Concerns around poor fan behavior have been are nothing new, with many fans and coaches believing behavior at games has gotten worse recently and that type of behavior is the main culprit for the rapidly declining number of officials.
One state has decided to take a page out from law enforcement in an effort to instill some accountability, or at least deter bad behavior.
Washington and the state's interscholastic activities association, partnering with the Washington Official's Association, have launched an initiative piloting the use of body cameras on officials.
The reasoning behind the plan is to address "ongoing issues with bad behavior, a high volume of ejections, and concerns over the safety of officials," per the Kitsap Sun.
Starting on January 5th, about 100 officials around the state began using body cameras during games, and there are plans to continue the pilot into the spring for baseball, softball, and boys soccer seasons with a full review to take place at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
The release from the WIAA states that coaches and players are informed of the body camera use during their customary pre-game conference with the officials.
The cameras themselves run on a 30-second loop when powered on, and officials have been instructed to activate them during specific "trigger" points that may or may not arise during the course of a game. Those points include instances of unsportsmanlike fouls, events that create unsafe environments for officials (fights or court storming), or discriminating or harassing behavior that lead to a delay or stoppage in play.
Schools and officials are not able to view the recorded video, as two high ranking officials within the officials association and WIAA are the only ones with access to the clips.
While it appears that the cameras are aimed at catching unruly fans, there certainly also seems to be an avenue where they could be used in instances of coach or player ejections as well.
There have been a number of creative suggestions on how to solve issues plaguing sports like fan behavior and official shortages, and while this is certainly creative and should help in extreme and rare circumstances, I have a hard time seeing it providing the kind of returns where it is adopted at a mass scale.
Maybe it's the frustrated coach in me talking here, but I could see a market for body cameras if it were aimed at improving the quality of officiating from the NFL on down to high school sports.
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