As the Nebraska High School Activities Association (NSAA) has already placed new regulations this year on physicality in both football and basketball, the trend of a “softer” sporting environment has migrated beyond the playing field and into the bleachers, as chants such as “airball” and “you got swatted” are approaching the edge of “what is allowed” within the student section.

In a recent article by the Omaha World Herald, the trend of student sections transforming from rowdy and bothersome to the away team, to only encouraging their team, has been spreading all over the country, from gyms in Wisconsin, to Kansas and now to our own here in Omaha. In the article, Westside’s very own athletic director, Tom Kerkman, is quoted about his thoughts on turning around when an opponent’s starting lineup is announced, among other things. The consensus among most athletic directors in the piece: student sections need to look out for the feelings of the other team.

As an athlete myself, I have experienced the many comments of another school’s student body: “airball”, “fundamentals”, “you can’t do that”, etc. Of course at the time of the chants, they can be frustrating, but that is what they are for! To play a game in another teams gym is to enter their own domain, a place where they practice every day and expect to get a win. Players show passion on the court, and I would expect the fans to do the same off. Plus, coaches preach mental toughness to their players, mind over matter. Yelling and heckling through rowdy chants is a reason there is such a thing as “home court/field advantage”, an idea that is predicated off of mental toughness. It isn’t because students want to personally attack kids for making mistakes in the game, but because they want to make getting a win as difficult as possible by attacking the only place they can on a player, the six inches between their ears.

Obviously there is a line for what student sections can say. Profanity or charged comments shouldn’t be allowed, but that is a given, a piece of etiquette any high school student should be aware of. Though things such as turning around during starting lineups, chanting “airball”, “you can’t do that” or “scoreboard”, along with many other clever chants, are what makes big crowds invigorating to play in front of for the athletes. To take these vehement cheers out of the gym would be taking something away from the fun of the game, and coming from an athlete, I don’t want to lose that.