Soccer Fan Behaving Badly

http://www2.dailyprogress.com/sports/2010/sep/22/uva-soccer-fans-warned-behave-ar-520386/?referer=78ecdc38df5c82daa0ae8c7e9a7f5272

UVa soccer fans warned to behave
By Whitelaw Reid
Published: September 22, 2010

The atmosphere at last Saturday’s men’s soccer game between Virginia and Wake Forest seemed like most ACC games. Crowd members, who received free “rally flags” upon entering Klockner Stadium, were energetic and loud throughout.

Some students, however, were apparently a little too rambunctious during UVa’s 1-0 loss.

On Wednesday, Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage sent an e-mail to a group of UVa students, admonishing them for their behavior. According to the e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by The Daily Progress, the students used vulgar language, which included negative references to members of the Wake Forest team.

“The language was so offensive that fans around them chose to leave the game early and they are reconsidering whether they will return for future contests at UVa,” Littlepage wrote in the e-mail to those students registered in SHOTS, an online ticketing system that gives priority access to athletic events at the university. “This behavior cannot and will not be tolerated.”

In the e-mail, Littlepage also reminded the students about the school’s sportsmanship policy, which is announced prior to every home game.

“Our students have to remind themselves to be on their best behavior with regards to language and that kind of stuff,” said Virginia coach George Gelnovatch, whose team plays at Clemson on Saturday, “and not let something slip out.”

On the field, the game in question was an extremely physical one. At one point, there was pushing from both sides after a whistle and a fracas nearly ensued. The game was a rematch of last season’s College Cup game won by Virginia.

While he wasn’t exactly studying the crowd, Gelnovatch said he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary during the contest.

Typically, the crowd for a game is comprised of two groups of people, according to Gelnovatch.

“We have the community, which is young families and soccer players, including my family, which is part of that group,” Gelnovatch said. “I have a 12- and 13-year-old who are at every game with my wife. Then there’s our students, who have been great supporters of us...

“I don’t know the details that Craig [Littlepage] is referring to, but in our sport — and I would say it’s the same for the lacrosses of the world and some of the other Olympic sports — this is not a stadium where there’s 60,000 people...

“Anything that a fan lets slip out of his mouth is going to be heard by obviously his fellow students, but also by families, whereas in some other venues, like in basketball and football, because of the size and loudness and isolatedness of the students, it’s not as much of an issue...I’m not making excuses, but people have to understand that, and our students have to understand that.”