WHITNEY, Texas — Whitney Independent School District is asking fans to reign in "negative comments" and other behavior at football games, saying it is beginning to affect what happens on the field.
Whitney ISD Superintendent Todd Southard shared a statement on social media on Oct. 23 saying that the district has had "a number of issues" at football games over the past few weeks regarding spectators and their interactions with officials.
Southard said at a game the week before, Athletic Director and coach David Haynes, Jr. was warned that he would be ejected from the game if fans did not "calm down". At the end of the game, a fan reportedly came onto the field to confront the officials, cursing at them.
Southard said there have been other games this season at both the high school and middle school level where coaching staff has been warned by officials that the teams would be penalized if fans did not stop their "negative comments".
"We have great kids here at Whitney, and we as a community are passionate about our kids’ success," Southard said in the statement. "We have a coaching staff that does an incredible job, works hard and truly loves our kids. Their attention needs to be focused on what happens on the field and not on what’s shouted from the stands. More importantly, what is being said from the stands doesn’t need to affect what happens on the field."
Southard said if issues continue, the district will have no other option than to remove the people whose behavior "may impact the game, our coaches or our kids in a negative way."
The full statement can be found here.