[Smitty]

Oddball situation last night at a GJV tourney. I had 4 games in the main gym - 2 person game. There were also 4 games in the aux gym working the freshman games. One of the 2 guys working the freshman games did not show up. Evidently one of the home school's coaches decided to fill in and work with the guy in the aux gym for the first 2 freshman games. Here's where it gets interesting for me. The home team is playing in the third game in the aux gym, so the coach decides he shouldn't ref that game. So they pull my partner from the JV game and send the coach to the main gym to work with me. I tell the person running the tourney that I would rather work alone that with someone who is not a state certified official. They are adamant that I need to let this coach officiate the game.

At this point the guy who hadn't shown up, shows up. So crisis averted. My original partner comes back and we finish the night.

My question is - would your state/association allow anyone, who is not a certified official, fill-in if your partner doesn't show up? Clearly for a Varsity game, it would not be allowed. But for sub-varsity? In Oregon, I know they would not allow anyone not certified by the state officiate any state sanctioned game. But here in Texas, I wasn't sure what the rules are.

What would you do?