U.F. considers conduct code for sporting events
Parents would have to sign pledge when registering kids
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - Some local adults have been behaving badly.

Allentown High School Athletic Director Brian Irwin has requested that the Township Committee pass an ordinance regarding conduct at athletic events held on township properties.

Irwin provided the governing body with a sample code of conduct to consider. Parents who sign their children up for recreational activities would have to sign a conduct pledge.

Irwin could not be present for the June 21 Township Committee meeting. However, Deputy Mayor William Miscoski read a letter Irwin sent to the committee.

In the letter, Irwin wrote that it is important for coaches, parents and other visiting adults to set the right examples for children at athletic events.

"There have been incidents in our own town, as well as across the country, where parents, coaches and spectators have been involved in inappropriate behavior that has negative results," Irwin wrote in the letter.

He continued, "In some instances, a child's feelings get hurt or a good coach walks away from being involved in a sport that he or she loves. In other instances, the issues associated with inappropriate behavior result in a serious injury and, in some cases, even death."

Irwin considers the proposed code of conduct a proactive approach to help diminish inappropriate behavior at athletic events.

"We understand that this will not stop everyone from acting inappropriately," he wrote. "However, we feel strongly that it will help.

"The code will be part of the registration process," the letter further stated, "and by signing permission forms, parents and coaches acknowledge that they have read and understand the code of conduct and the consequences."

In the letter, Irwin wrote that having to sign the conduct pledge alone would allow most people to think twice before they say or do something inappropriate. He added that having signs posted on the fields and in the gymnasium would also help remind people what is expected of them at athletic events.

Irwin said athletics should be a positive experience for children but that sports bring out the great in some and, unfortunately, the bad in others.

"The residents of Allentown and Upper Freehold are wonderful people," he said. "I believe that we all know right from wrong. However, there are some that either don't care or forget that their negative actions affect those around them."

He continued, "With that being said, I believe that we have the responsibility as a community to establish a policy that will help to alleviate negative behavior and address it with individuals when necessary so that it does not happen again."

Irwin said that the proposal is one step in a positive direction to make athletic programs better for children. He said the township's Recreation Committee has worked diligently to research other communities' recreation, travel and interscholastic athletic policies and codes of conduct, and that he feels this proposal bests suits the community and its athletic programs.

Miscoski said he thinks the community needs such an ordinance.

"You've got some real jerks in everything," he said. "You need some kind of teeth to discipline people like that."

Committeeman Bob Faber suggested putting some kind of financial penalty in the ordinance, but Township Attorney Granville Michael Magee said that doing so could create enforcement problems.

Magee said that the New Jersey State Police would have to respond to any serious offense committed at a sporting event. He added that a financial penalty could be an overreaction and that someone subject to it might sue the town.

Recreation Committee Chairman Sal Diecidue said that if the township adopts the ordinance, signs about the conduct rule would be placed at school and township fields. He said if the township adopts the ordinance, the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education would adopt it as well.

The township's Recreation Committee has representatives on it from all the leagues and sporting associations in town, according to Diecidue. Such an ordinance could make the people on the committee more aware of who the troublemakers are and help keep them at bay, he said.

Diecidue said the goal is to make athletic events fun again and to stop some of the bad behavior and the use of profanity that he has witnessed.

Katie Bailey, who serves on the Recreation Committee as the representative of the Allentown/Upper Freehold Recreation Basketball League, also witnessed adults' poor behavior at a sporting event. She said she once saw two grown men "get in the face" of a 15-year-old boy who was refereeing a basketball game.

"We're talking adults in young people's faces, foaming at the mouth," Bailey said.