Collaboration has kept sportsmanship controversy from having lasting effect

Did the controversy ever get an official name? SportsmanshipGate? WIAAGate? AirballGate? We need a gate, don't we?

A month has gone by since the massive hubbub surrounding a WIAA rules-reminder email and the subsequent suspension for a Hilbert student-athlete who expressed her dissatisfaction with said email on Twitter. All around the country, the WIAA was openly mocked for including such cheers as "fundamentals," "scoreboard" and "airball" on its list of potential offenses, and alarm bells rang that this latest example of the Nanny State was ruining prep athletics.

The circus was a bit misguided, as I wrote then, and with the national spotlight shifted away, the landscape of high-school athletics in Wisconsin looks just as I thought it would before ChantGate: exactly the same. You still hear "airball," you still hear "scoreboard," and the environment is still electric for big games and vanilla for the rest.

But what I didn't realize before all this is how proactive schools have been to preserve good sportsmanship at varsity events, long before any of this went down. Nearly every athletic director with whom I spoke said at least some steps are taken to address student leaders and create a dialogue about proper student-fan etiquette.

"We call them the Gators; they're usually upperclassmen, and we do meet to talk about theme nights, talk about behavior," Arrowhead athletics director Kevin Flegner said. "We meet right before the playoffs to reiterate on a state level that we're trying to win that sportsmanship award that Rural Insurance (and the WIAA) hands out. In the past, I've had lunch with my leaders to let them know they're a very important voice and represent our school. I think most ADs are very similar in what we do, creating a connection between the student section and the athletic department."

'Food stamps'

At Arrowhead, that culture was put under the microscope Jan. 29 when the Warhawks were hosting Waukesha North in boys basketball. North football coach Matt Harris, who had written a recent editorial to the Waukesha Freeman outlining the disadvantages faced by his program in a Classic 8 full of programs with greater resources, expressed in a tweet his disgust with Arrowhead students chanting "food stamps" in North's direction at halftime – likely a remark with the editorial in mind.

Flegner wasn't at the game in question and didn't want to go into specifics about the fallout.

"I've spoken to supervisors, worked with Brian Schlei (athletics director) at North, we both met with people we needed to, the kids we needed to chat with," Flegner said. "At our AD meeting last week, we had some time to talk about this. It's stupid behavior, and sportsmanship is important to all of us."

Schlei was satisfied with Arrowhead's response to the situation.

"Teenagers are always going to find boundaries and lines and be tempted to push the envelope," he said. "Kevin Flegner was very responsive and proactive in reaching out to me so that we could move forward in a positive way. I think we both know how big of an impact taking students' choices and turning them into teachable moments can have."

Schlei said he uses newsletters and mass e-mails to North families to keep sportsmanship expectations on the front burner.

"I always approach kids by telling them that I do want them to be there, and I do want them to have fun," he said. "I also let them know how important they are and that the team needs them to be there pumping them up in a positive way, and that if they get kicked out, that it will hurt our spirit. In order for them to be welcome at the games, I ask that they cheer for our team and not against the other team or officials. I ask that they not target individuals on the other team; I give the example that they should not be saying 'No. 4, you suck.'" … I also let them know that I'm willing to talk about ideas they have ahead of time."

Keeping it simple

Hamilton's Mike Gosz boils his rules for student leaders down to three simple ones: don't get personal, don't use bad language and stay off the field.

"With football beginning before school year begins, we really don't know who the student leaders are going to be until that first game," Gosz said. "Once we get a gauge, I kind of bring them in during the first week of school and outline my expectations. My goal is to have as many fans as we can get to come to the events. … (In basketball), with the kids in such close proximity, a lot know each other, so a lot is just good-natured humor that they're having fun with. They understand they're also representing the high school and making an impression."

Gosz said he has nixed some theme-night ideas that were deemed negative. He said he doesn't have a problem with "airball" so long as it doesn't become a game-long, increasingly aggressive chant.

"(Chants at the game) can lead to things in the parking lot or a neighboring fast-food restaurant," Gosz said. "We have to watch the emotions. Do they get over the top to where they could spill over?"

Like many of his colleagues, Mukwonago's Andy Trudell meets with student leaders before football and basketball season.

"Occasionally during the year, I'll hear a rumor about something our kids or our opponent's fans are planning that might be negative," Trudell said. "In those cases I will meet with our kids or call a fellow AD to try to nip it. Our kids are great and we have had very few issues, but being proactive is important."

Digital danger

Some of those rumors arrive via social media, another hot-button issue for athletics directors – just look at the fiasco a month ago for proof. Some social media tenets are worked into school athletic codes, but few things evolve as quickly as modern communication.

"I've had a number of images that have been shared with me that lead to code violations over the years," Trudell said. "We handle them case-by-case. We also cover these areas in our freshman orientation programs and in our Life of an Athlete program."

Social media was a big part of the equation in the WIAA fiasco, when Hilbert basketball player April Gehl's use of a profanity didn't go unnoticed by WIAA officials, who reportedly forwarded the tweet onto school administrators. A five-game suspension ensued.

"Some of our student-athletes just don't think about what they are putting out there," said Oconomowoc's Scott Raduka. "They do start to understand the impact, though, when they are called on what was tweeted or texted or Instagrammed. Social media accountability is an awful thing to control. Schools are more often in the position of reacting than controlling."

Then, there's what happened at Arrowhead, where an observation by a staff member can resonate far and wide, sometimes for better and sometimes not.

"In the same e-mails and in our athletic code, we do have policies on social media," Schlei said. "I regularly send parents information about responsible use of social media and try to model it through my own use of Twitter. I do talk to coaches about being role models as well and ask them to monitor their own use accordingly."

Flegner said he prefers that Arrowhead staff avoid engaging altogether.

"My coaches know they're not to engage in any type of social media with any parents, with any kids," he said. "It's part of our unwritten rule that we talk about."

It also goes without saying that social media can become a cesspool of criticism.

"I think it's gotten totally out of hand," Flegner said. "I feel bad that our society has gotten to a point where we're bashing young men and young women for representing their school. You miss a free throw, make a turnover or they don't play, it's gotten to be so negative. Heck, even if the kid chooses a different college (than expected). It's discouraging how people get to sound off and say whatever they want without a filter."

But athletics directors have greater control over their sports venues, and they've asserted it. At Menomonee Falls, a school once known for boorish student-fan behavior, the culture has been remodeled, and there is still room for "airball."

"You don't want to be the person who reduces fun (at the games); you don't want to be the fun police," Falls AD Ryan Anderson said. "As we know, if they're (the kids) not attending games or other school events, they're out there doing things they probably shouldn't be doing."