[ChuckElias]

Rook,

Before I get to your situation, please let me share another very important insight with you regarding the Coach's Box.

There isn't one.

Rather, it's a coaching box. I know this is a minor point, but I think it helps to maintain the correct perspective. The coach does not own the box. He can't do whatever he wants, as long as he's in "his" box. He's allowed to coach while standing there, period. Now many of us give the coach a little latitude on what they can say or ask of us while they're standing in the box. But by rule, the box is only for coaching his players. It's not the coach's box; you can take it away at any time, if the situation calls for it.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox.

Now, in your specific situation, there are two ways to go. First, if you're not sure whether your state has authorized the use of a coaching box, go ask the site administrator. It sounds like this was a HS game. So , find the school's AD and ask him/her if your state uses a coaching box. (What state are you in, anyway? Somebody here will probably be able to tell you what your state's rule is.) If you can't find the AD, then. . .

Second, simply look at the floor in front of the bench. Is there a 6' (or 14') box marked on the floor? If so, let the coach use it. My best guess is that the school wouldn't have wasted the money to paint the box if the state didn't allow its use. If there's no box marked, then you can honestly tell the coach, "Coach, there's no box marked, so there's no way for us to enforce it. Therefore, we won't be using a box tonight at all."

Now, once you say that, the coach will either realize that you know your stuff (no box in your state), or he'll immediately find the other coach and they will have somebody put down tape to mark the box.

In either case, I would try to minimize the amount of verbiage with the coach.

Good luck getting an answer for your state.