[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by RecRef


A. I call a spot throw-in and point to the spot on the floor. The player stands there, so far so good. I move away some distance to put some space between us before I bounce the ball to the player. What does the player do? He/She walks toward me to get the ball. What do I do? I point to the original spot and tell the player that is where he should be. You would be surprised at the number of coaches that take exception to this. Granted a small number but it should be zero. (One of these days I am going to keep walking just to see how far the kid will follow. )

Here's a trick to stop that. Before you give the kid the ball just tell him what you want him to do. If it's an older kid just tell him "don't move, stay right there". If it's a younger kid tell him "I'm gonna take a few steps away from you and bounce you the ball, but you stay right there". If the coach asks you what you're telling his player tell him "we're talking about you, coach!"

Works every time!

B. Why is it that I have never seen a player step right up to the line when throwing-in the ball?

I suspect it's for the same reason you take a few steps back when you're refereeing a play right in front of you. Opens up your viewing angle.

C. Don’t get mad at the official when we “don’t tell a player what to do.” Case in point is the lineup for the free throw. As long as B1 and B2 occupy the first spaces I don’t care where the rest lineup on the lane line. (Don’t know what I am going to do when a player occupies the #4 space this year.)

If A3 is taking a spot that B3 is entitled to it's your job to move A3 if B3 asks. As for the #4 space, you'll tell him to get out, just like you would if the wrong team occupied the #1 space.

Now let’s talk about a big thing. Before last season we invited coaches to our board’s general meetings, boys representatives one month and girls the next month. One of the coaches voiced displeasure with us in that we talk to his kids after a call. Though these are not his exact words his statement was something like, “I would appreciate it if you would not tell my players the why what he did was wrong. Coaches teach players a way of defense such as backing out another player from the lane, or putting a hand or forearm into an opponents back and leaving it there. That is the way we teach them and you should not correct them if they say something.” Excuse me! So when some kid says something to us that implies that we don’t know what we are doing call that a foul we are not to say why it is wrong? I think not.

If the player asks what he did to deserve a foul tell him -*after you've reported the foul*. If a coach objects to you explaining this when asked then he's an ignorant jerk, but you should comply with his wish to have his team remain ignorant as well.

Do not offer any information unasked.