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Here in Texas, when this incident first took place our state organization made sideline enforcement a point of emphasis and during our pregames we used this as our motivation. Even then, enforcement was spotty accross the state and the importance still didn't sink in with the coaches. Then came this lawsuit and the state organization really hammered away at individual chapters about the importance of being strict. The majority of officials realized the potential to be part of a lawsuit served as motivation to prevent this from happening. The reports from the state indicate that the officials in Texas have done a tremendous job and showed some very consistent enforcement. Once coaches realized that this wasn't officials being nit-picky but that we just didn't want to risk a lawsuit they soon began to comply. It's not perfect but each year we hammer away at it the easier it will be and the more compliant they will be. We especially wanted to be even stronger at the jr. high levels. The theory is that the coaches of jr. high teams today will be tommorows varsity coaches. We use it as sort of a training ground to get the coaches used to it. Those levels are also good training for new officials so that they build a habit of being strong in the enforcement.
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