Bad sportsmanship: A problem that persists

Photo Caption- Fans cheer on the women’s soccer team during their rivalry game against St. Francis.

By Colette Quaas

HUB Staff

Per the Davis High website, student- athletes are expected to provide “a safe, positive, challenging, competitive and fair athletic experience that emphasizes principles of personal integrity, sportsmanship, wellness and fulfillment of the student athlete’s potential.”

However, students at DHS do not always follow these rules set in place.

Recently, the DHS women’s soccer team was supposed to play it’s senior night game against St. Francis. A few hours before the game, students were notified the game was canceled due to non-COVID-19 related reasons.

“In the spirit of competition, some things were said that were not very sportsmanlike (over social media),” an anonymous source who plays for the team said.

Another incident occurred during the men’s soccer game later in the season. As the team was ranked number one in the section, they were expected to make it far into the playoffs. Many students came to support the team which led to some insensitive cheers.

“Everybody was super hype but it was not necessarily in a good way. People were saying f*** Modesto a lot, booing and saying f*** the refs,”senior Carleigh Greenway said.

DHS secretary of spirit and senior Helena Wei, noted that these kinds of incidents are not uncommon.

“Even at football games I felt like there was lots of hype but then they would say some inappropriate stuff that made it hard for some students to join in the cheering,” Wei said.

The DHS athletics website states that “fans that address game officials, players, coaches or other fans verbally or physically will be asked to leave the contest.” The Davis Joint Unified School District Student-Athlete Handbook states that “athletes who violate those standards should expect disciplinary action.”

Senior Paige Carlock attended the White Out DHS men’s basketball game. “People had signs that said things like Pleasant Gross that actually got taken away from them but no one was asked to leave that I know of,” Carlock said.

She notes that unsportsmanlike crowd behavior is not just a problem at DHS, and the problem is also present with opponents.

“I would say there were actually chants on both sides that would not be considered super great sportsmanship and I think that’s just something that happens,” Carlock said.