Page 31 - Sports Officials Handbook

Instructions
For the purpose of by-laws 6.011 and 6.012, “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” will include the following: fighting, verbal abuse or dissent directed toward an official or opponent, racial or ethnic slurs, profanity or obscene gestures, flagrant or violent fouls, taunting, trash-talking, or baiting, cheating, throwing or abusing equipment, physical intimidation or abuse of an official or opponent, and unauthorized leaving of the team bench area.
When a player or coach is ejected from a contest, he/she may not play or coach the rest of that contest. In addition, the ejected player or coach may not play or coach in the next interscholastic contest at that level of competition, whether held the same day or a subsequent day, and all other interscholastic contests at any level in the interim. If a coach or athlete is ejected from the last contest of a season, he/she may not coach or play in the first contest of the next interscholastic sport/activity in which the coach or player participates.
During a suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct coaches may not attend contests or travel with the team to and from contests for which they have been suspended.
A full written description of the incident, utilizing the IHSA Special Report Form,
must be submitted online by the official to the principal of the ejected player or coach and the IHSA within 48 hours of the incident.
Schools are to set up administrative procedures to ensure proper enforcement of the by-law. Failure to enforce the by-law will result in automatic forfeiture of all contests which the player or coach participates in until the required suspension is carried out. Ejections for unsportsmanlike conduct are considered decisions of contest officials and will not be subject to appeal (by-law 6.033). Schools and the IHSA may assess additional penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct of players and coaches.
Officials must be completely certain and confident that a player’s or coach’s actions/language warrant an ejection. When a player or coach is ejected, an official cannot change his/her decision either during or after the contest.
Illustrations
Q. May coaches who are ineligible for a contest due to a suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct travel with the team to the contest or attend the contest?
A. No.
Q. May players who are ineligible for a contest due to a suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct travel with the team to the contest or attend the contest?
A. Yes. However, ineligible players may not appear in uniform at the contest.
—29—