Virgen’s View: Unruly conduct might be costly

The 13th annual Daily Pilot Cup is quickly approaching.

Elementary school soccer teams, comprised of third- through sixth-graders, are practicing and preparing for the weeklong tournament that begins May 29. At some schools, teams are still forming.

Registration forms are available at the local elementary schools and at our website: https://www.dailypilot.com/sports/pilotcup.

The tournament is such a fun time for the community. However, there is one new rule to keep in mind this year. It was stressed during our meeting with the school liaisons earlier this month.

Kirk McIntosh, the Daily Pilot Cup director, hopes the rule won’t have to be used during the tournament.

At the head referee’s discretion, a penalty of taking away a goal can be assessed if the team’s sideline displays highly unruly fans. If the fans show an extreme lack of sportsmanship in the referee’s eyes, the referee will take away a goal or assess a yellow card. If the fans get out of hand, the ref can go as far as to disqualify the team and give the team a loss.

Let’s hope it doesn’t get that far. But clearly, the fans and some parents have shown a bad display of sportsmanship, otherwise this rule would not have been created. The rule has been created because there have been some who have berated and mocked referees during games.

The referees are volunteers in the tournament and should not be treated in a bad manner.

Please keep this rule in mind during the tournament.

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The fall’s Daily Pilot Girls’ Volleyball Dream Team featured two girls who stood out at the libero position.

I recently wrote about Newport Harbor High’s Tatum Norton, who chose to walk on at Oregon rather than take a scholarship from Alabama.

The other libero is Corona del Mar senior Mary McKennon. She recently helped her T Street girls’ 18s team win the Pacific Northwest qualifier for the Junior National Championships that begin June 28 in Columbus, Ohio.

McKennon, who committed to UC Berkeley as a junior, was a versatile player for the Sea Kings. The 5-foot-9 McKennon had played at outside hitter for Corona del Mar, but moved to libero for her senior season.

She made the transition look smooth. She had been recruited by the Bears as a libero.

She led Orange County with 420 digs to go with 58 assists and 52 aces. She earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 1-A honors, as well as first-team All-Pacific Coast League accolades after helping the Sea Kings reach the Division 1-A title match.

She was also named to the All-Orange County third team.

In the classroom, McKennon also excels. Her 4.1 grade-point average helped her gain recognition by prepvolleyball.com, as she was on its Academic All-American second team.

steve.virgen@latimes.com

Twitter: @SteveVirgen