Idaho parents sent to penalty box for cheering at kids' basketball games

You can cheer, but please be quiet about it.

Parents at an Idaho high school basketball game were told not to vocally cheer for their kids or face being sent to a penalty box for one minute, The Coeur d’Alene Press reported.

"They think the only way they can encourage their kids is verbally," Justin Brown, the Post Falls recreation coordinator, told the paper.

He billed the events as "Silent Cheer Day." These parents were allowed to hold up signs and clap, but if they got caught yelling encouragement to a player, they'd be handed a red penalty card and sent to a designated area for 60 seconds, the report said.

Brown's theory is that the lack of yelling could help eliminate some negativity during games.

"Nobody had ever heard of this before," Lorna Allen, a grandmother at the game, said. "I thought, ‘I’m going to get thrown out right off the bat."

Brett Webb, 18, was one of the referees who monitored the fans. He told the paper a total of 15 red cards were handed out during a trial run of the ban.

"Obviously, they want to cheer for their kids," he said. "It's hard to say, 'Hey, stop doing that.'"