Wisconsin schools to consider sportsmanship course for spectators ejected from games

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Civic Media) – Wisconsin high school administrators will consider adding a sportsmanship course requirement for any spectator ejected from an athletic contest at the WIAA Annual Meeting on April 25.

Currently, anyone ejected from a game has to miss one additional home game, a rule the WIAA member schools adopted in 2021.

The proposal, which passed each stage unanimously before appearing on the Annual Meeting agenda, would require anyone tossed from a game or meet to take a free online course from the NFHS on sportsmanship.

Spectators ejected from a contest would still have to miss one additional home event, even if they take and pass the course before the next event.

Fan behavior has been an important topic, especially in the age of declining participation by students, officials, and coaches, who all cite unruly behavior as one of the drawbacks towards taking part in high school athletics.

In 2019, a bill was introduced to make harassing sports officials a crime. the bill was brought back in 2021.

Fan behavior isn’t the only hot topic on the Annual Meeting agenda. Schools will also vote on whether to allow student-athletes to enter into name, image, and likeness deals. Wisconsin is one of nine states that don’t allow NIL deals. The vote on NIL failed last year by 49 votes out of 369 cast.

Also on the agenda is a rule that would expand summer coaching contact days from five to most days between June 1 and July 31. While there are some restrictions, including a no-contact week of July 1 to July 7, the rule would allow for unrestricted coaching contact in the summer. Summer contact would still be voluntary.

Another measure would take cross country out of the team sports subject to the Tournament Performance Factor. Small schools lobbied complaints that the system penalized programs that might not win a sectional or state event, but be forced to compete against schools multiple times larger in the postseason anyways in the three-division sport.

A proposal to allow freshmen (9th grade) teams to play the same number of games as JV and Varsity in the regular season also made the agenda. All five proposed amendments, as well as some proposed editorial changes to the constitution, were approved unanimously to be placed on the Annual Meeting agenda.

The WIAA Annual Meeting will be held on April 25 in Stevens Point. You can see the proposed amendments by clicking here.

You can watch the Annual Meeting on April 25 at 9 a.m. by clicking here.