Eureka High and the H-DNL announced on Wednesday that this weekend’s boys soccer game between the Loggers and Arcata Tigers at Eureka will be played behind closed doors.
According to a league press release, the decision to not allow spectators attend was made in the wake of “excessive” unsportsmanlike behavior shown by fans and players at a game this past weekend.
During their game against McKinleyville on Saturday, two Eureka players received red cards and the officials were subjected to “inappropriate” behavior by players and spectators.
According to the press release, “In a lengthy incident summary, submitted to the HDNL, the North Coast Soccer Officials Association reported excessive displays of inappropriate unsportsmanlike behavior by both spectators and players during the October 11 McKinleyville vs Eureka boys soccer game.”
The game was called with around 10 minutes remain.
The Panthers, who led 3-0 at the time, were officially awarded a forfeit victory.
According to McKinleyville head coach Brady Burtchett, “things started getting a little chippy at the end.”
The decision to play this week’s game without any fans in attendance was made by Eureka High “in response to the concerns and expectations expressed by the NCS, CIF, HDNL and Soccer Officials Association,” according to the press release.
Only players, coaches, officials, athletic trainers and school administrators will be in attendance.
The league added that it “supports and commends Eureka High School for this decision.
“Officials come to our schools and game sites providing a service which gives our student-athletes an opportunity to compete in educational athletics.
“They deserve our respect, appreciation and gratitude, not abuse, insults and threats.”
The incident occurred just a few weeks after the HDN Student Athlete Advisory Council released a video promoting good sportsmanship at league sporting events.
“Officials are a part of the game, just like athletes and coaches,” members of SAAC said in the video, which can be viewed above. “They make mistakes just like we do.
“Without officials there are no games.
“Whether you like the calls or not, RESPECT them.”
SAAC, which is made up of two student-athletes from each league school, has long been a strong advocate and promoter for positive sportsmanship at local high school sporting events.
The H-DNL has also actively campaigned for better sportsmanship at all of its sporting events in recent years.
Categories: Community, Eureka, McKinleyville, Soccer, Sports
There is no place in our local athletic system for this type of behavior! Thank you to Eureka High School.
Its a two way street. I agree 100% that officials should be respected because its not an easy position to hold. Especially officiating games where things get chippy. No spectator should take it that far to “attack” the official. In these cases Coaches are the ones who should approach the refs to discuss the match. However this is where it becomes a two way street. The refs just like coaches should have a cool head, but when the refs ,who by the way are getting paid to officiate, feel like they did nothing wrong. Thats when its an issue. I understand calls getting missed its part of the game. Yet when its all game and they dont take control of matches thats when it starts to create issues. By the time they start to try and take control of the match its to late. I feel like just as schools are reponsible for their actions, officials should also be held responsible for how they officiate games. Ive been to quite a few games this season and Ive seen some atrocious officiating. I understand we dont have many refs and we should be grateful we have them. If it was easy job anybody could do it but its not. Just like we should be better as spectators or coaches, it needs to go both ways.