5 Minutes for Fighting!

[RedAndWhiteRef]

What are we "officially" supposed to do in a situation like that? Are we obligated to try and break it up? Obviously if it gets bad enough, I'm getting away for my own safety.

[SD Referee]

Originally Posted by RedAndWhiteRef

What are we "officially" supposed to do in a situation like that? Are we obligated to try and break it up? Obviously if it gets bad enough, I'm getting away for my own safety.

In this lawsuit loving country I am running as far away as I can. I don't want some moron to claim I hurt their kid by grabbing them and/or restraining them.

I don't need to get sued. You will find me back by the locker room.

[so cal lurker]

Originally Posted by SD Referee

In this lawsuit loving country I am running as far away as I can. I don't want some moron to claim I hurt their kid by grabbing them and/or restraining them.

I don't need to get sued. You will find me back by the locker room.

You really think running from the game you're supposed to be managing is going to *protect* you from liability?!?

A loud whistle from close in can often stem the tide and keep others from joining. (May be more effective with boys who may be more likely to be looking for an excuse not to fight/keep fighting without losing face.) I'm *not* advocating putting hands on players or stepping between two guys swinging fists, and agree the only ones who should do that are coaches.

(But with respect to *parents* -- WTF are they doing on the court?!? They are more likely to expand to a fight among parents than solve the problem.)

[Eastshire]

If I can get between them before there's a punch thrown, I will. Once the punch is thrown, our responsibilities shift to trying to prevent escalation (by keeping bench personnel on the bench), observing, and reporting. Let the head coaches break them up.

That said, it's difficult to fight the instinct to be more involved in restoring order. I've had a varsity soccer contest go to a bench clearing shoving match. I think there were punches thrown but both my partner and I got sucked to far into the scrum to have observed it properly.

Don't make my mistake. Stay back and take numbers.

[packersowner]

Originally Posted by RedAndWhiteRef

What are we "officially" supposed to do in a situation like that? Are we obligated to try and break it up? Obviously if it gets bad enough, I'm getting away for my own safety.

1. Get the head coaches off the bench.

2. Get the hell out of the way.

3. Start taking numbers of anyone participating.

4. Hope that game management and police get things under control.


If you get involved, it may be hard to stay neutral as to what happened during and throughout the ensuing aftermath.

The only time I might get involved is in a case where there is an opportunity to get between two players who are about to go at it, but even then I would proceed with extreme caution.