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Originally Posted by tmp44
Hey all,
As some of you may know, I coordinate the basketball intramural officials at my university. As a quick background, 95% of the officials that work these games have never picked up a whistle before the season begins, and the players who play in the games know this.
Regardless of their inexperience, what happened tonight during a game is a problem that faces all of us...all too often. Tonight, at the conclusion of a first round playoff game, a member of the losing team (by 20), who had been given a technical in the first half, decided to start threatening one of the officials. As the official began to back away (the player, by the way, 6'4, the official, a freshman, 5'5), the player first chest bumped him, and then head butted the official.
Although a lot is still undetermined, I can tell you that the player has been suspended from all intramural sports for the remainder of his academic career, and charges are pending. Unfortunately, I was not at the gym when the incident happened, but arrived just a few minutes after. I will keep you all updated on what happens.
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TMP,
I don't know how exactly your system works, but for the IM games I work, we have one supervisor (a student who has officiated for a couple of years, and then through an application process gets the job of supervisor) that is assigned to each game. We have an incident report system (which requires getting statements, etc.) and the supervisors also know exactly where to get campus police. We also have a sportsmanship grade, given to each team after each game. You have to have a "B" average to make the playoffs, and you must maintain that grade throughout the tournament. Any grade of "D" or "F" in the tournament disqualifies you from further play. Now, certainly you may have all these things, and certainly there is no guarantee that any of this could have prevented any of this, but just some suggestions in case you do not have any of these. At the university where I have officiated, we have given career suspensions for much less.
I will say that I am glad to see that you are a coordinator that stands up for his officials though. My coordinator is the same way, and it's always great to work for someone you know has got your back. The career suspension is appropriate, and, depending on how the overall team conduct had been, I would consider forfeiting them from the tournament. Also, I'd call the official in, and let him know that I'm behind him 110%. I know that if I were in his shoes, I might be a little shaken up.