Hey Paul - how are things down in the southern part of the state? Here's some info on the handcheck mechanic.
We used it for a ton of years, then a few years ago the signal was eliminated and we were instructed to use the illegal use of hands signal for a handcheck.
It really caused some problems because coaches thought we felt a player got "hacked" when obviously he didn't. Some refs used the pushing signal because it was more representative. Upon numerous requests from refs, the signal was reinstated.
Now, if we could only get signals approved for "over the back" and "reaching", we would reduce coach yelling by 20%
