6 on the Court -- unnoticed...

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

I can't penalize for six being on the court illegally, six have to be participating for me to charge the team technical. And some esteemed Forum members say that participate equals live ball, which may be correct, but it may also not be correct, especially with the clock running.

Stupid NFHS rules editors.

Since you say "participating" is not clearly defined in the rule book, then use a common sense definition and adjudicate accordingly. No coach is going to know the exact verbiage of this rule, so any intelligent application will pass muster. (I almost typed "mustard", I'm sure Adam or Camron would have been all over me....LOL).

My personal definition for "participating" as a 6th man would be during a live ball and/or when the clock is legally running. So if a basket is made and you notice 6 players on the court, bang the T for participating because the clock is still legally running.

If I don't notice until after a time-out is granted, then that would be too late.