AJA’s Policy on Cheering at Games
Max Goldstein
“In High School, the goal of the athletic program is not merely winning games.” AJA High school Judiacs principle Rabbi Houben explained. “It is about competition, [but also] about the values of sportsmanship and being on a team.” It is this core conviction that is shared by the AJA administration and is the basis for AJA’s policy against jeering opponents at the free throw line.
Across any sport, one would be hard pressed to find a moment where the fans can be more impactful than when an opponent is shooting free throws in a basketball game. Decades of data from college and NBA games have shown that when crowds are loud, the road team has a slight — but still important — decline in free throw percentage (the percentage of free throws that were made out of the total number of free throws) than when the same team plays at home or without crowd noise. Additionally, it is a great opportunity for fans to demonstrate team spirit. However AJA has decided that the slight advantage that may be gained from the jeers is not worth compromising our values. “I think that to me, when you are at this level and you have the values that we have which are hanging around the gym, respect and menchlekiet come first.” Rabbi Houben said, “I think the same way we would help pick an opponent up off the floor when they fall, congratulate the other team if they win — even if it hurts — there is a level of respect that has to be shown.”
Rabbi Houben explains that “anything we can do to cheer for our team is fine.” However, he and the rest of the administration take issue with “negative cheering.” That, he argues, is “not in line with the values of the school and the athletic program.” Negative cheering could be booing, jeering during free throws or disparaging the other team in any way.
AJA basketball players themselves were split on whether it is poor sportsmanship to be jeering during free throws. Noah Chen, a junior, said “I believe that sportsmanship is great and valuable to our school, [but] I think the competitive spirit, especially on the basketball court is [valuable] too.” However Noah’s teammate Doni Chasen, also a junior, said that he wasn’t bothered by the policy, although he did point out that fans at other schools have not shown the restraint that AJA is asking its fans to show. “They are always making noise and trying to throw us off,” he said. He recalled one game in particular where “they were just heckling us like crazy at the free throw line.” That game, Doni noted, was “our worst game from the free throw line.”
As a Jewish school, it is important to be gracious and courteous during sporting events, and the AJA administration has made clear they believe that extends to fans as well as players. “No matter what other people do, we are going to hold ourselves to a higher standard, that at AJA our standard of menchlekiet and respect for everybody is at a certain level and we’re going to show that even to opposing teams.” said Rabbi Houben, “we are going to cheer our hearts out for our team, but we are going to realize that the values of our athletic program go far beyond winning.”
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