Fans ejected from Wisconsin high school sporting events to be required to take sportsmanship course

STEVENS POINT, Wis. (Civic Media) – Spectators who are ejected from high school sporting events will now be required to take a sportsmanship course in order to return to attending events.

WIAA membership easily approved the measure at the 2025 WIAA Annual Meeting by a 335 to 67 margin.

This approved Constitutional amendment will require an ejected spectator to complete the free, online NFHS Sportsmanship course available at https://t.co/dE6I4choLX and submit verification to school officials before attending any future home athletic events. This is in addition… pic.twitter.com/tdQV5vcdg5

— WIAA (@wiaawi) April 25, 2025

The measure, which passed each stage unanimously before appearing on the Annual Meeting agenda, will require anyone tossed from a game or meet to take a free online course from the NFHS on sportsmanship.

Spectators ejected from a contest would still have to miss one additional home event, even if they take and pass the course before the next event.

Anyone ejected from a game also has to miss one additional home game, a rule the WIAA member schools adopted in 2021.

Fan behavior has been an important topic, especially in the age of declining participation by students, officials, and coaches, who all cite unruly behavior as one of the drawbacks towards taking part in high school athletics.

In 2019, a bill was introduced to make harassing sports officials a crime. the bill was brought back in 2021.

The new amendment goes into effect at the time of the posting of the WIAA Bulletin, which happens at the end of May.