First Time Doing Men's League

[HokiePaul]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

When I do adult basketball in the off-season I engage in a lot more conversation with the players. At some point you just say, out loud, "ok, that's enough, play basketball". After that point you then have to follow through when someone crosses the line. Do that a couple times and you will find the players will respect you and move on to either playing basketball or finding another official to whine to.

I take this approach and it works well for me. Remember that they are adults too -- a lot different than high school kids. Treating them as such rather than trying to act like an authority figure goes a long way in my opinion. Most of the time. When they cross the line, they usually know it and aren't surprised by the penalty.