Recently, Duke center Kyle Filiposki got injured when Wake Forest fans rushed the court to celebrate their massive upset over number 10, Duke. This isn’t the first time this has happened. On January 21, Iowa’s star player, Caitlin Clark, collided with an Ohio State fan while she was running to the locker room.
This is the second court storming incident in the last two months. While it can be fun for fans, it is a safety hazard for everyone on the court.
Court storming has been around for a long time and has been a tradition whenever a ranked team loses to a lower team. Players and staff try to avoid all of the craziness but sometimes get caught up in the moment. After these recent events, coaches and sports analysts are pushing for a ban.
According to apnews.com, Duke coach Jon Scheyer called for immediate measures from the Atlantic Coast Conference to prevent court storming. This is way harder to stop than it seems. Some conferences in the league have fines for court storming, some having bigger fines than others. Fines or no fines, fans will approach the court.
On February 22, 2023, I experienced the Boston College Eagles’ upset win over the Virginia Cavaliers, a ranked opponent. It was a close game until the end, when the Eagles put on a show for the home fans, extending their lead to 15 points. They ended up winning 63-48. With a minute left in the game, fans started heading to the court, getting ready to rush it.
I wanted to experience it, so I kept getting closer to the fans. After seeing more and more fans coming, I decided not to join because I didn’t want to get trampled in the stampede. Rushing the court has proved to be dangerous, especially with recent events. Players and even staff are all at risk of injury.
While many people think court storming should be banned, fans think otherwise. They love the excitement of rushing the court to celebrate their team’s win. To them, it is a way to be part of the game.
Dukes Kyle Filliposki was interviewed after his injury and had mixed feelings about this debate. He stated, “I totally loved court storming just because I feel like it did bring a special meaning behind college basketball.”
He also added, “I do feel like there still needs to be more regulations and safer rules for the players before any college kid can just do whatever they feel like they can do just because their team won.”
Jacob Tobey, a sports anchor for 9news.com, stated, “It’s a unique shared human experience, so don’t take court storming away.”
Both sides of this debate have many supporters, and the league is trying to come up with a solution that will satisfy both the fans and players. Even if they try to ban it, fans will still attempt to storm it. It would be difficult to stop hundreds, maybe even thousands of people from going onto the court. Even if only a few people storm the court, people will soon follow, and then chaos will ensue.
Some people say they should put barriers up to prevent people from getting onto the court, and others say they should create rules and punishments for those who violate them. These ideas are good, but it’s also up to the fans to stop them. They need to be able to stop themselves from such a temptation. The fans must choose to put safety before gathering on the court where injuries are possible.
When fans run onto the court, it is dangerous and can cause injuries. The league needs to find plausible solutions to stop court storming. Whether it’s something blocking fans or new rules, something is needed to prevent this. The league needs to do something sooner rather than later.
