In another thread, there was a discussion of the system my team uses that requires substition of 5 fresh players every minute or so to maintain an extreme pace. Much to my chagrin,
a few posters (wisely) stated that, if they were the opponent, they would request a defensive match-up whenever we subbed.
My first response is to wince whenever I hear mention of this rule, but I decided to take a closer look at it first before I dare not speak its name again.
A coach running the same system in college sent me what I presume is a direct quote from his rule book:
"When 3 or more substitutes for the same team enter the game, an official may honor a request by the opposing captain to aid it in locating the entering players."
This raises serveral questions for me:
1) Is this also how the rule is worded for high school?
2) Does timid language such as "official may honor" and captain may "request" make this rule as discretionary as it first appears to the lesser trained eyes of a coach?
3) If this is truly discretionary, what criteria would you use to decide whether to "honor a request?" Would you grant this request every minute for the whole game? Why / why not?
Now is probably a good time to confess the sin of not having a rule book in my possession (my A.D. can't find my new one and I tossed my old ones).
My fingers are crossed in anticipation of your responses.