"Unfortunately, (the fans) need a lesson in sportsmanship. I've never seen it in gymnastics. It doesn't belong in the sport when you have people cheering a fall. It's pretty upsetting."

That was ESPN's Cathy Johnson Clark commenting on national television during a college women's gymnastics meet in 2002. Cathy was absolutely right to be upset.

And I was more upset than Cathy because it was my team whose fans (although it was a small percentage of them) had slipped up and clapped when an opponent fell from the beam in a close meet.

Over the past 20 years, college coaches all over the country have installed Olympic-level skills into their gymnasts' routines. And they have learned that, with appropriate strength and endurance training, mature gymnasts, performing Olympic-level routines in the electric, college environment have made college gymnastics the most entertaining and exciting level of the sport.

Crowd support -- loud and enthusiastic support -- is one of the elements that make college gymnastics so exciting.

Thousands of fans have discovered the excitement of college women's gymnastics. And it's been great for the sport, in general. But an increasing number of fans have brought with them the demeanor they exhibit during other sports, particularly when the competing teams are from schools that also are intense rivals in football, basketball or ice hockey, where it's considered part of the sport to intimidate the opponent. In bringing the football mentality to the gymnastics arena, fans have booed visiting coaches and gymnasts when introduced, intentionally tried to cause gymnasts to fall from the apparatus and followed visiting gymnasts from apparatus to apparatus yelling insults at them.

Unfortunately, at the 2002 Southeastern Conference championships, some fans even booed gymnasts and coaches from an opposing team who were recognized for achievement in the awards ceremony. While this imposed no danger to the award recipients, it characterized those who booed as ignorant and tasteless -- not the kind of image we want for gymnastics fans.

Far worse than booing or showing pleasure for a gymnast's misfortune is orchestrating noise during a performance -- for example, conducting a chant in unison while a gymnast is performing on the balance beam. Performing on the beam requires a long period of sustained, intense concentration. The gymnast is up to eight feet in the air, doing flips and turns, above a four-inch-wide beam. If she falls, she can be seriously injured. Purposely doing anything to distract her is cruel. It reflects badly on the fans involved, the gymnasts they are supporting and the school they represent. Fans who do this should be barred from attendance, and a coach who permits supporters to do it should be reprimanded.

Comments on Internet message boards indicate that some fans believe distractive and intimidating activities are part of their obligations to enhance the home-gym advantage. Performance results indicate that there is indeed a home-gym advantage. But it should be an unavoidable consequence of the rigors of travel and the strange environment and equipment. It should not result from fan intimidation of the visiting team.

But how do you encourage loud, positive cheering without inviting inappropriate behavior? I believe that coaches have both the capability and obligation to take an active stance in that regard. For example, the meet announcer can remind the crowd before he introduces the visiting team how proud its team and coaches are of their hospitality and demeanor, including enthusiastic cheering at the appropriate times. Coaches also have control over cheerleaders, both the cheer team from the school and the self-appointed cheerleaders in the crowd.

Coaches also can distribute instructions on crowd behavior at meets and publish encouragement for proper fan behavior in publications the fans read. After the incident at our meet, I published a letter to our students in the campus paper, explaining that our team was embarrassed by their behavior. The following week, an opposing gymnast fell from the beam, but the crowd response was entirely different -- only a muffled sigh of disappointment and compassion, followed by polite applause as the competitor remounted the beam.

Several years ago, I published a Gymnastics Fans Code of Conduct. I've been proud of our fans' conduct ever since. We've been averaging nearly 10,000 fans per meet, and they make as much noise as any fans anywhere. Up until the event Cathy Clarke described, their conduct had set a standard of excellence for appropriate fan behavior at gymnastics meets.

Coaches can and should take leadership roles in educating fans and in controlling their behavior. When fans act improperly, it is fully the coach's responsibility, and he or she should be held accountable by the meet referee and by his or her administrative superiors.

At Georgia, we are proud of our sport, all aspects of it. Enthusiasm and civility are not mutually exclusive at our place, nor should they be anywhere.

And thank you, Cathy Clark, for helping me recognize that I had become complacent in assuming that I didn't need to review crowd behavior periodically.

Suzanne Yoculan is the head women's gymnastics coach at the University of Georgia.

Fans code of conduct

Always greet guests (opponents and supporters) with genuine hospitality. They love their team, just as we love ours, and they can be valued guests if we extend a hospitable hand. Their gymnasts are much like ours, having dedicated years of intense and disciplined practice to develop the skills they will exhibit in entertaining us. Their coaches are the kinds of people we want leading our youth. And they are all our guests. Your greetings should be highly vocal and positive.

Demonstrate appreciation for good gymnastics with enthusiastic applause and cheers for good performances by gymnasts from all teams. Our gymnasts want you to show our guests that you are appreciative and knowledgeable. It reflects well on you and our school, and it makes them proud to be members of our team and representatives of our school.

Never conduct organized activities (by the cheer team or by "ad hoc cheerleaders") that would be distractions to the gymnasts while they are performing. To perform safely, gymnasts have to remain totally focused for longer periods of time than do athletes in other sports. Distractions may cause loss of focus, which can result in falls and serious injuries. It is entirely inappropriate -- even cruel -- to attempt to distract or to intimidate gymnasts.

Never applaud or cheer for a gymnast when she makes a mistake during her performance, particularly after a fall. Such conduct simply is insensitive and reflective of coarse behavior. Just as you would not applaud a golfer for missing a putt or a diver for hitting his or her head on the springboard, you should never show demonstrative pleasure at a gymnast's misfortune. Pull for your team, not against the opponent.

Never boo or yell derogatory remarks. Don't boo opponents. Don't boo coaches. Don't boo judges. The opponents are your guests; treat them as such. The judges are are conscientious and dedicated, and much better trained and more capable of awarding proper scores than fans.