Statewide fan ejection policy implemented for North Dakota high school sports
The organization that oversees high school athletics in North Dakota has implemented a statewide standard for handling unruly fans, though advocates for an end to racial taunting at sporting events say its effectiveness will depend on enforcement.
The North Dakota High School Activities Association board of directors on Aug. 14 approved a minimum penalty for spectators who are ejected from arenas during regular season or tournament contests - a three-game/event suspension from all NDHSAA-sponsored contests at any level of competition. If there are fewer than three games remaining in the season, the suspension will carry over to the next season.
A fan who is ejected twice during a school year will be suspended for a minimum of one calendar year from NDHSAA regular and postseason contests.
Schools that are members of the association are free to increase the minimum penalties, but not reduce them. The policy took effect immediately.
It's the latest of numerous steps that have been taken over the past 1 1⁄2 years to address incidents at high school extracurricular events in North Dakota that some Indigenous people including several leaders say indicates a pattern of insensitivity to Native issues, customs and culture persists.
Scott Davis, a former longtime North Dakota Indian Affairs commissioner, applauded the new move, though he added he hopes it's not the final one.
"As a longtime volunteer coach and referee for many years, I think it is good first step in a much longer process in assessing and making sure sports activities in North Dakota are fair and safe for our tribal student athletes," he said.
The issue is not just racial taunting. For example, the father of a Bismarck High basketball player who was taunted in January 2023 was himself ejected from a high school game at the Bismarck Event Center last March for his behavior in the stands.
'Don't do wrong'
The issue of racial harassment of high school athletes was thrust into the public eye when two Native American players on the Bismarck High boys basketball team endured taunts during a Jan. 31, 2023, game in Jamestown. Video surfaced afterward on social media of monkey noises and war whooping coming from the Jamestown student section. Several other similar incidents have been documented since, leading to calls from Indigenous leaders for a zero-tolerance policy for such behavior - even after the NDHSAA had taken numerous steps to try to address egregious fan behavior.
Those steps included:
NDHSAA Executive Director Matthew Fetsch said the new policy was not directly related to calls to do even more, though he said the association's Sportsmanship & Citizenship Committee was involved in developing the language.
The idea for a minimum statewide penalty came from the Class A Review committee, made up of athletic directors from Class A schools.
Bismarck Public Schools Activities Director Dave Zittleman told the Bismarck School Board on Sept. 9 that there is the possibility the policy will be fine-tuned. He would prefer a suspension of three weeks rather than three games, as he noted that sporting events differ in frequency. For example, a fan who is ejected from a football game could be banned from further games for three weeks, due to the spacing of games, while a fan ejected from a volleyball tournament could be back in the stands as early as the next day, given the frequency of matches.
School Board Member Jon Lee noted that on the flip side, a three-week suspension for a volleyball fan could involve a high number of matches, while for a football fan it would be only a few games. Zittleman said the percentage of contests missed would be about the same.
Bismarck Century Activities Director Ben Lervick told the board that the policy "might take a little bit of cleaning up," but that "The thing that I do appreciate is that we do have some ability to expand beyond some of the minimums and really decide what is it as a community that we are OK with, and what are the things that we're not OK with."
Superintendent Jeff Fastnacht said BPS supports the policy "in concept." Board member Dan Eastgate said he sees deterrence as a main attribute.
"This isn't about trying to catch people doing wrong; we're just trying to say, 'Don't do wrong,'" he said.
Enforcement questions
State Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette, and State Rep. Lisa Finley-DeVille, D-Mandaree, both have publicly called for tougher sanctions for disorderly fans. Both told the Tribune that they see the new policy as a positive step, but they wondered about enforcement.
"It's encouraging to see the NDHSAA putting enforceable measures behind its behavior expectations. However, the effectiveness of this policy will depend entirely on its consistent implementation," Jayme Davis said. "Policies are only as strong as their enforcement, and my concern has always been about how these rules are applied in practice."
Finley-Deville echoed the sentiment, saying the policy "is a commendable step" but that "the effectiveness of this policy will heavily depend on its enforcement. Ensuring that these penalties are consistently applied and monitored is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the policy and achieving its intended impact."
Fetsch told the Tribune that enforcement would be the responsibility of "site administrators and/or game officials."
Zittleman told the Bismarck School Board that enforcing the policy could get "clumsy" if it's an out-of-town fan that's suspended, but he said follow-up investigations will be done in such instances. He stressed that fans "need to behave. And if they can't behave, then there's consequences."
Scott Davis said local control is key.
"We also need to develop fair and just penalties for those who continue to exercise unethical behavior during games," he said. "Local schools, school boards, administration, athletic departments should now be proactive versus reactive."
Local control
The NDHSAA board last spring surveyed member schools and asked, "To what extent does your school wish to have the NDHSAA Board of Directors control penalties involving violations of the NDHSAA behavior expectations during the regular season?"
Of the 171 member schools, 160 responded. Fetsch said 65% were opposed to the NDHSAA board controlling penalties, and shortly after the survey results were shared, the Class A Review committee made the recommendation to institute a minimum statewide penalty with room for local enhancements.
Jayme Davis said it didn't surprise her that the majority of school administrators prefer local control over penalties, and added "I support this perspective because local leaders are often better positioned to understand the context and nuances of their own communities.
"However, the decision to implement a minimum penalty suggests there is a recognized need for a level of consistency across schools," she said. "It indicates a balance between allowing local discretion and ensuring a basic standard of conduct is upheld across all events."
Finley-Deville said that despite the desire among the majority of schools for less direct oversight, the minimum penalty "reflects a necessary shift towards a more standardized approach to managing unacceptable behavior. The challenge now is ensuring that this policy is effectively enforced across all levels, despite the concerns about centralized control. This enforcement will be key to realizing the policy's full potential and addressing the very behavior it aims to correct."
The parents of the BHS athletes in May 2023 filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. That investigation is ongoing, according to Tim Purdon, the families' attorney. Officials with the federal office have declined comment to the Tribune, citing an open investigation under the Civil Rights Act.
Purdon noted that racial taunting of athletes has become a public issue largely because of technology, with cellphone video providing proof of incidents when before there was only word of mouth. He views the new ejection policy as another of several positive steps in the battle to address fan misconduct.
"They've been a long time in coming. ... It will remain to be seen whether these steps will end the possibility of racist abuse of children during high school sporting events," he said. "We'll have to see how this goes."
