Coach appears to headbutt official

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Eastshire

Well, the referee entered what my karate sensei calls close or elbow and knee range. This is partly because of his own movements and partly because of the coaches'. This is closer than arm's length (punching range).

If you stay more than arm's length, they have to move to punch you (and really move to head butt you) which gives you time to retreat, dodge, or block the attack (I recommend retreat). It's also a distance which is hard to cover on impulse so it should eliminate some "heat of the moment" attacks.

The moral is to stand off from upset people and move away from them when they move towards you. If this referee had started just a few inches further away, he would likely have avoided the attack. His reflexes were good. He just didn't have enough time.

If he'd had karate training, he would have known that.

On the other hand, the coach did have to move to hit him. He moved quite a distance, actually, pretty quickly.

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by Adam

If he'd had karate training, he would have known that.

On the other hand, the coach did have to move to hit him. He moved quite a distance, actually, pretty quickly.

Right. That's my point. That's the takeaway. When someone's moving towards you aggressively, stop. Move away. Quickly, if necessary.

That didn't happen here.

[Dad]

Originally Posted by Eastshire

Right. That's my point. That's the takeaway. When someone's moving towards you aggressively, stop. Move away. Quickly, if necessary.

That didn't happen here.

This is a bit ridiculous.

Officials are not certified ninjas.

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by Dad

This is a bit ridiculous.

Officials are not certified ninjas.

It's this attitude that gets referees hurt. You can protect yourself easily without being a ninja. Mocking the idea that it's possible to be safe and referee at the same time is just going to lead to more successful assaults.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Eastshire

Right. That's my point. That's the takeaway. When someone's moving towards you aggressively, stop. Move away. Quickly, if necessary.

That didn't happen here.

Frankly, he didn't have time. Your advice here would have to be applied virtually in every single close game where a coach might have a call go against him. Most of will work 20+ years, calling hundreds of technical fouls on emotional coaches and never have a single coach even consider this sort of assault.

You're talking about self-defense and situational awareness stuff that most will never need. It's good advice, but it would prevent us from getting close to a coach for a quiet discussion.

Had this official done something to escalate the situation, I could see addressing that.

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by Adam

Frankly, he didn't have time. Your advice here would have to be applied virtually in every single close game where a coach might have a call go against him. Most of will work 20+ years, calling hundreds of technical fouls on emotional coaches and never have a single coach even consider this sort of assault.

You're talking about self-defense and situational awareness stuff that most will never need. It's good advice, but it would prevent us from getting close to a coach for a quiet discussion.

Had this official done something to escalate the situation, I could see addressing that.

Piling on to that answer, I do believe that the T was coming in to be a barrier between the coach and the L. Which is something I might have done under the same situation. And is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. If he hadn't, then the coach may have had a clear path to the L, who had his back to the coach at that point and may have received a head-butt to the back of his head, which may have been a much worse outcome. I don't think it's realistic that I, as a ref, should ever have to be concerned with my proximity to a coach. If that day comes, it will probably be time to hang it up. We don't get paid enough for that. The only time I have ever worried about being near anyone is after a fight has already broken out - I'm looking to be several feet away from anyone. But that's an entirely different situation.

[Eastshire]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Piling on to that answer, I do believe that the T was coming in to be a barrier between the coach and the L. Which is something I might have done under the same situation. And is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. If he hadn't, then the coach may have had a clear path to the L, who had his back to the coach at that point and may have received a head-butt to the back of his head, which may have been a much worse outcome. I don't think it's realistic that I, as a ref, should ever have to be concerned with my proximity to a coach. If that day comes, it will probably be time to hang it up. We don't get paid enough for that. The only time I have ever worried about being near anyone is after a fight has already broken out - I'm looking to be several feet away from anyone. But that's an entirely different situation.

That day is here or we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by Eastshire

That day is here or we wouldn't be having this discussion.

This was (thankfully) still an edge case. It is not a common occurrence, nor is it something that makes me worry. Yet.

It's no less likely than someone in the stands taking out a gun and shooting at people, but I can't worry about that happening either.