Fan distracting players

[Tru_in_Blu]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

Manny:

If you already know that it is just a fan doing the shouting, why are you even bothering to get game management involved. It is a fan, let them shout all they want. There is no rule justification for you or game management to get involved.

MTD, Sr.

While there may be no specific rule in our book(s), we've been given the following mandate from the New Hampshire Interscholastic A.A.

"The National High School Federation and your state association require officials to enforce sportsmanship rules. High school athletics emphasize positive values. All of us have worked hard to create a sense of teamwork, respect, responsibility and perspective. We remind you that we expect good behavior and will quickly penalize misconduct. We encourage and appreciate your help. Let this competition reflect mutual respect among all participants and officials. Coaches please certify that your players are legally equipped and uniformed according to NFHS rules."

While the above gives officials no specific responsibilities as to what goes on outside the confines of the field, sportsmanship relating to the game can be addressed by either the coach(es) and/or game managers.

I believe in most cases, simply asking an offending party to cease doing what he/she is doing will suffice. Certainly, the rare exception will occur but in 5 years that I've been working HS ball, I haven't seen it. Hope it stays that way.