3afan
08-17-2008, 12:11 PM
Price of ejections going up in TAPPS
12:21 AM CDT on Sunday, August 17, 2008
During the 2007-08 season, 130 players and coaches were ejected from Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools sporting events. TAPPS director Edd Burleson doesn't know if that was more than the 2006-07 season, but he knows this:
It was too many.
"The penalty we had in place wasn't doing what we wanted it to do," he said.
So starting this season, TAPPS will fine a school $50 when one of its players or coaches is ejected from a game. For subsequent ejections in the same sport, even if it's a different player or coach, the fine will go up by $50. A second occurrence will bring a fine of $100, a third $150 and so on.
Burleson said TAPPS had been considering adding a fine "for quite some time" and that it found sports governing bodies in other states that assessed fines.
"It might not get the coach's attention," Burleson said, "but it will get the administration's attention."
The rule has the attention of Barry Morgan, the athletic director at Trinity Christian Academy-Addison. Morgan, who led TCA to five state football titles and said he was never ejected from a game in 35 years of coaching, supports the new rule.
"It's a strong move in the direction of building more sportsmanship and encouraging less unsportsmanlike actions," he said. "This is not going to eliminate ejections, but hopefully it will greatly reduce them."
If the ejection happens to a TCA coach or player, Morgan said, the coach or a player's family will have to pay the fine.
"There may be a case when an official overreacts and throws out a coach or a player, but those times are rare," he said. "Our guys are going to have to take their medicine and pay the fine."
The fine is added to the standing TAPPS rule for ejections, which puts the coach on one year of probation. A coach is given the option of a public reprimand or a one-game suspension, and players receive a one-game suspension.
Burleson said some coaches have complained that the new rule isn't fair, but he said he doesn't know of many cases when an ejection wasn't preceded by a warning.
The University Interscholastic League, which governs public school athletics in Texas, gives coaches ejected from a game a minimum penalty of a public reprimand and one year of probation. Reprimands or suspensions of players vary and are determined by district executive committees. No fines are assessed, and no such proposal has been brought to the UIL Legislative Council.
Cedar Hill football coach Joey McGuire said he doesn't need a financial incentive to stay in control on the sidelines.
"If I was ejected, I know I would be in front of my superintendent," he said, "and that's not a place I want to be."
LINK (http://www.hsgametime.com/dfw/sharedcontent/dws/content/topstories/stories/081708dnspowixon.4090aae.html)
12:21 AM CDT on Sunday, August 17, 2008
During the 2007-08 season, 130 players and coaches were ejected from Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools sporting events. TAPPS director Edd Burleson doesn't know if that was more than the 2006-07 season, but he knows this:
It was too many.
"The penalty we had in place wasn't doing what we wanted it to do," he said.
So starting this season, TAPPS will fine a school $50 when one of its players or coaches is ejected from a game. For subsequent ejections in the same sport, even if it's a different player or coach, the fine will go up by $50. A second occurrence will bring a fine of $100, a third $150 and so on.
Burleson said TAPPS had been considering adding a fine "for quite some time" and that it found sports governing bodies in other states that assessed fines.
"It might not get the coach's attention," Burleson said, "but it will get the administration's attention."
The rule has the attention of Barry Morgan, the athletic director at Trinity Christian Academy-Addison. Morgan, who led TCA to five state football titles and said he was never ejected from a game in 35 years of coaching, supports the new rule.
"It's a strong move in the direction of building more sportsmanship and encouraging less unsportsmanlike actions," he said. "This is not going to eliminate ejections, but hopefully it will greatly reduce them."
If the ejection happens to a TCA coach or player, Morgan said, the coach or a player's family will have to pay the fine.
"There may be a case when an official overreacts and throws out a coach or a player, but those times are rare," he said. "Our guys are going to have to take their medicine and pay the fine."
The fine is added to the standing TAPPS rule for ejections, which puts the coach on one year of probation. A coach is given the option of a public reprimand or a one-game suspension, and players receive a one-game suspension.
Burleson said some coaches have complained that the new rule isn't fair, but he said he doesn't know of many cases when an ejection wasn't preceded by a warning.
The University Interscholastic League, which governs public school athletics in Texas, gives coaches ejected from a game a minimum penalty of a public reprimand and one year of probation. Reprimands or suspensions of players vary and are determined by district executive committees. No fines are assessed, and no such proposal has been brought to the UIL Legislative Council.
Cedar Hill football coach Joey McGuire said he doesn't need a financial incentive to stay in control on the sidelines.
"If I was ejected, I know I would be in front of my superintendent," he said, "and that's not a place I want to be."
LINK (http://www.hsgametime.com/dfw/sharedcontent/dws/content/topstories/stories/081708dnspowixon.4090aae.html)