NFHS Voice: Punish Bad Fan Behavior
October 2, 2019
By Karissa Niehoff
NFHS Executive Director
About four weeks ago, we distributed an op-ed suggesting that inappropriate behavior by parents and other adult fans at high school sporting events was causing many officials to quit before they even reached two years on the job.
Although we received mostly positive support from this article, some people thought we went too far in telling parents to “act your age” and “stay in your own lane.” On the contrary, perhaps we should have been more direct.
Last week, one of our member state associations shared a resignation letter it had received from a 20-year veteran soccer official who had taken all the abuse he could handle. A portion of that letter follows:
“Soccer parents: you are absolutely 100% the reason we have a critical refereeing shortage and games are being cancelled left and right. And you are at least a part of the reason I’m done here. The most entitled among you are the ones that scream the loudest. And every time you do this, you tell your son or daughter the following:
‘I do not believe in you, I do not believe in your team, I do not believe in your collective ability to overcome your own adversity and you absolutely will not win and cannot do this without me tilting the table in your favor.’
“On behalf of myself and so many other referees – and I say this with every ounce of my heart and soul – shut up about the referees, and let your kids rise or fall as a team, as a FAMILY. Because the vast majority of you truly have no idea what you’re talking about, and even if you have a legitimate gripe about one play or one decision, you’re not fixing anything.”
And if that wasn’t enough, last week the Eastern Panhandle Youth Football League in West Virginia released the following statement:
“Unfortunately, it has come to the point that because of the abuse, negativity and utter disrespect shown to our officials from parents, coaches and most recently from our players, the Eastern Panhandle Officials Association president stated today that the association will no longer schedule officials for our league games at any field. This means effective immediately all remaining games are cancelled.”
This statement is from a youth league, which means the coaches are likely also parents of players, and the players are sons and daughters who are emulating their parents’ behavior.
So, no, our previous message was not too direct or emphatic. The kind of boorish parental behavior that compels a 20-year soccer official to quit cannot be allowed to continue. While we would hope that parents and other fans would embrace the concepts of education-based athletics by respecting the efforts of those men and women who officiate high school sports, that unfortunately is not occurring in some cases.
As a result, schools must adopt and enforce a strict, fan behavior policy. In soccer, a player receives a “yellow card” as a first warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. If the action occurs again, the player is hit with a “red card” and is ejected from the contest. Some schools have implemented a similar penalty structure for parents and other fans – not just at soccer games but all high school events. If the inappropriate behavior and verbal abuse of officials continues after one warning, the person is removed from the venue. There must be consequences for these offenders before we lose any more officials.
Most of the 7.9 million participants in high school sports are on the fields and courts every day to have fun and compete as a team with their classmates, and the 300,000-plus officials assist in that process. Now, if parents would let the players play and the officials officiate!
Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff is in her second year as executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is the first female to head the national leadership organization for high school athletics and performing arts activities and the sixth full-time executive director of the NFHS, which celebrated its 100th year of service during the 2018-19 school year. She previously was executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools-Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference for seven years.
Century of School Sports: Michigan's National Impact Begins at NFHS' Start
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
January 28, 2025
The beginning of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) predated the start of the MHSAA by about 4½ years. But Michigan played a leading role in creating the national organization for school-based sports and arts activities – and through its work with the NFHS continues to impact how school sports are played across the country.
On May 14, 1920, representatives from the Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin high school associations met to discuss common issues – especially national championships and eligibility rules in football, as returning World War I veterans were seeking to play on high school teams; and, according to meeting minutes, because “high school athletics were being handled in an unsatisfactory manner in contests under the auspices of colleges and universities.” At this time, Michigan school sports were governed by the MHSAA’s predecessor organization – the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) – and president A.W. Krauss, the principal at Grand Rapids South High School, represented our state.
Building on their desire to form common rules to govern athletics, those five states together formed the framework for the Mid-West Federation of State High School Associations, and the MIAA officially voted to join the organization March 31, 1921, becoming one of the four founding states (Indiana was absent when the Mid-West Federation constitution was adopted). Just about a year later, on March 1, 1922, with 11 states now present, the Mid-West Federation changed its name to the National Federation of State High School Athletic Associations – which became the current NFHS in 1970.
Representing the MIAA at the 1922 Federation meeting was Ann Arbor High School principal L.L. Forsythe – cited frequently for his outsized contributions during this “Century of School Sports” series – and he was elected as Federation vice president, a role in which he served for 15 years. Obviously his impact in that role was significant for the growing organization, which now includes associations from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Another Michigan school sports luminary, retired executive director John E. Jack Roberts, also had significant ties to the NFHS. He served on staff from 1973-80 and was heavily involved with the implementation of Title IX at the local and state levels. He also made immense contributions as the NFHS representative to the landmark Amateur Sports Act of 1978, and played a significant role in the NFHS rules-writing process as the organization started writing and publishing rules for a number of new sports during the 1970s. Roberts began his 32-year tenure leading the MHSAA in 1986.
The NFHS’s primary contribution to state associations remains today as writer of game rules for nearly all school sports, and those rules govern the majority of MHSAA-sponsored programs. (Competitive cheer is exclusive to Michigan, and golf, tennis and bowling are regulated by national governing organizations).
By agreeing to follow NFHS game rules, the MHSAA receives the opportunity to help make them, serving turns on rules-making committees with other representatives from the NFHS’s Section 4 – which also includes Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. Michigan also sends a rotating representative to serve on the national record book committee.
Previous "Century of School Sports" Spotlights
Jan. 21: Awards Celebrate Well-Rounded Educational Experience - Read
Jan. 14: Predecessors Laid Foundation for MHSAA's Formation - Read
Jan. 9: MHSAA Blazes Trail Into Cyberspace - Read
Dec. 31: State's Storytellers Share Winter Memories - Read
Dec. 17: MHSAA Over Time - Read
Dec. 10: On This Day, December 13, We Will Celebrate - Read
Dec. 3: MHSAA Work Guided by Representative Council - Read
Nov. 26: Finals Provide Future Pros Early Ford Field Glory - Read
Nov. 19: Connection at Heart of Coaches Advancement Program - Read
Nov. 12: Good Sports are Winners Then, Now & Always - Read
Nov. 5: MHSAA's Home Sweet Home - Read
Oct. 29: MHSAA Summits Draw Thousands to Promote Sportsmanship - Read
Oct. 23: Cross Country Finals Among MHSAA's Longest Running - Read
Oct. 15: State's Storytellers Share Fall Memories - Read
Oct. 8: Guided by 4 S's of Educational Athletics - Read
Oct. 1: Michigan Sends 10 to National Hall of Fame - Read
Sept. 25: MHSAA Record Books Filled with 1000s of Achievements - Read
Sept. 18: Why Does the MHSAA Have These Rules? - Read
Sept. 10: Special Medals, Patches to Commemorate Special Year - Read
Sept. 4: Fall to Finish with 50th Football Championships - Read
Aug. 28: Let the Celebration Begin - Read
(Map graphic courtesy of NFHS.)