Rushing the field after football and basketball games has been a very traditional and enjoyable experience for passionate student sports fans for decades. Many believe that it should not be banned, and many are asking why is it banned in the first place? While rushing the field has always been looked down on, recently it was decided to lock down on security and reinforce not rushing the field.
Many have heard that at the Timpview vs. Lone Peak game incident occurred involving Timpview staff and Lone Peak students. Although details cannot be confirmed at this time, it is rumored that the incident occurred.
After Lone Peak won against Timpview, students from Lone Peak rushed the field. Tom Fell, an assistant principal at Timpview, tried to stop these students from rushing our field. There was a physical altercation with some students on the field, and allegedly Fell was forcefully shoved and these students then fled from the scene. These individuals are yet to be named.
To answer the question about why students can’t rush the field or court, Tom Fell stated that “rushing the field is a safety issue, it comes down to safety and accessibility.” A few students were asked their opinion on the matter. “I believe it’s your opinion, nobody is forcing you to rush the field, you should be able to watch out for yourself, know who you are and take that at your own risk.” said senior Luke Clark. To back up Luke, senior Max Clark added, “if you want to live the high school experience of rushing the field, and to be there for your team you should be able to.” Most students argue that concern for safety is “ridiculous.” While this might be true, Tom said that “we have in fact had people get trampled in the past.” Many students struggle to understand the concern for safety. When asked about this, senior Tyler Weed replied “if you get injured, that is a battle wound and you should be proud of it.” Others believe that safety is the highest level of concern because Timpview could be found liable.
This issue can be considered a disagreement between involved parties at the school. Leo Auernig says, “the thing is, you can’t mess with it. There are more students than admin, and we will overpower them.” Faculty say they have plans to stop students, but who will take control when it comes to a close game? When Fell was asked about his ideas for containing students, he stated, “We have talked about some things, and ideas to bring in place especially at close games or rivalry games.” Fell believes that people will respect that when he says no rushing the field, he means it.
