Quote:
Originally Posted by Spyro
While working a freshman girls basketball game, a parent confronted my partner and I on the way back to our locker room at halftime. The parent yelled in my face "why don't you come back with some glasses?", so I told the man that he needed to leave. I notified the athletic director (younger guy in his first year as an AD) and made him aware of the situation, and I was under the impression that the athletic director was clear as to who was being removed. After halftime, I came out to find that the man was still in the bleachers. After conferring with the AD about what was going on, he told me that the man simply refused to leave. I told the AD that we were not going to play until the man left, and the AD didn't really know how to handle it. At that point, I sent both teams back to their benches and notified the visiting coach that if the parent did not leave, they would be forfeiting the game and we would be done. The coach talked to the parent and it was taken care of.
Now for my question. I know that this was not the 100% correct way to handle this, and ultimately the police should probably handle somebody who refuses to leave like that. Can a more experienced official walk me through how to handle a situation like this, and if there is a forfeit procedure involved at all? Thank you.
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In a scholastic game, you never declare a forfeit for a fan refusing to leave (in the absence of an otherwise stated policy from your state), so don't threaten a coach with a forfeit for spectator behavior. Worst case scenario (meaning you've exhausted every possible option), suspend the game and let your state handle it. But again, it should never get to that point and should be a "nuclear option."
The AD should have handled this, as you noted. But, since he didn't, I don't see anything wrong with what you did in asking the visiting coach to handle it (especially in a freshman game). A freshman game may or may not have police presence, so asking the coach to deal with it and making clear the game won't resume until the clown is gone is a perfectly acceptable way to deal with it IMO. In a varsity game, there should be security and more administrators present to deal with it, and the coaches don't want to get involved in that.
After the game, the most important thing is for you to immediately let your assigner or state association (depending on the policies in your area) know the situation and that the AD did not do his job.