Quote:
Originally posted by Pirate
I am a bit surprised that no one has mentioned the dreaded "liability" word yet in this post. Although there is no precedent that I am aware of concerning an official working solo, I can only imagine that it is a matter of time before some parent (who sees their kid injured in a game with an official working solo) sues a solo-working official. Of course, some attorney will note that the official or his/her association was negligent in not providing the required number of officials for the contest in question, thus leading or contributing to the injury. Which begs another question. Are there any associations out there that are refusing to work one-man mechanics for liability reasons? And if not, are there any lawyers out there that can elaborate on this issue?
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I am glad you brought up the "liability issue." I think that officiating any game (male or female) from the jr. H.S. level on up by oneself is an accident waiting to happen. The way today's game is played, one official cannot cover the court adequately; afterall, why do love officiating in a three-person crew.
The first time I ever officiated a game by myself, was a women's jr. college game years ago in California. My partner did not show up and I made the mistake of officiating the game myself. Fortunately, I have had to face the no partner situation only once since then and it was in an NAIA regular season's women's game. My partner took ill during halftime and was not able to come out for the second half. The athletic director wanted me to finish the game by myself. I said no. Needless to say I did not care for my position. Fortunately, one of the officials who had officiated the jr. varsity game before our game lived only a couple a miles away from the campus and we held the start of the second half until he could get there. The first half of this game had been a rough and tumble game between two long time rivals and I was not about to attempt to officiate the second half by myself.
While we all want to help the schools out, our first concern is for the safety of the players. One official cannot cover the game and put the safety of all the players first.