Senario (my first game ever...see First Game thread :)) - I was told by management that since the court was a bit smaller than regulation, the backcourt would be at the volleyball line about 5-10 feet back from the actual division line. After Team A makes goal, B1 inbounds ball to B2. B2 dribbles passed (volleyball) "backcourt" and is now in the "gray" area between v-ball line and div line. B2 passes back to B1 which is still in "backcourt." I call the violation and get the drill of "we didn't know that!"

I figured they would have known since I stopped my counts at the vball line instead of div.line all night. Do we need to explain ever nuance of rules to the players, or is like the law - "ignorance of the law is no excuse"?

Ha!! I'm not sure how to answer your question, but I'm beating Tony to the punch -- I hope!

...and mick! Cool! Must be the clean living paying off...


[Edited by rainmaker on Sep 19th, 2003 at 02:50 PM]

Luv4Asian8,
Explaining court problems should be done at the Captains' meeting. If the players are too young to understand, we should get both coaches together and explain it to them.
Then, we have done performed our duty.
Fun, ain't it? ;)
mick

Okay well now that I got THAT out of the way, here's how I would handle this kind of situation in the future: Right before the toss, just ask, "Have you guys played here before? Do you know about the division line thing?" And include any other rule changes that you know about. Then later they can't say they didn't know.

And BTW, in answer to the question on your subject line, Yes, everything is always our fault. The missed free throws, the slow defence, the bad passes, it's all because of us. Just always keep that straight in your mind.

easiest answer, rainmaker, IT'S NEVER OUR FAULT!! ;)

Ah, ...but the practice of clean living must be continuous between the ages of 20 and 40, otherwise, the line between 50 and 80 is, oh, so thin! ;)
mick

Jewel,
I hope you are joking.
mick

You only need to communicate about things don't want to have trouble with! IMO a referee can get all the calls and no calls right, know the rules inside and out, and work the mechanics flawlessly, but still won't be a great referee until he or she has learned the art of communicating.

And it is an art. Case in point: held a captains meeting this week with both coaches and captains. I said to everybody, "You've already played one game this season, so everybody knows the new rules, right? Especially the new free throw rule about the number of players on the lane?" Everybody nods and mutters yes. First free throw, player from team B lines up in the top spot. I tell him the top spots have to remain open. He gives me a blank stare, B coach yells, "What are you talking about?" So I hustle over and give the coach the 10 second overview of what he said he already understood in the captains meeting. I guess I need to work on that a bit more :)

[Edited by Back In The Saddle on Sep 19th, 2003 at 03:51 PM]

This doesn't seem so bad, mick, as long you understand that Juulie is talking about any rule changes for that court, not any NFHS rule changes for the new season. Kind of like baseball coaches and umps going over the ground rules of the ballpark before the game.

Great point! during my 2nd night, I finally had a parnter...well experienced. he began enforcing the new lane rule you just mentioned. honestly, i didnt know about it myself. but found out once he communicated that to me. Lessons on the Battlefield :)

Whenever I work with Juulie, everything's always her fault - especially overtimes.

Yea, yea, what he said!

Seriously, I have worked at a wide variety of different venues and I have learned that it's always best to just touch on the highlights before-hand. Saves lots of arguing later. For that court. Yes.

Where would be the joke?

Nope!
 

Using your metaphor, I would be giving ground rules just before the first pitch.

Those lines on the court have to be noted before the teams come out for the jump.

We have to be like Holiday Inn used to be - No surprises.

Jewel,
Okay, so it wasn't a tongue-in-cheeker. Hmmm.
Where you said, "<I>Right before the toss,...</I>, is what I question.
You cannot expect players to get a new rule and understand it in that short a time period. How do you tell the coaches? Do you just look over your shoulder and mention it from the circle?
The teams need time to adjust presses and offenses. They can't be blind-sided or ambushed like that.
mick

I see your point. When I work at the local basketball club, where the rules change for the different levels of play, it's more of a difference for me than for them. I just get the players together right before the toss and say, "You kids know all about the funny time-outs, right?" or something, because they usually have been there more than I have. They don't need the whole formal thing, since they've already been playing there three weeks or three months or whatever. Then if I've joined in right at the beginning or if this is just a weekend tourney, they can just look puzzled or say "What?" and I get the coaches out and explain the whole thing. I do it that way because sometimes even if the coaches know, they may not have explained it to the players, and they may have picked up a few new players who haven't played there yet. My way, I'm trying to cover the bases, but with some efficiency.

So, if I'm understanding correctly, Team B never got the ball across the "real" division line? In the very few games I've done in shoebox gyms, the offense had to bring the ball across the "real" division line to stop the 10-sec count, and after that, the "imaginary" volleyball line was for backcourt violations. This play would not be a violation under these rules.

I don't have my rulebook handy. Is there some FED guidance on this?

I thought I posted on this thread last week but either I'm blind (the fans think so), I irritated a moderator, or I'm dreaming that I posted....


Anyway, what I said was similar ot what klancie said. The only difference is that I use the volleyball line in the <em>frontcourt</em> as the line to cross to stop the 10 second count. At that point the backcourt line then becomes the volleyball line in the <em>backcourt</em>.

The line in the center of the court becomes effectively non-existant.

Never played games on a short court, but I have practiced on them (hate it). I always use the half court for the 10 second count, and the v-ball line for the b/c violation, and b/c can only occur after ball has crossed center court. Never heard of compressing the court so that you have a short b/c at all times.

That said, I have neve seen any written guidance on this, but then again, I can't envision playing at the HS level on a court that small. And NF rules, although used for lower levels of play, address HS play.

Everbody understands...Right?
 

Two or three of you have mentioned asking if everyone understands the new rules and then the situation follow-up is that they didn't understand. As BITS said this is poor communication.

YOU MUST TELL them the rule and how you will enforce it, or just be quiet and assume they understand it - which they should.

If you ask do they understand it, they are going to say "Yes." Then when you enforce it differently than they understood it... there went YOUR credibility. And because you have enforced it different from their expectation you have eroded the relationship with them.

Either explain it completely (probably the best thing to do early in the season or for a "unique" ground/facility rule) or completely leave it alone and just enforce the rule.

For the unique ground/facility rule, you've got to understand it exactly the same as everyone else (just like a rule). And it is more likely that rather than you explaining it to everyone, it will be a discussion among all the participants and a final agreement on how you will enforce the 'ground rule.' The situation is turned around from that of explaining rules; it is incumbent upon you to gain an understanding of how the home team wants this "ground rule" enforced.

just my nickel.;)