Quote:
Originally posted by dsimp8
I was officiating a Sr High Church league game last Monday nite and,if you know anything about these,these kids are out there to shoot,shoot,shoot and impress their girlfriends since they could not make their HS team.
This one kid who was a faily decent player took exception to a call I did NOT make. I was the out official and ,as head drove by the defender,the defender reached in and slapped the ball away. I did not blow my whistle because from my vantage point,I could not tell if his arm was hit or if it was a clean steal. My partner had a pretty good view and,in talking to him at the half,he seemed to think it was a steal and not a foul.
Well,the kid proceeds to holler at me "How could you NOT see that. That was ridiculous!!". WHACK!!
I was explaining to his coach,who said that I could not call a T on his player for asking a question,that the kid yelled at me and did not talk to me in a civil manner.The coach then said ,"So we can't question calls?" I said," Your right but if you ask me in a nice non-combative manner,I will give you an explaination."
This coach is one we have had problems with in the past. He thinks he is Phil Jackson of the church leagues. When we administer a throw in for the opposong team,he always reminds us that the can't move but when his team has the ball there is no mention of the "not moving" rule. One time last year during a blowout,I mentioned to him how funny that was and he said he just wanted to make sure I knew the rules in which ,I replied, "come join our assocition and see how tough it is. It's tough,but fun."
No response from him.
Back to the original portion of the post. Was I correct in calling the T on the kid and the subsequent dialogue with the coach?
|
In my opinion you did exactly right. The kid deserved to be whacked. Perhaps nobody else has taken care of business in the past, and you were the unfortunate heir of that legacy.
I'm pretty heavily involved in my local church league. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that church leagues exist to serve a few specific purposes. One is to get some exercise. Another is to provide an opportunity for fellowship, an opportunity that is often diminished by the behavior of the participants. And third is to teach life lessons about working hard, playing fairly, winning with grace, losing with dignity, and how to deal with situations just like this one. Seems to me that you assisted this young man in the learning process. I think you should be congratulated.
As for the coach, I might have said, "It was the way he asked," or "his behavior was unsportsmanlike." Or to his "So we can't question calls?" query, perhaps, "not like that, you can't." As to the constant reminders about not moving, I would think about saying, "Thanks, coach. I'm aware of the rule." If he did it again, I would warn him, "That's enough coach. I don't need your help." The third time, whack him.
I'm sure others will be along in a while with even better, more concise replies.