High1’s behaviour shames sport

10 Sep 2012 | Matthew Cross

Team staff threaten to kill female fan with children. Referees ignore fan's calls.

High1's 6-5 OT victory over Halla on September 9^th has become even more bizarre. During the commotion going on at the end of the first period, several fans were witnessed trying to get the attention of the referee. The referee did not respond to the calls and it was unclear what was going on at the time. However, it did appear that there was some kind of interaction between the fans and individuals on the bench. Some of the details surrounding those interactions have now come to light via the Anyang Halla Fan Board.

As reported on the fan board, by the fan involved, a mother with her two children related her experience sitting near the High1 bench during the game. Due to the intensity of the game and the importance, High1 was very aggressive. Not only in their play, but the individuals on the bench were often cursing and using very foul language. During the commotion at the end of the first period it grew both in amount and volume. The woman frustrated that her children had to be expose to that kind of on-going vulgarity shouted at the bench, "Shut up!". The response was not what she expected.

She had to endure two periods of verbal abuse from the High1 staff as they turned their anger and frustration on her. Insulting and swearing at her. At one point one of the High1 staff members said "Where are you? I should come up in the stands and kill you". The abuse got so bad at points that she had to leave the stands and go out into the lobby for awhile.

Her story was later confirmed by another fan, sitting near her, who posted and stated that he felt that the High1 behaviour was completely unacceptable and was concerned that if that kind of behaviour was to go unpunished and unchecked that he would have trouble justifying bringing his family to the games.

Halla for their part apologized and indicated that they'd contacted the High1 staff and that High1's staff would be contacting the fan in question.

While sports are often high in emotion, players and staff should be well used to taking flack from fans, and in this case the flack was nothing more than a simple "Shut up" by a concerned mother. This kind of behaviour embarrasses not only the individuals and their team but the sport itself. Any league cannot let this kind of behaviour by players or staff go uncorrected.