Handling 2 instances of Rules error by partner

[Gutierrez7]

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

Freshman boys scrimmage.

No. 1. We are in front court, Partner is trail, pass into the post hits the post player A1 on lower leg and bounces away, still on the court. B1 picks up the loose ball. Partner *Tweet* "Kicked ball" A1.

I come to him and said I had a good look at it, it wasn't intentional, in fact the leg wasn't moving, (but the post player was set up pretty wide legged.). He said it's a violation, I said no, it's not.

We gave the ball back to A for a throw in on the endline. Correctly administered?


No. 2. Partner is administering throw in sideline on front court side of division line. A1 releases the throw in, it bounces in front court and is caught in the back court by A2. Partner whistles a back court violation. He tells the coaches the ball can't first touch in the front court. I'm 99% sure he has it wrong, but I let it go. Ideas on what I should have done?

Thank you for sharing, these situations are frustrating. If I may, lets start at the beginning; No one cares about you, but the other official(s) on the court. No matter what, you are a TEAM, however difficult that may be.

Pregame meetings are critical. Find a way to get “something” discussed, even if you have to be a few minutes late to the court. I understand he was late; depending on where he/she joins you; on court, ask coaches to please give you a few minutes; in the locker room, apologies to coaches for tardiness, “we needed to handle some items before the game”.

During the game, discuss situations close enough to each other that no one else can discern what you are saying. Give NO Non-verbal’s indicating your reactions. Act completely professional! Only come together when you have 110% knowledge or need 110% knowledge. Don’t guess! It only makes it worse. Share that knowledge with the ruling official (do not demand) and let them make the decision to accept your knowledge and change the call or not. Then simply move on. Your partner will have to answer to the coaches on their calls. (If a coach approaches you, refer to my earlier post on “What to say to coaches”). Ironically, this is a part of my Pregame meeting.

When you both get back in the locker room, ask to review the situations. Ask, not demand, your partner to explain what they saw. Afterwards, you can suggest what you saw and if you cannot quote the rule, offer to research it in the rulebook and get back to him. No one likes a know-it-all. Be humble.

If all else fails, offer your partner your whistle and suggest you would be happy to watch the game from the stands. (My idea of humor; kind of)

Hopefully this helps.