That’s an unsportsmanlike way to get home-court advantage.
New York City public high schools have been banning visiting fans from their gyms, at times leaving frustrated parents stuck at home watching their kids play on social media.
Parents at Cardozo High School in Queens fumed to The Post that they were turned away from the door at rival Francis Lewis earlier this month after driving an hour from work, while a Thomas Edison coach says his players’ parents were kept out of a game at Hillcrest.
Cardozo also allegedly shut out opposing fans at a Tuesday home game against John Bowne.
“My father followed me when I played a sport,” griped Roland Judge, 62, who regularly attends away games to watch and videotape his 17-year-old son, Christopher, a Bowne player. “It’s the right thing to do, to be there for my son.”
Legendary Cardozo basketball coachRon Naclerio said some members of the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) began applying blanket bans for away spectators last year.
Cardozo basketball coach Ron Naclerio said the ban on away teams began last year and has persisted at some schools. J.C.RiceThe baffling prohibition has been enacted after the PSAL gave schools the option to allow visitors again at indoor games in Oct. 2021.
Now, at schools like Cardozo and Francis Lewis, the ban against visiting fans at basketball games has persisted without explanation, despite health concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic largely disappearing.
“They’re taking advantage of playing this out about COVID, and this is BS,” barked Amina Wright, 48, whose son Isaiah, 18, plays point guard on Cardozo’s varsity basketball team. “They got over COVID, wrap it up.”
Cardozo Amina Wright and other parents have driven away games to watch their children play, only to be turned away at the door over visiting fans bans. J.C.Rice
Cardozo point guard Isaiah Wright and his teammates have had to rally at away games in gyms filled with almost-entirely hostile crowds. J.C.RiceThe bans have further juiced the teams’ home-court advantage. The visitors, meanwhile, are forced to rally against an almost-entirely hostile crowd, and without the support of their biggest cheerleaders — their parents.
“One of my best players — his father has to sit in the car” during some away games, said Thomas Edison High School basketball coach Ryan Gompers. “He hasn’t been playing up to his standards.”
The closed-door policy has so far produced winning records at home for ‘Dozo, which has notched two wins and a loss in the still young basketball season, which began in November; and Francis Lewis, which has won both of its home contests.
Another downside of the ban is parents have been unable tape their kids performances. J.C.RiceWhile administrators have stayed mum on the reason behind the ban, some coaches and parents believe it could also be an effort to tamp down violence in the stands between rival fans and rowdy parents.
“You have parents yelling at refs, you have coaches going on the court,” said Louis Xifaras, a Queens-based high school basketball consultant. “It doesn’t feel like it’s a safe environment anymore watching New York City basketball games.”
Julius Allen, PSAL’s boys basketball commissioner, said that he had received complaints about the bans on away-teams’ fans from coaches, and hopes school administrators lift the restriction.
“The coaches would love more [fans] at the game so we can have a great basketball environment,” Allen said.
The Department of Education and administrators at Cardozo and Hillcrest did not respond to a request for comment. Francis Lewis principal David Marmor declined to comment and referred to the school’s spectator policy stating the ban.
Additional reporting by J.C. Rice
