2 Indianapolis HS Girls Basketball Teams Banned Following Brawl

Two high school girls basketball teams in Indianapolis have had the rest of their seasons cancelled by the Indiana High School Athletic Association after a brawl broke out during their game on Saturday.

This video is from the bench-clearing incident involving Pike and Ben Davis’ girls basketball teams:

The game will be considered a double forfeit and both teams will be barred from the state tournament and spend next season on probation. Every varsity and junior varsity coach and player involved will also be forced to complete an online sportsmanship course before being allowed back next season.

Last year, there were two boys basketball teams in northwestern Indiana that had their seasons canceled by the IHSAA following a brawl in their game, but the schools took the matter to the courts where a judge implemented an injunction that blocked the penalty. One of the teams would go on to win the Indiana Class 3A state title.

The amount of incidents involving high school athletic teams and coaches this season is disgusting, and it doesn’t help that these impressionable kids are watching their role models do it on the basketball court and the football field on a regular basis. How do we expect our children to understand that fighting is not a part of athletics when we just watch the Steelers and Bengals have numerous dust-ups last weekend?

Until professional athletes begin to realize that these kids look up to them, it’s going to be impossible to stop these incidents from happening without removing athletics from schools.

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