Perryville High School Athletic Director Justin Dreyer appeared before the board of education at its Aug. 14 meeting to discuss a possible change in the athletic handbook regarding fan conduct at sporting events.
“The behavior of spectators is becoming more aggressive — and that's not only towards officials,” he said. “It's also towards coaches and even the athletes themselves. Because of that, we're seeing the lowest number of officials across the country than we've seen in a long time.”
Dreyer informed the board that he had heard that in a few years, a third of high school football games would have to be played on Thursday, a third on Friday, and a third on Saturday to ensure enough officials would be available to cover the games.
“Currently, in southeast Missouri, there are 11 total crews for Friday night football, and that's for all of the schools,” he said. “And it’s not just football. It’s basketball. It’s everything. People are not wanting to become officials and coaches because of this. There are a lot of people not wanting to get into the coaching profession because of what they see people having to put up with. So, because of that, I would like our school, along with a lot of the other schools around us, especially in our conference, to do something to take a stand to show our spectators that they can’t act like this.”
He gave the board two examples of spectator misconduct during a school athletic event and explained the disciplinary measures taken in each case. In the first instance, Dreyer said the person would be removed from the game, after which they would receive a letter from him and the superintendent explaining why the action was taken.
“And then, suspension could be warranted depending on the severity of [the incident],” Dreyer said. “Then, on the second incidence — that’s the big one — the individual is suspended from all activities home and away for 365 days. The individual would be responsible for setting up a meeting with the superintendent and athletic director to meet with the board of education before being reinstated.
“Now, there’s also some language there on the very bottom that I put that says our administration has a right to enforce this policy to varying degrees at our discretion based on the severity of an incident. I also know, being around athletics for a long time and coaching, there are some people that deserve to get kicked out of a game, and there are some people that really don't, but the official has a short fuse, and somebody might yell something. He just stops again. He turns around and kicks that person out. They never cursed, they never did anything.”
Dreyer suggested that the 365-day ban might be put in place initially until the incident could be investigated.
“Every sport is different,” he said. “Officials don’t hear a lot of stuff in a basketball game. At a volleyball game, they hear everything.”
Asked what would happen if an offender wanted to attend a school activity prior to completing the 365-day penalty, Dreyer said, “That would depend on the severity of it. It could be somewhere from 10 days to 300 days — really whatever we decide. I wanted to put that in there because I didn’t want to stick to 365 days because that’s for all activities.
“So, if this is a senior parent and it happens in December, they can’t go to graduation. I look at it as the long-term suspension student who would want to come back would meet with you guys and plead their case.”
Dreyer said that whatever the reason an offender gave for seeking early reinstatement, it would ultimately come back to the board of education for a final decision. When a board member suggested that the athletic director might want a little “wiggle room” in deciding whether a person could be reinstated early, Dreyer said, “It happened one time this year. We had a fan — a spectator — get kicked out. It wasn't a parent. It wasn't even a grandparent. It was a friend. She got kicked out twice. One time, yes, she deserved it —100 percent. The other time, not so much.”
Dreyer said he could add that when requesting early reinstatement, the offender would have to meet with the board before a decision was made. After further discussion, the athletic director agreed to make several changes to the code of conduct and bring it back to the board at a later meeting for approval.
