[BillyMac]

NFHS 6-3 JUMP-BALL ADMINISTRATION
ART. 2 . . . When the referee is ready and until the ball is tossed, nonjumpers shall not:
b. Change position around the center restraining circle.
ART. 5 . . . Until the tossed ball is touched by one or both jumpers, nonjumpers shall not:
b. Take a position in any occupied space.

NFHS 6-1 LIVE BALL
ART. 2 . . . The ball becomes live when:
a. On a jump ball, the tossed ball leaves the referee’s hand(s).

I blew a call last night, but I'm not sure how I blew it. I just know that I blew it. I was the umpire and my partner is getting ready to toss the ball. I noticed something odd happening with the nonjumpers, on the jump ball circle, on my side, to my right. A-1, who had previously been in his own occupied space, moved to his left, in front of B-1, who was also in his own occupied space. While I was trying to process this in my mind, my partner tossed the ball, and we played on.

At halftime, and after the game, we discussed my options, and came up with three:

1) Ignore and play on. This was the option I took, which is the incorrect option, by the rule, and by the intent and purpose of the rule as well. I wasn't ready, I couldn't process this quickly, and blew the call.

2) Blow my whistle and reset the nonjumpers, reminding them to stay in their own space.

3) Blow my whistle, call a violation on A-1, and give the ball to Team B for a throwin.

The reason I'm torn between the second, or third, option is I can't come up with a definition of "ready" in 6-3-2-b. As the umpire, how do I know when my partner is ready? Whistle? Normal arm movements used by the referee when tossing? "Ready?" question answered by the captains? Also, If I were to chose the third option, that means that I would be calling a violation during a dead ball, right? Comments would be appreciated.