Should storming the court or field after a big game be allowed? It is a very hot topic in the sports world right now as last night NCAA Women’s superstar Caitlin Clark was hit be a fan as they were storming the court. After number 18 Ohio State beat number 2 ranked Iowa the fans stormed the court and an Ohio State fan ran into Caitlin Clark causing her to fall. The girl who ran into her was holding her phone and both of the individuals fell. Clark then later got up and was helped to the locker room.
After the game in her press conference she said that she was fine and that the Ohio State athletic director came up and apologized to her. Lisa Bluder, Iowa head coach, went on to say, “You know, it’s unfortunate the game ended that way and Caitlin gets taken out on the floor Gets some inappropriate words yelled at her by fans, by students. That just should not happen. It should not happen. Our players should be safe, they should be able to walk off the floor. That’s very disappointing.”
This has caused a stir in whether or not storming the court should be allowed. Purdue’s men’s head coach said earlier this week that the Big 10 needs to be better about preparing for the court rushing after Nebraska beat them. He went on to say that it could be very dangerous for anyone, home players, away players, scores table, and officials.
Storming the court is one of the most iconic events in college sports. After a team gets a huge win they often will storm the court and celebrate with the team. Although many conferences and the NCAA is not a fan of it the fans are. They love heading down to the field or court after a big win to celebrate with the team. M
Many conferences have began to increase the fines for the school if there students were to rush the court or field after the game. These fines have gotten pretty large. The SEC for football is charging 100,000 for the first offense, 250,000 for the second, and 500,000 for subsequent violations. The schools are required to have people holding ropes to keep the visiting team a clear path to there locker room to keep them safe. The visiting team is also advised to forgo the handshake and go directly to the locker room for player safety.
A way that the teams are able to get out of the fine is if the visiting team and officials are off the court completely then they will not be issued a fine by the conference.
Rushing the field has been a thing since the early 1980 and has a very deep tradition. Fans are able to go down and celebrate with their team that had just won a game.
