. “I was thinking, 'Who needs to stop this? Is it the referee, their coach? Who is allowing this to go on?' ”
Lichtman said that from what he understands of the protocols, it would have been up to the referees to intervene if behavior was deemed “detrimental.” The referees could have stopped the game or even called for a forfeit, he said. Coaches also can intervene if they see or hear anything that's inappropriate, but their main responsibility is to coach, Lichtman said.
He said the football players have no excuse for their conduct.
“In no way does this diminish the responsibility of our students to behave in a sportsmanlike way,” Lichtman said. “They were absolutely wrong. Hence, our response.”
Lichtman said the school will discipline the students involved, but declined to say what that would entail. Mission Hills' volleyball coach Cindy Mathews was not available to comment yesterday, he said.
“We do not expect a repeat of this kind of behavior,” Lichtman said.
Sourbeer said the heckling was something that she had never heard before while attending volleyball games for the past six years. Her older daughter also played volleyball, she said. Family members in the audience, including younger siblings, should not have been exposed to the foul language, she said.
“The whole incident should have been stopped at the time,” Sourbeer said. “It would have been the better learning tool to say 'What you're doing is not right.' ”
Name-calling targets girls at match; boys remorseful
By Linda Lou
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
October 18, 2007
A group of Mission Hills High School football players has made an unusual apology to the Valley Center High School girls' varsity volleyball team following an incident in which the team was heckled during its match last week.
About a dozen football players sat on benches on the Valley Center side of the court and loudly yelled comments, including “whores” and “lesbians,” at the volleyball team, said Diana Sourbeer, a parent who was at the game watching her daughter play. Other hurtful comments were directed at the girls' physical appearances, Sourbeer said, declining to repeat them.
About 20 football players representing Mission Hills traveled to Valley Center High on Monday to apologize after Sourbeer and other parents complained. They made the trip on a bus with their athletic director, Ken Putnam.
The football players delivered apologies in person because they were remorseful for having acted inappropriately and for being unsportsmanlike, said Mission Hills Principal Brad Lichtman. Not all of the players who went to Valley Center were involved in the incident, he said.
They apologized out of respect for the Valley Center team and community, which has shown “the highest degree of compassion and support for Mission Hills” over the past month, Lichtman said. Mission Hills has received an outpouring of support after one of its football players, Scott Eveland, suffered a severe brain injury during a game about a month ago and remains in serious condition.
The volleyball team was about halfway through its match Oct. 11 when the football players, carrying their helmets, joined the spectators, Sourbeer said.
She said the volleyball players on the bench and on the court could hear the comments and were affected. “The girls wilted,” she said. “They lost the two games after the guys came in.” The match victory went to Mission Hills, three games to two.
Sourbeer's daughter declined to talk about what happened. Her mother said the 17-year-old wanted to avoid potential conflicts.
Good sportsmanship has been emphasized by the California Interscholastic Federation, which governs high school sports. It adopted an educational program called Pursuing Victory With Honor in 1999. It sets expectations of good sportsmanship from high school athletes and spectators alike.
The San Diego Section bylaws state that everyone involved in competition has a duty to treat other participants with respect.
According to the same bylaws, “coaches have a special responsibility to model respectful behavior and the duty to demand that their student-athletes refrain from disrespectful conduct including verbal abuse of opponents and officials, profane or belligerent trash-talking, taunting and inappropriate celebrations.”
Sourbeer said she thought the referees or the coach from Mission Hills would reprimand the misbehavior on the spot. She said a referee did tell the football players to quiet down, but it did not stop the name-calling.
The volleyball players “were upset and kind of wondered why it was allowed to happen, to go on,” Sourbeer said. “I was thinking, 'Who needs to stop this? Is it the referee, their coach? Who is allowing this to go on?' ”
Lichtman said that from what he understands of the protocols, it would have been up to the referees to intervene if behavior was deemed “detrimental.” The referees could have stopped the game or even called for a forfeit, he said. Coaches also can intervene if they see or hear anything that's inappropriate, but their main responsibility is to coach, Lichtman said.
He said the football players have no excuse for their conduct.
“In no way does this diminish the responsibility of our students to behave in a sportsmanlike way,” Lichtman said. “They were absolutely wrong. Hence, our response.”
Lichtman said the school will discipline the students involved, but declined to say what that would entail. Mission Hills' volleyball coach Cindy Mathews was not available to comment yesterday, he said.
“We do not expect a repeat of this kind of behavior,” Lichtman said.
Sourbeer said the heckling was something that she had never heard before while attending volleyball games for the past six years. Her older daughter also played volleyball, she said. Family members in the audience, including younger siblings, should not have been exposed to the foul language, she said.
“The whole incident should have been stopped at the time,” Sourbeer said. “It would have been the better learning tool to say 'What you're doing is not right.' ”
