Quote:
Originally Posted by stilllearning
I guess I would flip what you're saying and say that 1% of the time it could be the officials fault. My thought is that the quote your referring to is talking about fouls other than the stuff we would call t's. There was nothing in the game I was working that would have led you to believe that A1 would fall down, get frustrated and slap the girls leg. If a kid "decides" to act out with something they know will get them a tech then that's their fault. Kids know better and know that if they shove another player during a dead ball that it will be a tech. Even if they themselves had just got shoved they know that if they respond it will be called. The kids are responsible for their behavior. Not us. But I need to hear all this because I could be off base with my thinking and don't want to stay there if I am. That's part of why I posted as I'm still learning. What do you think? Respectfully submitted.
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I totally agree that kids (heck, everyone) is responsible for their own behavior. In general, would you say that players react in frustration from only one play, or several plays over the course of the game? My answer is that frustration builds over time. Very, very infrequently will one play cause a player to "blow his top".
When contact occurs in a game that affects the play (and an advantage is gained) and a foul is not called, players assume that a penalty will not be enforced and continue that behavior/action later in the game. Physical play ultimately escalates into situtations that become a problem - hard fouls, intentional fouls, unsportsman-like plays, etc. It is usually a result of not blowing the whistle earlier in the game.
If officials blow the whistle and establish early what contact is a foul and what is not, then the players will adjust (or sit on the bench after fouling out). When officials are rather passive and let too much contact occur between players, that is when problems build and become a problem later in the game. That is when officials, by their lack of game control, create the circumstances that often lead to problems in games.
I hope you are reading this in the moderate tone that I intend to communicate. Too many times posts on this board are extrapolated to their extremes and viewed in a "black or white" perspective. I'm not advocating that passing on minor contact will lead to a fight in the 4th qtr., nor do I think that "the more fouls called in a game, the better"....I believe that, in general, officials could, and should, call more fouls than we do in games. It will make for a better game and will definitely lead to less problems (and phone calls from assignors) in the future.