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Had an 8th grade youth league game yesterday with a green partner and a very young coach along with young (high school age) assistants who didn't know the rules. These "coaches" would make smart-*** comments to each other about the officiating and always wanted the "over the back call" and expected a foul call every time they shot. Their opponents happened to be a better coached team and they played strong defense throughout, so the foul count was low. At the half, my partner asks me, in light of the whining and our low foul total if we were calling enough fouls. I told him to focus on the game and ignore the coaches. In the second half, the game continued much the same way and I think my partner did a good job of not anticipating fouls. Of course the play of this team deteriorated as players would commit stupid fouls on one end and then create contact on offense with defenders in legal position, expecting an even-up call. I thought we called the game fairly well although there was whining, but the fans know nothing about verticality, nor much else, so it was a lesson not to listen to fans/coaches during a game. As an aside, I spoke to the other team's coach once before I officiated his game, and he'd made a point, knowing I officiate HS ball, of asking rules questions, telling me he'd made a conscious effort to understand the rules in order to better coach his team. It was no coincidence that his team was able to play within the rules and the other squad wasn't. Finally, it never ceases to amaze me as a coach and an official to see how quickly a team's play goes down the gutter when the coach bails them out by berating the refs.
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