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WIAA seeking stiffer penalties for harassment against officials

By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor


BROWN COUNTY – Calling the shortage of youth sports officials a “national crisis,” the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) has joined other sports organizations in seeking legislation that would make harassing behavior toward a sports official a Class A misdemeanor.

In a recent statement released by the WIAA, which oversees interscholastic athletic programs for 511 high schools around the state, it expressed its support for the legislation, joining other organizations, including the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Wisconsin Athletic Directors Association.

“Responding to the national crisis as a result of the shortage of amateur and youth sports officials, we applaud and recognize the Wisconsin legislature’s bipartisan efforts to create protections for the men and women who officiate these events,” said WIAA Executive Director Dave Anderson. “We are grateful for their willingness to help protect and preserve these school-based activities, as well as youth and adult recreation opportunities, which contribute to the fabric of our communities and society.”

Class A misdemeanors are the most serious misdemeanor crimes in Wisconsin and are punishable by up to nine months in jail or a fine up to $10,000, or both.

Currently, a person who commits harassment of a sport official is subject to a Class B forfeiture of up to $1,000 if the person, with intent to harass or intimidate, strikes, shoves or kicks another person or if the person engages in a course of conduct or repeatedly commits acts which harass or intimidate another person and which serve no legitimate purpose.

According to an e-mail from supporting legislators, the bill would be designed to protect “a referee, umpire, judge or person performing similar functions, and the harassment is in response to, or intended to influence, an action by the sports official.”

The bill does not only cover high school sports.

The preliminary draft said any sports official, whether paid or unpaid, at a sporting event open to the public, would be protected by the law.

It also proposes possible additional penalties of up to 40 hours of community service work and required counseling, such as anger management or abusive behavior intervention.

According to the WIAA, 24 states currently have assault legislation, civil statutes or supportive resolutions protecting sports officials.

The hope of the WIAA is by decreasing the level of unruly fan behavior, it will stop the decline in the number of officials.

The WIAA asserted 80 percent of new officials quit within two years, and there are more officials over 65 years old than there are under 30.

The number of games, most often at the freshmen and junior varsity levels, being canceled due to a lack of available officials is continuing to grow.

“The average age of a sports official today is 58 years old,” Anderson said. “We’re not seeing the number of young people coming up behind them and filling the ranks. Nearly 60 percent of them have identified feeling threatened as a reason they are walking away.”

One area WIAA official, Christopher Liermann, 28, has been officiating basketball, baseball and softball games since his freshman year at Kiel High School.

“I have done varsity baseball and softball games but not varsity basketball,” said Liermann, who is also the voice of Bay Port internet broadcasts. “I have occasionally gotten a hard time from a coach at the junior varsity level, but for the most part, it’s not bad. It’s an issue at the high school level for sure, but in my opinion, it’s an even bigger issue at the youth level. I recently had to eject a coach at the grade school level. The back-and-forth interactions between the coaches/parents with the officials can be outrageous.”

Liermann said four hours of work on a Saturday morning reffing youth basketball will net him $100 in cash.

“It’s a nice way to make some extra money, stay around the game and get some exercise,” Liermann said. “I love how the West De Pere School District runs things – they have good game management and school officials have your back. They run their youth tournaments well.”

Liermann said outside of getting complaints calling balls and strikes, he hasn’t had too many issues in baseball/softball.

“One time during a junior varsity baseball game in the area, my partner and I ejected a coach,” he said. “He waited in the parking lot until after the game, then he let us have it – it was brutal.”

Liermann said moments like this have prompted him to question whether he wanted to stay an official, but he said there are more positives than negatives.

Liermann noted WIAA officials must take a yearly test of 100 questions to keep their certification, but none of the questions deal with unruly coaches/parents.

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