Wisconsin School Bans 'USA' Chant at Athletic Events

One Wisconsin high school is catching flack for banning the use of the chant "U-S-A" at athletic events.

Baraboo High School officials have banned the chant after hearing that it had a double meaning for some students, the Capitol Times in Madison, Wis., reported Tuesday.

Click here to read the Capitol Times story

Citing the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletics Association code, Baraboo administrators banned "U-S-A" after learning it meant "U Suck [explicative]" to some students.

The WIAA code only allows positive cheers supporting one's own team and bans put-downs and other cheers fraught with innuendo, the paper said.

The decision to ban "U-S-A." had parents crying foul at a school board meeting last week, the Times reported.

"Any cheer you can come up with, if you want, can be perceived differently," parent Mary Williams told the paper. "In my opinion, it stands for 'USA.'

"It's really sad because we went to the [boys' basketball] game on Monday night and the students never peeped the entire time," she continued. "Truly, they've been having more fun when they're not in their home gym because they can cheer."

Baraboo officials say that although only about a dozen or so students appeared to be disrupting games with the chant, the ban will stand.

"It's unfortunate that some kids who legitimately want to cheer for their team are stuck in the middle of it," said School Board President Kevin Vodak. "But the bottom line to us was that the Badger Conference approves only positive cheers for your team. ... Maybe the original intent was to skirt the rules, to have some fun, but the hidden meaning was well known among students and it's gotten out of hand."