2 Schools Take Steps to Temper Emotions

Two Orange County high schools have taken steps to ensure that violence and poor sportsmanship don’t mar their athletic contests.

At Foothill High School, administrators have clamped down on a group called Reamer’s Screamers. The group’s members, named for Foothill basketball coach Jim Reames, often painted their faces, wore basketballs on their heads, nets around their necks and joined the cheerleaders on the court during team introductions.

Reamer’s Screamers were enthusiastic in their support of the team, but some members showed their support in negative ways, Reames said.

“I thought the language was bad,” he said. “There was some cussing, some racial remarks. I didn’t like that at all.”

Jim Ryan, Foothill’s principal, put an end to it this season. The group’s members no longer are allowed to take the court, wear basketball headgear or paint their faces.

“The one thing we wanted was to eliminate the use of profanity and the screaming of derogatory remarks at officials, players and opposing fans,” Ryan said. “It escalated a little over the last couple of years. The kids wanted to out-do what the previous kids did and they wanted to have a good time at somebody else’s expense.’

Ryan didn’t want shenanigans in the stands to gain more attention than the players on the court. He also didn’t want a student with a painted face walking home alone after a heated basketball game to become a target, he said.

“You have to prevent this ahead of time whether you’re an administrator, coach, parent or player,” Ryan said. “We all share in this. Someone has to step in and say, ‘Cool it!’ ”

Century High School has taken prevention a step further. Students meet with a teacher for 15 minutes four days a week in a sort of self-esteem and character-building workshop. A week before the new high school’s first home basketball game, teachers used the time to teach the schools’ freshman and sophomore student body the proper way to show support for its team.

“We discussed everything from putting your best foot forward, how to behave, you know, cheer for your own team rather than trying to put the other team down,” Century basketball coach Greg Coombs said.

The week was designed to give the students, many of whom had never been to a varsity game, instruction on how to positively express their exuberance and excitement.

Coombs believes the program has really made a difference. He saw some results in a game against Marina’s sophomore team in December.

Century was leading previously undefeated Marina by 20 points when “the Marina players lost their poise,” Coombs said. “It got to a situation where people started mouthing off. The Marina kids were frustrated. It was their first loss and they’re young. One of their players made a gesture at our stands.”

And another Marina player fouled a Century player intentionally and hard, Coombs said.

Coombs called timeout and reminded his players to let the scoreboard do the talking.

“A lot of kids think they are not men by not standing up, but we told them it was more mature to walk away and not have a problem. That is really a sign of growing up when you can do that,” he said.