A fight in the stands halts a high school boys basketball game at the Portland Expo. An angry mother fuels a melee when she rushes onto a wrestling mat in Skowhegan.

In Wales, an unruly fan rushes the court during a girls basketball game. A woman holding a baby slaps another fan during a high school basketball game in Easton. 

These incidents paint an ugly picture of behavior at Maine high school sporting events during the 2024-25 academic year. Behavior not of the players — but their parents, fans and friends. There are others, too, as fan ejections at athletic events appear to be on the rise in Maine.

Maine Principals’ Association Director Mike Burnham said that in the past, fans generally listened when they were told to relax at sporting events. Only on occasion would a fan be asked to leave a facility.

“But it was rare,” he said. “You talk to an athletic director today, and it’s commonplace.”

Why are so many bad sports ruining athletic events?

State and national high school administrators say pent-up anger, a selfish lack of control and a skewed sense of purpose of scholastic athletics are to blame.

The National Federation of State High School Associations, an advisory group for state athletic organizations like the MPA, tracks fan incidents at high school athletic events through media reports, as well as hearing from its state organizations.

“Self-control has eroded. There’s a greater sense of ‘I’m upset and I’m entitled to get angry,'” said Karissa Niehoff, CEO of the NFHS. “The levels of emotional upset and how it manifests into behaviors is more extreme. They just erupt, and it’s more aggressive than it used to be. It’s not just poor behavior in the stands, with jeering and taunting. This is physical violence. We’re seeing more of that.”

UGLY BEHAVIOR AT EVENTS ACROSS MAINE

This winter, there have been several violent incidents in Maine.

On Jan. 9 at the Portland Expo, a boys basketball game between Portland and Deering high schools was stopped for 30 minutes when a fight broke out in the stands behind the benches and scorer’s table.

Multiple sources said two teenage girls started the confrontation. Portland Schools Superintendent Ryan Scallon said it started when an out-of-town student confronted a Portland student.

Six additional police officers were brought in (games at the Expo typically have two) for support, and the game resumed. When another dispute erupted and officers interceded, officials decided to end the game with 90 seconds remaining.

Scallon told the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram that the argument stemmed from two parents who were involved in the previous fight.

Nine days later at the multi-team Skowhegan Open wrestling meet, a mother rushed onto the mat because her son and another wrestler began to fight after their match. That set off a multi-person fracas that included an assistant coach from Cony High subduing an adult spectator.

“It all comes down to selfish behavior. Unsportsmanlike behavior is basically selfish behavior,” said Gary Hoyt, the executive director of the Southwestern Maine Activities Association.

Hoyt added that he’s never heard a student say poor fan behavior was justified.

“I’ve never had a kid come up to me after and say, ‘My parent was right to yell at the officials,'” he said. “I’ve never had that happen in 45 years. But I have had kids say they were sorry about the way their parents behaved. Absolutely.”

STUDENT SUPERVISION PROBLEMS, PARENT CONTROL ISSUES

Enforcing safe, orderly behavior is not easy, especially when large numbers of unsupervised students gather at an athletic event. Sometimes they have no direct connection to either school competing.

In 2022, Portland Public Schools temporarily banned Deering students from Portland High games and Portland students from Deering events after a series of altercations where students were injured. At the time, many area athletic directors said they had seen a post-pandemic rise in unruly behavior from their students.

The unruly behavior hasn’t been limited to fans. 

In October, a Portland middle school athletic director punched a teenager at a soccer game. Jemal Murph said he was acting in self-defense after he was surrounded by a mob of trouble-causing teens.

Also this school year, a Messalonskee wrestling coach was fired for punching a wrestler during a practice.

But Tom Ray, a 26-year basketball and soccer official, said it’s the fans — not the coaches — most officials worry about.

Ray, who previously served as president of the Western Maine Board of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, added he believes many parents feel entitled to act poorly because, “everyone thinks little Johnny is the next Cooper Flagg and the AAU and travel leagues are just a money grab.”

Unchecked student sections, he added, “can create that negative environment very easily.”

“It used to be the coaches you worried about. But you know what? The coaches aren’t as bad as they used to be,” he added.

SOCIAL MEDIA PLAYS A ROLE

During the winter season, several videos surfaced on social media capturing fans being removed from basketball games. On Dec. 13, a fight broke out in the stands at Easton High during a boys game against Ashland.

There was an incident at Medomak Valley in Waldoboro, and then at Oak Hill in Wales. In a Jan. 31 girls game at Oak Hill, eight fans were asked to leave. At least one ran onto the court to confront a game official before being directed toward the exit.

Randy Ouellette, the father of two Noble High wrestlers, said he understands why parents get emotional during games; they’ve seen how hard their children are working in games, practices and training sessions.

“When the refs make a call that you don’t agree with, that upsets you, because your kids work so hard and then it gets taken away by a call,” he said. “I can see that part. But still, everybody’s got to check themselves. And I know I’ve had to do it in the past.”

Ouellette added that fan reactions have changed for the worse since he played high school sports. He quarterbacked Noble to its lone Class A championship in 1997.

“The competitiveness is still there, but I think people have lost the whole team thing,” he said. “It’s more of an individual thing now. It’s more about, ‘my kid.’ Just like in the world, nobody cares about their neighbor anymore.”

Burnham, the MPA’s director, said the outbursts at athletic events are troubling. He said it’s now “commonplace to not only ridicule the officials but the opponents.”

Like many others interviewed for this story, Burnham said he believes social media supercharges emotions before events as students and parents have the ability to chirp at each other virtually.

“There’s always been passion behind sports — that’s what makes it special — but I don’t remember on a night-in, night-out basis needing to address adult behavior. Or, when you had to address student behavior that it didn’t stop them,” Burnham said. “You talk to any athletic director and they’re going to have a story about having to remove fans.”

Meanwhile, players are trying to enjoy their games.

“Some of the kids say stuff, but that’s kind of out of our control. I mean, high schoolers say high school stuff,” said Ryan Cummins, the 5-foot-9 senior point guard on the York boys basketball team. “If we’re the opponent, then we’re expecting their student section to say something offensive to us, but we just do our best to block it out like every other team. It’s there. It’s always been there.”

Cummins gets a little extra dose of personalized attention because his older brother, 6-foot-6 Brady Cummins, plays Division I basketball at Colgate University.

“I do get some stuff about that sometimes. I don’t take it personally. It’s just funny to hear, ‘you’re nowhere near your brother,'” Cummins said. “Try to get under my skin a little bit, but I’m just kind of used to it.”

PREEMPTIVE MESSAGES; REACTIVE MEASURES

Schools and high school organizations try to address crowd behavior before it gets out of hand.

It’s common to hear the public-address announcer read a message about the importance of sportsmanship and treating officials and opponents with respect. Fans are often instructed not to call out opposing players by their name or number.

Niehoff, the NFHS CEO, said she has seen schools across the country have one player from each school, in uniform, read the prepared script, adding a visual emphasis that the game is played and run by players, coaches and officials — not the fans.

The SMAA hosts an annual Leadership Summit, formerly called a Sportsmanship Summit, for 10 students from each of its 17 member schools. Hoyt said the intent is for the students to learn how to teach their peers to curb negative behaviors.

Last week, the NFHS, in conjunction with its state athletic organizations, announced its Bench Bad Behavior initiative in an op-ed.

GOOD BEHAVIOR IS STILL PRESENT

Not every high school sporting event features a nest of negativity.

“We never want to forget that as we see (poor behavior and violence) escalate, we’re seeing student-athletes behaving very well. Credit to the kids and the great majority of the coaches,” Niehoff said.

Last Tuesday, Scarborough High hosted Cheverus in a girls/boys basketball doubleheader that drew big crowds. A large contingent of Scarborough students were on hand, standing throughout the boys game. And there was not a single instance of boorish language or outrage observed as the visiting Cheverus boys won a back-and-forth game with its fair share of close calls.

“We have been more engaged with students at games so they clearly understand the expectations,” said Mike LeGage, in his 16th year as the Red Storm’s athletic director. “The kids have been wonderful this year.”

LeGage said he’s fortunate to have the resources and school support to have a strong game management team.

He also acknowledged that things can go haywire. For a few years on either side of the pandemic, LeGage said he “almost knew every game, some confrontation was going to happen, either with an adult or some students.”

That’s why he and his experienced game management staff watch the crowds and continue to promote positive messaging.

“You have to be willing to address things and you have to be willing to hold people accountable and you have to make sure you build those relationships, especially with the student section,” LeGage said. “And it’s really helpful if you’re not by yourself. A lot of athletic directors are by themselves covering events and they don’t have the level of support in place.”

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