Piedmont High School has announced a new spectator policy following the Jan. 30 brawl that involved Piedmont students and San Leandro players and coaches.
The new rules are meant to control the Highlanders student section, which typically harasses opposing players in a similar way to college rooting sections.
Piedmont principal David Yoshihara announced the policy in a letter on Feb. 10. The new rules are:
- Moving the student and parent sections in Binks Gymnasium.
- Bleachers will not be pulled out all the way. Prior to this, the first row of the bleachers would be pulled out nearly to the court’s sidelines.
- The first three rows of bleachers will be off limits to students except when they are entering and exiting the bleachers.
- Home fans will be required to exit the gym via the closest doors rather than being able to cross the court to other exits.
- Cheers will be limited to positive support of that section’s team. Examples include “Let’s go, Piedmont,” and “Defense.”
- Inappropriate cheers will get one warning (or no warning if administrators deem it egregious).
- Listed examples include player names and numbers of the opposing team or other identifying characteristics.
- Upon a second violation, that fan will be ejected. If the administrator can’t determine the offending fan, the section will be cleared and all students in the section will be ejected.
A “campus supervisor” will be present at all games. The letter does not define a campus supervisor but administrators (including Yoshihara and athletic director Tyler Small) have previously been supervising the student section.
“We can be loud, and we must also be positive,” Yoshihara said in the letter. “Cheering for our team, understanding the difficult role that our refs have, and respecting our coaches (i.e. don’t yell your coaching advice to players) is where we must start.”