On Sunday (January 5) the Inquirer reported that “Upper Darby will allow members of the public to attend high school winter sporting events, after a new policy restricting access to games due to safety concerns drew backlash over the weekend.
People who show up at games and aren’t on preapproved lists submitted by Upper Darby or visiting teams will have to be approved by school personnel before they can buy tickets, district officials said in a statement Saturday night.”
The Upper Darby School District Website announcing a partial ban on visting team fans reads as follows:
The Upper Darby High School is enacting new procedures for Winter sporting events: all Winter Sports home events are no longer open to the general public.
Only Upper Darby School District students with school-issued IDs and who are eligible to attend school events will be allowed to purchase a ticket at the event. All Upper Darby students must sit in the identified student section. Prior to each sporting event, the Upper Darby School District team and the visiting team will have to submit a list of invited parents and family members who will then be able to buy a ticket at the gate. Students from the visiting team must show photo ID in order to buy a ticket. The visiting team is required to submit a list or have an administrator at the gate to approve the entry of each person. Students or adults who are not affiliate by either school will not be permitted to attend sporting events.
This change will take effect on Saturday, January 4, 2020 with our boys basketball game vs. Conestoga at 1:00 p.m.
As recently as Friday (January 3) the Inquirer was reporting that “Upper Darby School District officials on Friday said home games for high school sports teams this winter will not be open to the general public.”
Upper Darby spokesperson Aaronda Beauford told the Inquirer that administrators were spurred to act after a “physical altercation” at the Dec. 17 Upper Darby-Haverford Township game. Students from outside the district were arrested, Beauford said.