For San Diego Section Athletes, a Signing of the Times : High Schools: Increase in unsportsmanlike incidents led to ethics policy that team members are required to acknowledge in writing.

On the morning of the San Diego Section 3-A baseball championship game last spring, Commissioner Kendall Webb presented a preposterous “what-if” scenario to Wayne DeBate, secondary athletics manager for city schools and a member of the section Coordinating Council.

What if there were a bench-clearing brawl during the game?

“We joked about it,” Webb said.

Fewer than five hours later, nobody was laughing. Incited by a collision at home plate, Mt. Carmel and Helix had cleared their benches for a fracas that had spectators shaking their heads and saying that someone should do something.

So someone did.

Every student currently participating in high school athletics has signed, or is supposed to have signed, a three-part “Ethics in Sports” policy passed by the section Board of Managers Jan. 23 after two years of discussion. The third section spells out unacceptable acts and specific penalties for each (see accompanying box).

Webb denies that the baseball incident itself forced swift implementation of the policy, but some officials say it speeded the process.

“It wasn’t a factor in the formation of the policy,” Webb said, “but it strengthened our resolve to take some definitive action.”

Said Herb Meyer, El Camino’s football coach and athletic director: “I think it was a reaction to the adverse publicity (after the baseball fight). It was rerun on television several times.”

While the chaos at the championship baseball game was an isolated incident, the Board of Managers said the gradual rise in violence in interscholastic athletics merited not just another look but action.

“It was discussed for some time,” said Tris Hubbard, a board member. “But we finally said, ‘Let’s stop talking, let’s do something.’ ”

Webb, who attended the baseball game, was the subject of mild backlash for not intervening in the brawl--one letter said he should have stopped the game, with no title awarded. But he says that had he intervened, under the rules at the time, he would have overstepped his authority.

“They would have been justified to criticize me if I had stopped it,” Webb said.

Webb now has the authority--the responsibility, in fact--to get involved.

Webb says violence in high school athletics has increased in the past two years. The baseball incident was just another rung on the ladder:

--Two spectators were injured in an incident following a wrestling match between Rancho Buena Vista and Escondido in 1989. Wrestlers, coaches and fans, 300 people in all, were involved. A scheduled boys’ basketball game between the schools the following week was canceled.

--Near the end of the 1988 soccer season, a fight during the Bonita Vista-Montgomery game--both were playoff bound--resulted in cancellation of the season by Sweetwater Superintendent Anthony Trujillo. The teams made arrangements to atone with community service.

--A 1989 varsity football game between Hoover and Lincoln was moved from 7:30 p.m. to 3 because of a name-calling incident between the schools’ junior varsity teams the preceding day.

--The Granite Hills boys’ basketball team was involved in fights with Helix and Mount Miguel this season, resulting in the ejection of at least one Granite Hills player.

Still, the problems other sections have had make San Diego seem innocent by comparison.

“This was supposed to be the year for sportsmanship, and it’s been exactly the opposite,” said Dean Crowley, Southern Section associate commissioner.

The Southern Section has had eight incidents of violence termed “major” so far this school year, and section officials have been in court three times.

Crowley said it used to be that athletes were penalized for violations and then took their punishment. But that has changed.

“It used to be that was that,” Crowley said. “Now, lawyers get involved. We’ve lost perspective.”

Not only is the National Federation of State High School Assns. emphasizing good sportsmanship for this year, the California Interscholastic Federation office recently developed a Sportsmanship Committee--Webb is a member--that might end up with a recommendation for the state.

Of the nine other sections in the state, only the North Coast, Sacramento-Joaquin and Los Angeles City sections have policies that supplement the state’s general code of ethics. Of those, only one deals with athletes, and none, unlike San Diego’s new code, include penalty phases.

Clarke Coover, Sacramento-Joaquin commissioner, said San Diego may be on to something.

“I may have to watch it, see what happens and pass it on,” he said. “Ours has nothing to do with the competitors. That is unique.”

Other sections may also be watching what happens in San Diego.

In a case where two athletes attacked a referee in a boys’ basketball game, Crowley said the Southern Section’s citizenship rule was used as protection in court.

“A lawyer used the argument that there was nothing in the rules that say a kid couldn’t hit a referee,” Crowley said. “We hung our hat on the citizenship rule that said you must be a good citizen in order to represent your school in athletic competition.”

Said Webb: “There are certain things we expect of society. There’s nothing (in our rules) that says you can’t shoot the referees, but we’d expect people to know that’s not acceptable behavior.”

Every coach interviewed said the center of controversy in the San Diego Section’s new policy is the penalty phase. There is no opportunity to appeal an ejection until the second violation, and then only if it’s a nonviolent act.

“There are a lot of things that affect the outcome of a game,” Meyer said. “If an official can make an arbitrary decision, you have a problem. I like to think that’s not going to happen, but the potential is there. Being human, everyone doesn’t see things the same.”

Referees will have the hardest time in sports that are inherently physical--soccer, football, basketball and baseball.

“There are certain rules in baseball and football that, if they violate, they can be automatically thrown out,” Meyer said, “and that’s not necessarily a reflection of their behavior.”

The spring season is less than a week old, and Webb already has been contacted regarding three ejections.

“It’s going to be interesting,” said Nancy Acerrio, Hilltop’s girls’ softball and volleyball coach and a member of the Coordinating Council. “I don’t know if this is going to be a headache for him or not.”

Acerrio has yet to have members of her softball team sign the policy.

“We haven’t done it yet,” she said. “It makes me wonder if it’s being done anywhere else.”

It is at Helix. Baseball Coach Jerry Schniepp made sure his team was properly indoctrinated.

“I gave them an overview of what it was, the purpose of it, the consequences of it, and why it came about,” he said.

Schniepp said he thinks it will make a difference.

“It means something if you’re thrown out of a game,” he said. “The season could be canceled.”

Athletes must comply with the policy, but there is no penalty if a player doesn’t sign it.

“The purpose is not to penalize, it’s to structure the attitudes of our athletes,” Webb said.

But many coaches said attitudes already are being structured by television and the antics of pro and college athletes.

“Our kids our subject to a lot of unruly behavior on TV,” Meyer said. “Those are things they emulate. We have a very difficult job trying to counteract the violence they see in professional sports.”

Said Acerrio: “You see George Brett going to charge the ump, bean-ball incidents, the brush-back pitches. The kids are looking up to these people.”

Coaches aren’t the only ones who see flaws in the policy. Some officials say it puts too much pressure on them.

“We feel the penalty is a little severe as an umpiring group,” said umpire Bob Merchant. “On the other hand, we can’t lower the ejection level. A majority of us don’t want to see a coach lose a job over an ejection, but we don’t want to take a lot of guff either.”

Schniepp said it could change his coaching methods.

“In baseball, it’s part of the game for coaches to argue with umps, and you’ll be thrown out if you do,” he said. “I’ve never been thrown out of a game, but I don’t want to have to worry about who we’re playing in two days.”

Hubbard said it may take time before everyone is aware of the code.

“Some kids and coaches will be suspended,” he said. “It will take a while to make certain we have everyone’s attention. But it’s a start.”

A start, but not necessarily a good one according to some.

“I don’t think anyone thought out all the ramifications,” Meyer said. “The Board of Managers said this is what we’re going to do, but they missed some steps.”

The spring will provide a test. If there are too many problems, the policy can be revised.

“It’s a bandage, nothing else,” DeBate said. “The violation and penalty phase we’ll probably polish and change as we go along. If there’s something we’ve misjudged, we wouldn’t hesitate to make a change.”

SECTION ETHICS IN SPORTS

I. POLICY STATEMENT

The California Interscholastic Federation-San Diego Section (CIF-SDS) is committed to the exhibition of sportsmanlike and ethical behaviors in and around all athletic contests played under its sanction. All contests must be safe, courteous, fair, controlled and orderly for all athletes and fans alike.

It is the intent of the CIF-SDS Board of Managers that violence in any form not be tolerated in athletic contests (or practices) under the jurisdiction of this Board. In order to enforce this policy, the Commissioner will establish rules and regulations in cooperation with appropriate coaches and administrator groups which set forth the manner of enforcement of this policy and the penalties incurred when violation of the policy occurs. The rules and regulations shall focus upon the responsibility of the coach to teach and demand high standards of conduct and to enforce personally the rules and regulations set forth by the Commissioner.

The CIF-SDS Board of Managers further requires that the following Code of Ethics be issued and signed by student athletes, coaches, and game officials each season as a guide to govern their behavior.

II. CODE OF ETHICS FOR STUDENT ATHLETE, COACH AND CONTEST OFFICIAL

A. Be courteous at all times (with school officials, opponents, game officials, and fans).

B. Exercise self-control.

C. Be familiar with all rules of the contest.

D. Show respect to players, officials and other coaches.

E. Refrain from the use of foul and abusive language.

F. Respect the integrity and judgment of game officials.

G. Refrain from use of illegal and nonprescription drugs, anabolic steroids, or any substance to increase physical development or performance that is not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, Surgeon General of the United States or the American Medical Assn.

H. Win with character, lose with dignity.

III. VIOLATIONS AND MINIMUM PENALTIES

1. Act--Ejection of player or coach from contest.

Penalty--Ineligibility for next contest (league, nonleague, tournament, invitational, playoff, etc.). No appeal. Official required to make report to Commissioner for each ejection. When team forfeits next contest due to unavailability of coach who was ejected from previous contest, penalty is complete and coach may be reinstated.

2. Act--Illegal participation in next contest by player ejected in previous contest.

Penalty--Ineligibility for remainder of season for player. No appeal.

3. Act--Illegal placement of ejected player in next contest by coach or illegal participation by coach ejected in previous contest.

Penalty--Green Book procedure for coach who knowingly violated a CIF or San Diego Section rule.

4. Act--Second ejection of player or coach from contest during one season.

Penalty--Ineligibility of player for remainder of season or suspension of coach for remainder of season. Except in cases of violent acts which cause or provoke bodily harm, a written appeal for either coach or player can be made, by the principal concerned, within two school days to the Commissioner. Official required to make report to Commissioner for each ejection. The decision by the Commissioner will be final.

5. Act--When one or two players leave the bench area to begin a confrontation or leave the bench area during an altercation.

Penalty--Ejection from the contest for those designated by the official, ineligibility for the next contest and player(s) to be placed on probation for balance of season. No appeal. Official to make report to Commissioner.

6. Act--When more than two players leave the bench area to begin a confrontation or leave the bench area during an altercation.

Penalty--Contest will be stopped. Ejection from the contest concerned for those player(s) designated by the officials. The team(s) that left the bench area must forfeit the contest, record a loss, and the team(s) and player(s) will be put on probationary status for the remainder of the season. No appeal. A second similar infraction will result in cessation of the season for the team(s) and/or player(s). No appeal. Official to make report to Commissioner.

If act occurs in an end-of-season contest, team(s) that left the bench area will forfeit the contest, record a loss and be put on probationary status for the following season. No appeal. A similar violation during the following season will cause cessation of the season for that team. No appeal. Official to make report to Commissioner.

If the act occurs in CIF-San Diego Section Finals and both teams are charged with a forfeit, there will be no champion. No appeal. Official to make report to Commissioner.