The following column was written by Dr. Karissa Niefhoff, executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations.
For several years, we have drawn attention to the poor behavior exhibited at high school athletic contests, hoping to bring awareness to the issue and the damage it can cause to education-based athletics.
We have pleaded. We have scolded. We have condemned unfortunate incidents across the country and, as a result, successfully proven that the problem was widespread and needed to be addressed. Now is the time for solutions.
The NFHS will target solutions when it hosts the Behavior in Sports Summit: Understanding Your Influence, August 14-16 in Indianapolis. The Summit will bring together high school leaders for two full days of speakers and panel discussions to offer solutions to behavior issues at high school sporting events.
This Summit is a continuation of the two Official Consortiums the NFHS held the past two years where officials’ groups addressed behavior issues that have caused officials to leave the avocation and keep others from joining.
The Behavior in Sports Summit will include a wider range of roles, bringing together as many groups as possible to offer solutions to behavior issues at high school sporting events – and continue in our quest to retain and recruit contest officials for high school sports.
We hope to involve athletic administrators, state high school association directors and media relations personnel, media members, students and coaches in finding solutions to changing the atmosphere and culture at events.