Time for us to straighten up...or sit out

Too often, sports are making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

Players are fighting players.

Fans are fighting officials.

Fans are fighting coaches. Fans are fighting fans. Tragically, at times, it has gotten deadly.

The most recent incident occurred last weekend in Texas when a youth football coach was shot and killed after altercations at a game.

Yaqub Talib, the brother of former Kansas and NFL standout Aqib Talib, was identified as the suspect in the shooting death of Michael Hickmon in Lancaster, Texas.

According to ESPN, “According to witnesses, Talib pulled out a gun and shot Hickmon multiple times after a disagreement between the opposing coaching staff of two youth football teams over calls made by the officiating crew led to a physical fight, police said.”

The OSSAA - well before this specific incident - recently took steps to try to help curb such behavior.

It adopted a new policy that said, essentially, if players, coaches or fans get too far out of line, they’re not going to be allowed to take part for the rest of the year.

Following is a press release the OSSAA sent out to media across the state and also released on its own website and social media platforms: The OSSAA board of directors recently adopted a new policy to address the growing concerns regarding sportsmanship in member schools.

The new policy was established to address unsportsmanlike acts that are not covered by the playing rules of the game.

Examples include, but are not limited to, incidents of fans entering the playing surface to engage in acts such as fighting or confronting a game official.

Any unsportsmanlike act such as two technical fouls assessed to a player or coach during a basketball contest, resulting in an ejection, or any other ejection of a coach or player by a contest official, would not be categorized as “egregious” since the penalty is covered by the playing rules of the game.

“In education-based activities, it is our priority to ensure the safety of all involved as well as to provide a wholesome environment for students to participate,” said David Jackson, OSSAA executive director.

“In an effort to keep egregious acts of unsporting conduct from escalating, the board adopted a policy to deal with such issues should they occur. It is our hope no school is ever put in the position to implement the penalty associated with the new policy.”

Following is the new policy in its entirety: “Any time an egregious act of unsportsmanlike conduct occurs two or more times during the same season, at the same school, in the same activity, the team and/or individual will be suspended from participation in that activity for the remainder of the season. Egregious acts of unsportsmanlike conduct will be defined as instances not within the OSSAA adopted rules of the contest. In the event the second act of misconduct occurs when there are not contests left in the current season, the penalty will be applied to the next season in the same activity. The OSSAA will notify the school that the team and/or individual has been placed on warning after the first offense. Unsportsmanlike acts under this new policy will include acts by coaches, players or spectators.”

Although the release doesn’t specifically state it, the new policy no doubt is a response to the declining number of officials in every sport.

The number of officials and referees has been trending downward for years and the OSSAA has made efforts to attempt to recruit more into the fold.

However, sporting events are being altered in some way and even canceled due to a lack of officials.

Research has shown that one reason officials are getting out - and new ones not coming in - is the behavior of fans and even players and coaches.

News from the August meeting

Like local boards of education, the OSSAA’s 17-member board of directors, which includes Hennessey Superintendent Jason Sternberger, meets monthly in Oklahoma City.

This month’s meeting was held Aug. 10 and the OSSAA released some of the more newsworthy items that resulted from the agenda:

2022-23 ADMs Approved

If you read the July 31 edition of Swisher’s Suite on these pages, we laid out all the possibilities for local ADMs and classifications should the then-preliminary numbers stay the same.

While the numbers changed a little, there was no major movement involving local teams.

The board approved those numbers (enrollment figures) during the meeting, which will allow the OSSAA to officially set and release (soon) the classificiations for sports such as volleyball and basketball, which see their classifications updated annually.

Free to play

One of the ways the OSSAA generates income is to charge its member schools a participation fee annually for each sport/activity.

The board voted to place a moratorium on those fees for 2022-23.

While most local schools are in excellent financial condition, that’s not the same across the state.

“This recommendation was made in an effort to help member schools combat the rising inflation that we are all dealing with right now,” Jackson said.

The one-year suspended fees will total about $350,000, according to the OSSAA.

Get your phones out

Those who have attended OSSAA playoff events in the last couple of years have had the option of not only paying cash at the gate, but also purchasing tickets digitally.

That scenario will remain intact this year, but the OSSAA is considering moving to all digital beginning in 2023-24.

“One of the biggest benefits is host schools and their staffs hosting playoff events no longer will have to deal with cash and paper tickets,” according to the OSSAA release. “Schools are encouraged to help their fans make the transition to digital playoff tickets during the course of this school year.”

Kingfisher is well on its way.

The district has signed up with GoFan for its digital ticketing service and plans to use that exclusively for all its sporting events this year...meaning no cash at the gate entry.

NIL a hot topic

Board members also discussed NIL (name, image, likeness) compensation for high school athletes.

NIL has become a hot-button topic in the last year among collegiate athletes.

It is filtering down to the high school level.

“The OSSAA will be working with member schools to develop a strategy to address NIL appropriately for Oklahoma high school students,” the release said.