ST. LOUIS 鈥 Citing safety concerns, 最新杏吧原创 Public Schools officials decided to limit attendance at Vashon High School鈥檚 Friday night varsity basketball games to players, coaches, referees and parents.
The decision, announced Thursday by network superintendent Sheila Sherman, angered Vashon alumni and fans, who said it would keep siblings, students and college scouts out of the gym for the home opener of the defending state champions and the Lady Wolverines, who won state in 2023.
In a letter to Vashon families, Sherman cited 鈥渞ecent safety incidents at local basketball games outside of the district鈥 for the 鈥渄ifficult decision.鈥
Carl Mitchell, a spokesman for SLPS, did not respond to questions Friday. Vashon boys varsity is ranked No. 1 in the small school division by STLhighschoolsports.com.
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鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe they would have that type of mandate saying people cannot come to the game,鈥 said Floyd Irons, legendary former Vashon basketball coach. 鈥淰ashon basketball is one of the only bright spots in the district with everything that鈥檚 going on.鈥
The attendance limit follows fights at a basketball invitational held Monday at Cardinal Ritter College Prep in 最新杏吧原创. Police were called to the school at 6:30 p.m., when O鈥橣allon, Illinois, and Cardinal Ritter were set to tip off. There were no arrests.
鈥淪adly, there were kids who did not come to Cardinal Ritter to watch the multiple schools play basketball. Instead, they came to Cardinal Ritter to fight,鈥 school President Tamiko Armstead wrote in a letter to families.
The fights 鈥減rimarily involved youth from outside of Cardinal Ritter鈥 aside from a 鈥渟mall number of our students (who) may have been caught up in the conflicts,鈥 Armstead said.
No one connected to Vashon was involved, according to an SLPS staff member. Vashon鈥檚 junior varsity team played against the Cardinal Ritter junior varsity in the first game of the day, six hours before the fights broke out.
The girls varsity game was scheduled to be livestreamed at 5:30 p.m. Friday followed by the boys at 7:15 p.m. SLPS is offering refunds for game tickets already sold. It is unclear if the new attendance rules apply to fans of the opposing teams from Millard Park High School in Omaha, Nebraska.
The attendance restrictions were not enacted at other SLPS high schools. Vashon already had a rule that students must be accompanied by a parent at sporting events, according to the staffer.
鈥淢eanwhile we have not had any altercations at our games at all !! No threats nothing!!鈥 a Vashon parent posted on Facebook. 鈥淢ind me our boys are Scholar Athletes with a tremendous amount of support from our community!!鈥
Mizzou basketball coach Dennis Gates speaks with the media on Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, about Nicholas Randall, a Mizzou recruit who previously attended Vashon. (Video by Mizzou Network, used with permission of Mizzou Athletics)
