Student spectators were bad sports

A Spectrum, by Carla Dau

I attended a Varsity volleyball match at Chugiak High School on Wednesday, Oct. 30. The following is a factual account of behaviors and conversations that occurred that night in the gym during the match. I document this account from the perspective of a former Mat-Su District School Board Member, substitute teacher of 25 years, Volleyball Booster Club officer, and most importantly, mother of a sophomore on the Knights volleyball team. The Lady Mustangs hosted our Lady Knights of Colony High School; it was the Mustangs' Senior Night celebration.

There was a group of five to seven young males who appeared to be Chugiak High School students. They sat on the first row of the bleacher, on the side of the court across from Colony. They moved to be across from the Colony players each time Colony switched courts. I was sitting on the opposite court from these young men for game one. A volleyball parent sitting behind them, who heard what they were saying, alerted me. As soon as game two started, they moved just below me. I went down and stood in front of them and identified myself as a parent of a Colony player and said that I would not tolerate disrespectful words to any players. They quickly defended themselves saying all their words were "complimentary." I went on to say, "I'm a teacher and I will find an administrator if anything you say to any of the players on the court is unacceptable." Then they said to me, they were especially nice to number ___. I replied, "That is my daughter."

Early in the match, Colony players spoke to our coach, who instructed Colony's captain to speak to the male official, Mike Vincent. The official turned from his position at the net, the young men were sitting behind him, and said that any more comments like that could get them kicked out of the gym. Chugiak's representative responsible for the event was also aware of the their unacceptable behaviors and words, and he sat with them for a short while. Four of our volleyball parents came down and sat directly behind them for part of one game. At one point, a male flipped off one of our volleyball dads. These young men had two poster board signs that they were waving during the games. It was brought to my attention that one sign said, "Spike that S**t."

"That" is a pronoun, therefore suggesting a person (a Colony player). At the end of the match, when the males discarded their signs, I picked them up. I then identified myself to an official, gave him the signs, and told him this letter of complaint would be forthcoming. In a nutshell, his response was that we should tell him sooner next time, and he will handle it differently. It appeared he had no intended consequences for the males. Several Colony volleyball parents talked to him after the match, in the presence of Colony volleyball players and the males.

Here is the heart of the sexual harassment: Our players were continually identified by their names or numbers on their jerseys -- this personalized every comment. This was not generalized! It was sexual in these quotes: "I want to do number XX." This was said aloud while in the bleachers and to the face of a volleyball dad. "Number XX, you're really hot!" "You have a nice _ss." This was said to a Colony player and when she complained to the official his response was "You should count that as a compliment." Not all statements were "complimentary" to quote the males; some were very sexually demeaning, "you, fat _ss, you need to move your feet."

I have been trained as an educator in sexual harassment. The Mat-Su Borough School District requires annual sexual harassment training for certified and classified staff. Our district requires an administrator be present at all extra-curricular events (not just athletic ones). In this way, the problem is taken care of immediately and does not escalate, as it did at Chugiak High School on Wednesday night. Additionally, several officials and administrators told me problems such as recorded above have occurred every time they have attended a function at Chugiak High School; this detailed account for your attention.

Closing on a positive note, the Lady Mustangs volleyball players were disgusted by the behaviors of the males in the bleachers and said, "I just wish those guys would shut up!" Go girls!

Carla J. Dau is a Palmer-area resident.