Some people may find humorous and frivolous the latest controversy surrounding the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association. It is a little bit of both.
The WIAA, the association that governs high school sports in Wisconsin, is making a push to ban bare-chested fans from indoor events. The prohibition also would apply to fans with painted chests.
The WIAA's sportsmanship committee voted 6-0 to recommend the ban. The reasoning, according to Tom Shafranski of the WIAA, is that students can't sit in their classrooms without shirts, so they shouldn't be able to when they're in the school at a sporting event, either.
It's a pretty silly argument, really.
As far as we know, students are not allowed to cheer when they're in the classroom, either. Should that also be banned at indoor sporting events?
Absurd.
Shafranski also says it's a matter of being appropriately dressed.
Certainly, students should be expected to dress "appropriately" when they're on school grounds for a school function. However, decisions for what's appropriate are best made by individual school districts - not a statewide agency.
There also is the question of why shirtless fans would be inappropriate indoors but not outdoors at sporting events? Most of these contests take place on school (public) property, too. Even if the WIAA enacts the ban, it is inconsistent.
It makes one wonder what the motivation behind this proposal is. The WIAA has tried to exert its control over prep events in recent years, most notably dictating last year that news media could only have complete access at state tournament events if it paid a WIAA fee. After much opposition from newspapers and other state media, the WIAA put its edict on hold.
The bottom lines?
Local schools, not the WIAA, should make decisions on what students should and shouldn't wear to games.
Fans who paint their chest for games aren't necessarily inappropriately dressed. In fact, most often they're showing school spirit and adding to the game's fun atmosphere. There's no good reason to prevent this from happening.
Hopefully, the public attention paid to this misguided proposal will persuade the WIAA's sports advisory committee of athletic directors to vote against it this week.
The WIAA, the association that governs high school sports in Wisconsin, is making a push to ban bare-chested fans from indoor events. The prohibition also would apply to fans with painted chests.
The WIAA's sportsmanship committee voted 6-0 to recommend the ban. The reasoning, according to Tom Shafranski of the WIAA, is that students can't sit in their classrooms without shirts, so they shouldn't be able to when they're in the school at a sporting event, either.
It's a pretty silly argument, really.
As far as we know, students are not allowed to cheer when they're in the classroom, either. Should that also be banned at indoor sporting events?
Absurd.
Shafranski also says it's a matter of being appropriately dressed.
Certainly, students should be expected to dress "appropriately" when they're on school grounds for a school function. However, decisions for what's appropriate are best made by individual school districts - not a statewide agency.
There also is the question of why shirtless fans would be inappropriate indoors but not outdoors at sporting events? Most of these contests take place on school (public) property, too. Even if the WIAA enacts the ban, it is inconsistent.
It makes one wonder what the motivation behind this proposal is. The WIAA has tried to exert its control over prep events in recent years, most notably dictating last year that news media could only have complete access at state tournament events if it paid a WIAA fee. After much opposition from newspapers and other state media, the WIAA put its edict on hold.
The bottom lines?
Local schools, not the WIAA, should make decisions on what students should and shouldn't wear to games.
Fans who paint their chest for games aren't necessarily inappropriately dressed. In fact, most often they're showing school spirit and adding to the game's fun atmosphere. There's no good reason to prevent this from happening.
Hopefully, the public attention paid to this misguided proposal will persuade the WIAA's sports advisory committee of athletic directors to vote against it this week.
