Imagine this:
It’s the annual East vs. Rockhurst basketball game night — one of the biggest games of the year. After four tough quarters battling it out, Rockhurst ultimately claims the win.
Approximately 350 Rockhurst students in the student section start screaming and shouting insults towards East as they pour off the bleachers and scramble to the middle of the basketball court. The thing is, not all of the East basketball players have left the court yet.
During a high-speed collision with a Rockhurst student, an East basketball starter is knocked down as he grabs his knee in pain. After being ushered off the court, the athletic trainer determines that the player has suffered a major knee injury and can’t play in future games.
The team still has nine games left plus the state tournament, but now he’ll be watching from the bench. But this is all hypothetical — court storming could never result in that.
Wrong.
This exact incident actually occurred on Feb. 24 to Duke University player Kyle Filipowski. After Wake Forest University defeated Duke by a mere four points, the Wake Forest student section obnoxiously stormed the court and injured Filipowski.
We can’t let this happen at East.
Students need to realize that rules put into place against court storming are there for your safety — not to ruin your fun.
The current regulations on court storming at East coincide directly with the Kansas State High Schools Activities Association rule against court storming. According to the KSHSAA Basketball Manual, under a subsection of Rule 52, “rushing the field/floor or victory celebration on the playing surface/field” is considered “undesirable behavior.” Any violation to this rule could result in probation or suspension — tarnishing your school’s record is definitely not worth 10 seconds of celebration.
There are plenty of other ways to celebrate a victory with your friends. Staying in the stands and cheering with your friends standing next to you — not rubbing against you in a mosh pit in the center of the gym — is a safe but still fun way to celebrate.
If you’re friends with a player on the team, wait until later to congratulate them. The team needs time to celebrate their win with their fellow teammates.
So when next year’s Rockhurst game comes around, think before you storm. You never know whose toes you’re going to step on — it could cost your team your star player.
Jan. 28, 2022 — a core memory from my freshman year. After spending the full 90 minutes of the game biting my nails alongside the rest of the student body — all in matching “Beat Rock” shirts — the buzzer went off, marking the end of the biggest basketball game of the year against Rockhurst, and East won.
I darted down the bleachers to join the mosh pit of Lancers on the court jumping up and down and singing our alma mater in celebration.
After joining the players on the court, East waved goodbye to the Rockhurst student section with a “This is our house!” chant.
Now in 2024, administration has taken a stricter approach to prevent students from celebrating big wins like this by standing at the front of the student section and preventing the crowd of students from storming the court.
Restricting students from storming the court after winning a game is depriving students of valuable memories and experiences here at East.
According to a poll of 346 students, 88% believe we should be able to storm the court after winning a basketball game — a majority of the student body feels strongly that storming the court is necessary.
Storming the court is part of the high school experience. Seriously, name a better feeling than rushing onto the court with your friends and classmates bursting with excitement and smiles while singing the school song.
Due to the Kansas State High School Activities Association’s rules against rushing the court and having a victory celebration on the playing surface, East has suspended students in the past for storming the court after winning games.
While accidents are a big concern in storming the court, they can happen at any event and any moment in time, so eliminating a school-wide tradition over the fear of injury is utterly pointless. In reality, someone could get just as injured slipping on a patch of ice on the way to the parking lot after a winter game.
Since currently not being able to storm the court, the rush of every student gunning towards the exit trying to get to the parking lot immediately after the game ends, should just as easily be a concern. Limiting the celebration leaves students no choice but to hurry out of the gym, just so they don’t get stuck in the crowded parking lot.
There’s just as much of a chance of students ending up “trampled” heading to the exit then they would storming the court. But hey, who knows how long until East prohibits storming the exits too?
Storming the court after a close and nerve inducing game is just part of the high school experience, something everyone should get to experience at least once before they graduate from East.