Nevada coach wants new rules aimed at bad sports parents

March 14, 2019 / Athletic AdministrationCoaching
A Nevada high school soccer coach is urging the state athletic association to create consequences for sports parents who cross the line.

Ed Partee, the girls soccer coach at Lowry High School in northern Nevada, was involved in an altercation last year that left him with a broken jaw. Partee said he was confronted after a game by the father of an opposing player, and the parent was upset over a hit his daughter took during the match, according to the Reno Gazette Journal. Words were exchanged, and Partee was punched in the face, leaving him with a broken jaw.

  » RELATED: Gaining administrative support against angry parents

The Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA) has no bylaws allowing it to punish schools for parent behavior, but Partee wants that to change. The NIAA is expected to discuss it this week.

From the Reno Gazette Journal:

“You can’t have this happening,” Partee said. “This isn’t going away. This is not 30 years ago; people are crazy now. That’s the scary part. They need to come up with something.”

Partee spoke in front of the NIAA board of control at its December meeting.

“The board had a very long discussion on this during the last meeting and is looking to enact legislation granting the NIAA authorization to take action accordingly against fans as well, should that be deemed necessary,” Nelson said.

Rollins Stallworth, Washoe County School District’s coordinator of activities and athletics, said it is difficult to prevent incidents like Partee’s because most schools do not have the necessary police force to control upset or disgruntled parents.

Confrontations between coaches and fans are a major issue in high school sports, and each state has its own policy for addressing it. Last year, New Mexico passed new rules allowing it to punish schools for fan behavior. In February, it was forced to warn one school that it would ban all fans from basketball games if it did not clean up student conduct in the stands.

Read more from the Reno Gazette Journal.


Leave a Reply