By Evan Ortiz and Nick Albano, Reporters

The Kaneland Knights were in a heated contest with the Morris Redskins on Dec. 9 and as always, the rowdies were in full swing.

Screaming and cheering students were in attendance to support their school, and junior Ryan Ford was in the center of it all. Partway through the game, Dean Renee Grisch approached Ford about his attire at the game.

“Mrs. Grisch told me to remove my mask because it was covering my face, and I guess we’re not allowed to do that anymore,” Ford said.

Ford, wearing his World War II-era gas mask, was asked to remove his mask because of a rule that has been around for years but isn’t implemented at all venues.

“It’s eye opening to me and somewhat confusing, considering the fact that they let me do it during the football season,” Ford said.

Lately, there has been a crackdown by the staff on the usage of face paint and other objects to cover the face, which are worn by rowdies. This was allowed at the football games, but indoor venues are putting a stop to it.

This rule has been in action for over a decade, but recently more and more students are being told that this is a problem.

“It’s been around since before I’ve been here,” said athletic director Leigh Jaffke, “and soon it will be a conference-wide rule, although most schools in our conference are already against it.”

It’s not just face paint that’s not allowed; masks and any other object covering the face are not allowed either. Why are outdoor venues okay with this stuff when indoors are not? It won’t be okay for much longer outdoors either.

“There’s not a rule for outdoor venues right now [in terms of masks or face paint], but it has been discussed, and there probably will be a conference-wide movement that might be implemented soon,” Jaffke said.

Although these rules are being enforced, there are no given guidelines to what a rowdie technically can and cannot do, according to Grisch, because Kaneland as well as the rest of the conference have yet to come to an agreement that it’s common courtesy to keep the cheering and representation factor under control.

“There are unwritten rules that you have to follow in order to represent Kaneland appropriately,” Jaffke said.

Students still feel they should be more informed about these rules and changes, as it pertains to what they wear, and what may or may not be scrutinized by the Kaneland staff.

“I think some of the administrators should be a little more explanatory,” said senior Anthony Sperando.

Students, like Ford, might not feel this is fair, but this is more of a respect issue.

“We just want students attending games to dress appropriately and act appropriately,” Jaffke said. “The same rules go as in school day hours. We don’t allow face paint and girls in sports bras during the school day, so a game is no exception. Rowdies just need to represent Kaneland respectfully.”

With the loss of the face paint and masks and revealing clothing, sophomore Adhurim Azemi feels it’s pretty simple when it comes down to cheering and getting in the head of the opposing team.

“You just need to be as loud and obnoxious as possible, and you can’t go wrong.”