Calif. High Schools Trying To Limit Tensions At Games

Can repeats of the recent rash of violence in athletics be prevented or at least curtailed? At the high school level, just like in the classroom, it often comes down to teaching.

“Obviously, we’re always concerned when the pro and college programs don’t mirror the same values that we do,” said Central Coast Section commissioner Nancy Lazenby Blaser, whose agency oversees roughly 65,000 student-athletes in 24 sports. “We try to remind everyone that this is a high school environment and we expect different things.”

“For us, it’s educating the kids and the coaches and the parents,” Serra-San Mateo football coach Patrick Walsh said. “We’re trying to build brotherhood, camaraderie and friendship through the game of football — not getting lost in the scoreboard — and trying to remind people that we’re trying to build men. The scoreboard will take care of itself.”

A change in culture regarding violence can be traced back to the past 15 years, at least as seen by the eyes of Tim Goode, president of Alpine/West Menlo Little League as well as manager of the Redwood City Reds, an American Legion 19-and-under youth baseball team.

“Kids don’t punch,” said Goode, who admitted to his fair share of fisticuffs growing up. “In high school there is zero tolerance for fighting. Acting out improperly isn’t accepted and the ramifications are that we have an enjoyable environment for youth sports.”

Often, the tension on the field and in the stands can be defused via the action of teenagers rather than adults.

“Everybody has an impact, and some of the biggest is the captains on their respective teams,” said former Palo Alto three-sport star T.J. Braff, The Daily News’ prep athlete of the year.

Lazenby Blaser notes that one of the most effective procedures calls for the two captains to come out prior to the game to address the fans with a statement about sportsmanship.

“To keep the focus on the play on the field and not on the yahoos in the stand,” she said.

Prior to CCS playoff games, meetings are also arranged involving the site supervisor, referees, coaches and captains.

“Everyone is aware of what is going on and it teaches you about sportsmanship and bigger societal issues,” Serra basketball coach Chuck Rapp said.

Mike McCarron, a Little League umpire for 35 years and a youth football referee for 15 years, made it a point to introduce coaches and players to the point of view of an official.

“It’s a totally different way in which a parent, coach or a player would look at the game,” said McCarron, the District 52 Little League assistant administrator. “We’re outnumbered constantly, so we can’t see everything and we have to look at the most critical situations.”

If McCarron senses pressure building, he uses humor or verbal warnings to ease tension.

“And if you start to see it get out hand, you try to prevent it from escalating any way you can,” said McCarron, who if needed will address the administrator on site. “Last-case scenario, you have to eject people. … And I think it reflects poorly on my game management.”

At times, though, no amount of preventive measures will stop the inevitable.

“We’re in this for deeper reasons,” Walsh said. “With that said, we do keep score and we want to win, too. It seems like to me that the ones who have problems are the ones who put their own egos ahead of what it’s all about, and that’s the kids.”

Support from authority figures can often be found in teachers, who are required to supervise a minimum number of athletic events. At bigger contests the athletic director will be on site along with other administrators.

“Things are very well controlled and you’re dealing with high-caliber people all the way around,” said St. Francis-Mountain View statistician Joe Schram, who has been on the job for 41 years but can’t recall any scuffles that got out of hand. “The coaches handle themselves very well and I think the athletic director would jump in a hurry if somebody got out of line.”

Serra even hires an outside security group that monitors the parking lot and the gate during its West Catholic Athletic League basketball contests while San Mateo Police often drop by.

“So you’re in a pretty secure environment,” Rapp said.

And just to be safe, visiting schools are assigned specific areas to sit, most commonly on the opposite side to avoid direct confrontations.

“Every time you’re playing a rival, it doesn’t matter what sport you’re playing,” Carlmont-Belmont athletic director Patrick Smith said. “You want to have the proper amount of security beforehand to discourage anything from happening,”

In the end, it comes back to promoting sportsmanship.

“I think it starts with respect for one’s opponent,” Rapp said. “We battle hard and we try to beat each other, but after the game we shake hands and move on.”

“It’s the players and the coaches and the attitude that they have towards the game,” Palo Alto athletic director and football coach Earl Hansen said. “Now the Raiders and the 49ers didn’t have any problems. The players didn’t have any problems.”

There is a lesson to be learned from sportsmanship.

“You can win graciously and you can lose graciously,” Smith said. “And that’s a choice that you can make.”