As University fans stormed the field after a thrilling upset over Louisville last Saturday, I couldn’t help but notice the announcement that “fans are prohibited from going on the field at the closure of the game.” This announcement, however, which follows all Virginia football and basketball games, is not backed up by any Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) consequence or fine. Rather, the ACC crowd control procedure responsibility “rests with each host institution.” It is crucial that the ACC maintain this current policy on field storming, and it is time that the Southeastern Conference (SEC) ends their fines for such offenses.
In 2004, the SEC, one of the most competitive conferences in the country, instituted fines for excessive celebration when college fans run onto the field or court after victories. The fining system requires $5,000 for a first offense, $25,000 for the second and $50,000 for the third and subsequent offenses. The SEC’s policy for both court and field storming affects us in the ACC, because if the SEC policy proves effective in minimizing field and court rushing, then it may spread to other conferences and potentially to the NCAA level. This past weekend there were three big upsets in college football: Boston College over USC, Virginia over Louisville, and South Carolina over Georgia. Whereas BC and the University enjoyed the benefit of storming their respective fields, South Carolina, a member of the SEC, did not.
The SEC policy is thus unfair to both students and players, as it deprives them of one of the best parts of college sports. Rushing the field or court is an old tradition and a rare opportunity for college fans to truly feel part of the game. Although several SEC teams, like Auburn in their victory over Alabama last year, still rush the field anyway, the policy discourages them for doing so very often.
Proponents of the SEC system center their argument on player, coach and fan safety, and this is a valid stance. Near the end of last year’s football season, three University of South California fans were taken to the hospital following an upset win and subsequent storming of the field. Furthermore, this past college basketball season, when Utah Valley University stormed the court after an upset win, a brawl broke out in which students threw punches at the opposing team. The brawl has led both the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and the Pacific 12 Conference (PAC-12) to consider potential policies like that of the SEC.
Even WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd admits, however, that often there is not sufficient security to stop a court or field storming. It is easier to supply security that can effectively monitor field or court storming. For instance, when the University students rushed the court after their victory over Syracuse this year, security was effectively mobilized to keep the fans contained as well as keep Syracuse and Virginia players and coaches safe. Such a procedure could be implemented for other basketball games. The situation becomes tougher for football fields, but it is still possible to ensure general order with enough security on duty. Essentially, order can be maintained, as it was during this past week’s Louisville game.
I would challenge those who believe fans are finding every possible reason to storm fields or courts lately. College students deserve to have at least one celebratory court or field storm every year or two. We here at the University do it quite frequently.
Of course, not every injury can be avoided, and field storming has its risks. In 2011, after the University’s upset over unbeaten Georgia Tech, 10 students were injured and three hospitalized in the aftermath of a field storming. But our most recent field storming proves that rushing the field can be kept injury-free.
At the end of the day, very few of the stormings have occurred in the past few years have involved injuries or brawls. College fans deserve the right to go crazy and celebrate upsets, and the neither SEC nor any other conference has the right to take that away. The SEC should scrap its policy and college students should be allowed to storm away.
Jared Fogel is an Opinion Columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at j.fogel@cavalierdaily.com.
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