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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM 28 UCW OCTOBER 9-15, 2019 HIGH SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS EARL VAUGHAN JR., Sports Editor. COMMENTS? EarlUCWSports@gmail. com. 910-364-6638. About four weeks ago, we distributed an op-ed suggesting that inappropriate behavior by parents and other adult fans at high school sporting events was causing many officials to quit before they even reached two years on the job. Although we received mostly positive support from this article, some people thought we went too far in telling parents to "act your age" and "stay in your own lane." On the contrary, perhaps we should have been more direct. Last week, one of our member state associations shared a resignation letter it had received from a 20-year veteran soccer official who had taken all the abuse he could handle. A portion of that letter follows: "Soccer parents: you are absolutely 100 percent the reason we have a critical refereeing shortage and games are being cancelled left and right. And you are at least a part of the reason I'm done here. The most entitled among you are the ones that scream the loud- est. And every time you do this, you tell your son or daughter the following: "'I do not believe in you, I do not believe in your team, I do not believe in your collective ability to over- come your own adversity and you absolutely will not win and cannot do this without me tilting the table in your favor.' "On behalf of myself and so many other referees — and I say this with every ounce of my heart and soul — shut up about the referees and let your kids rise or fall as a team, as a family. Because the vast majority of you truly have no idea what you're talking about, and even if you have a legitimate gripe about one play or one deci- sion, you're not fixing anything." And if that wasn't enough, last week the Eastern Panhandle Youth Football League in West Virginia released the following statement: "Unfortunately, it has come to the point that because of the abuse, negativity and utter disrespect shown to our officials from parents, coaches and most recently from our players, the Eastern Panhandle Officials Association president stated today that the association will no lon- ger schedule officials for our league games at any field. This means effective immediately all remaining games are cancelled." This statement is from a youth league, which means the coaches are likely also parents of players, and the players are sons and daughters who are emulating their parents' behavior. So, no, our previous message was not too direct or emphatic. The kind of boorish parental behavior that compels a 20-year soccer official to quit cannot be allowed to continue. While we would hope that par- ents and other fans would embrace the concepts of education-based athletics by respecting the efforts of those men and women who officiate high school sports, that unfortunate- ly is not occurring in some cases. As a result, schools must adopt and enforce a strict fan behavior policy. In soccer, a player receives a "yellow card" as a first warning for unsportsmanlike conduct. If the action occurs again, the player is hit with a "red card" and is ejected from the contest. Some schools have implemented a similar penalty structure for parents and other fans — not just at soc- cer games but all high school events. If the inappropri- ate behavior and verbal abuse of officials continues after one warning, the person is removed from the venue. There must be consequences for these offend- ers before we lose any more officials. Most of the 7.9 million participants in high school sports are on the fields and courts every day to have fun and compete as a team with their classmates, and the 300,000-plus officials assist in that process. Now, if parents would let the players play and the officials officiate. Frustrated officials quitting, games being canceled by KARISSA NIEHOFF Chris Lucas is in his fifth season as head girls tennis coach at Cape Fear High School. He inherited a program where most of the players hadn't played the sport until they went out for the Cape Fear team. But five years of pushing his players to perform their best reached a peak last month when Cape Fear defeated perennial Cumberland County tennis power Terry Sanford 6-3 in the second meeting between the teams this season. According to retired Terry Sanford tennis coach and local high school tennis historian Gil Bowman, it was the first time since the 2003-2004 tennis season that Cape Fear won a match over the Bulldogs. Since coming to Cape Fear from Pinecrest High School, Lucas has been trying to change the tennis culture at the school. It's a slow process, but the win over Terry Sanford shows Lucas is on the right track. Lucas said his primary goal is to turn each of his play- ers into a true tennis player and not just an athlete with a tennis racquet in hand. That means watching professional players on television, understanding the strategy and mental aspect of the game and playing as much tourna- ment tennis outside the high school season as possible. "My biggest hope is they will fall in love with every aspect of the game,'' he said. "I'm very fortunate I've had coachable girls and ones that have bought into that.'' This year's team has only one player, freshman Brooke Bieniek, who played the sport before she got to Cape Fear. Bieniek plays No. 1 singles and won at both singles and doubles in the match with Terry Sanford. Her par- ents are both physical education teachers at nearby Mac Williams Middle School and got her into the sport at the age of seven. "I love just hitting shots and getting all the emotions out,'' she said. "Like if you had a bad day at school you just hit and hit a ball. It's fun. Especially with teammates.'' She gives all the credit for the team's success to Lucas. "He's taught us a lot of stuff and made us what we are today,'' she said. Lucas said that's part of his philosophy, which he sums up in the phrase, "Sometimes you win and some- times you learn." "Every single match is a match where you can learn,'' he said. "We broke down why we won that match, what we did right and what we didn't do before.'' Senior Paige Cameron, who plays No. 2 singles, agreed with Bieniek and said Lucas has always encour- aged the team, even when they lost a match 9-0. "Everything he's done has pushed us to where we were when we finally beat them (Terry Sanford),'' Cameron said. "Honestly, that was the best night because that's what we've been looking forward to, beating Terry Sanford, and we finally did it.'' Cameron, who is the team captain, said the energy the team got from newcomers like Bieniek was a big boost to this year's team. "The biggest energy is them being positive whether they are playing or not,'' she said, "showing support for all the girls.'' Dajia Rucker, a junior, won at fifth court singles and teamed with Bieniek to win in doubles against Terry Sanford. "Everyone just stepped up,'' she said. "We knew we wanted to beat Terry Sanford, so that's what we did.'' But the Colts know they must keep working. "I think the main thing is we don't take this one for granted,'' Cameron said. "We need to play with the best we have and do the best that we can no matter who we are playing.'' Meanwhile, Lucas is looking further down the road, hoping to continue to change the tennis culture not just at the school but in the community. "Every summer, we hold a clinic for kids, ages 7-13, and every year it's grown,'' he said. "The younger we can get them, the better. We want to be a program that turns in good team after good team and is a revolving door,'' he said. KARISSA NIEHOFF Executive Direc- tor National Federation of State High School Associations., COMMENTS? Ear- lUCWSports@gmail.com. 910-364-6638. Cape Fear ends tennis drought against Terry Sanford by EARL VAUGHAN JR. Parents' behavior at sporting events is leading to sports officials quitting. Paige Cameron Dajia Rucker Brooke Bieniek