Natalia Rivera Banuet / The SWC Sun
By Athena Cruz
SWC’s women’s water polo team won the first match of a mini-tournament, but got bombed in the second.
F-bombed, to be precise.
Officials cancelled the Lady Jaguars second match and called a complete halt to the tournament when an unruly parent or parents refused to stop shouting profanities at players and coaches, and would not leave peacefully when ordered out of the pool area.
After vocal SWC co-captains Appari Ramos and Alex Flores led their team in scoring and spirit in a victory over East Los Angeles College, the tournament came to a decisive and disturbing halt during the SWC-Fullerton College match when an unruly fan or fans used profane and threatening language toward players and referees. League officials repeatedly asked for order and civil behavior, then asked the perpetrators to leave. The request was met with a threat.
“You better watch your fucking mouth, man!” a crowd member shouted in response.
At that point officials cleared the deck and cancelled remaining matches citing the safety of players, coaches and referees.
Coach Hannah Blum refused to discuss the incident, as did administrators of the SWC athletic department. Blum and athletic department personnel refused to say why they would not answer questions about the incident, including questions about whether the fan was the parent of an SWC player or was from another college district. They also refused to discuss policies for keeping players and coaches safe.
Southwestern has had other such incidents recently, including at soccer matches, football games and basketball games. It is a regional problem, according to California Interscholastic Federal officials, who said there have been nearly 100 incidents involving unruly fans this calendar year. Data for community colleges was not made available to The Sun by the Southwestern College athletic department, but anecdotal evidence indicates that uncivil behavior at athletic events is on the rise and escalating in intensity. Academic journals like the Education Week and the Journal of Higher Education have reported on a national trend toward incivility at K-12 and collegiate athletic events, including low stakes community college contests. A 60-year-old Vermont man died following an altercation at a middle school basketball game. Some districts have banned all spectators from athletic events, others now have a heavy police presence, including some schools in San Diego County.
“It sucks that some parents can’t behave,” said a Southwestern College athlete who asked that her name not be used for fear of retaliation. “We were all raised playing sports in the South Bay and were taught to be respectful to your opponents and your teammates. A lot of us around here are friends who have played either together or on other teams since we were little kids. Community college sports are supposed to be fun, not deathwish blood sport.”
Melanie Hernandez said she used to watch her children play softball and soccer when they were younger and sometimes walks over to the college to watch SWC games.
“Most of the fans are parents and friends and family,” she said. “And they are mostly really nice people. I’ve enjoyed meeting so many of them. But, yeah, there are definitely some people who take it too seriously and get out of line. There’s no place for that.”
