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Old Thu Apr 13, 2000, 05:49pm
Hawks Coach Hawks Coach is offline
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I don't know your situation (age/skill level in league), but usually the refs in the very young age groups "let them play" and do grin at the not so egregious violations. When I started with 2nd graders, the rule seemed to be let one or two double dribbles go on one "player possession", but if the player did the two handed dribble or picked it up every other step on a drive they would call it. Similarly, traveling was not called unless they covered more than five feet. This resulted in a lot of grins, from refs, coaches, and fans, although the players had no clue.

I liked letting them play as long as the reffing was consistent, which it usually was. When strictest interpretations are used, the rules exceed the younger players skill level and they get tentative rather than going all out and enjoying the game. As they get older, that type of reffing needs to cease and the enforcement tightened. Similarly, recreational ball, with a high variety of skill levels, is usually reffed more loosely than select ball, like AAU, especially in younger ages (pre-middle school) and lower divisions.
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