Venues’ plea to fans: Give booing the boot
Rugby hands boorish crowd behaviour a red card. Katarina Williams and Jacques Steenkamp report.
All Black legend Dan Carter’s dad has spoken of his unhappiness at seeing his son booed on the rugby field.
Carter senior was speaking after the playmaker was jeered in Paris, on his return for his club, Racing 92.
‘‘When you start booing sports players, it means you don’t respect them,’’ Neville Carter said. ‘‘As far as sportsmanship goes, you have to respect each and every player.’’
The Sunday Star-Times and Stuff are campaigning to kick booing into touch – and the cause is already gaining traction with Sport New Zealand and several major stadiums.
Neville Carter said that for parents, it was an unpleasant experience to see fans being disrespectful towards offspring who were trying their best out on the field – even if the players themselves weren’t concerned. Dan was unaware of anybody booing him back in Paris, Neville Carter said. Then last night, the boos drowned out the cheers the moment the Chiefs hit the field during last night’s Super Rugby semifinal against the Crusaders in Christchurch. Season pass-holder Keith Dobby said the booing ‘‘is not as bad as it used to be’’ and always went both ways. ‘‘Last week it was the Highlanders that were booing because we were doing so well.’’ Dale Lilley of Geraldine took a more relaxed approach. ‘‘Oh yeah, I’ll boo the Chiefs. It’s all in good fun. I can go to an opposing team’s stadium and boo and they can do it to us. It’s all part of it,’’ he said. However, Sport New Zealand chief executive Peter Miskimmin wants to see fan behaviour improve, setting positive examples for children. ‘‘I’m not trying to be prissy. I’m not trying to be the moral police,’’ Miskimmin said. ‘‘I just think it’s about celebrating sport in the right way and that’s what we want. ‘‘We are trying to teach good sideline behaviour from grassroots all the way through to high performance. We want to teach our kids to be great sportsmen and we want to teach them to be great spectators.’’ Fans would be called upon, over the stadium public address systems, to back their team without displaying boorish and ungracious behaviour. The concept has been successfully
I’m not trying to be the moral police. I just think it’s about celebrating sport in the right way. Peter Miskimmin Sport New Zealand chief executive.
used in Britain: announcers ask fans to respect the game and its players. Often now, a quiet hush descends on the crowd as a player lines up a penalty kick – a move New Zealand fans are being asked to emulate.
In recent years Kiwi crowds loudly targeted Wallabies goalkicker Quade Cooper.
NZ Rugby’s Brent Anderson said they encouraged better sideline behaviour: ‘‘Whether you are a junior player or top level athlete, everyone deserves to be treated with respect on the field.’’
Eden Park chief executive Guy Ngata believed fans and local rugby unions would get on board with the campaign.
‘‘This is a great initiative that the team at Eden Park are very happy to support.
‘‘I agree this behaviour has crept into society in New Zealand when traditionally it was considered unacceptable.’’
He planned to raise the matter with hirers of the venue next week.
FMG Stadium Waikato general manager Sean Murray supported all efforts to encourage spectators to behave responsibly and ‘‘support their team with great gusto and passion’’.
However, Westpac Stadium chief executive Shane Harmon believed administrators should not become involved in discouraging booing and that officials needed to ‘‘think very carefully about imposing changes’’.
Harmon agreed he would support the anti-booing measure if New Zealand Rugby introduced it.