Cheerleaders on the baseline in a double file formation
 

I was texting with my buddy about this last night, as he had a situation in his game and it's becoming more and more of a pet peeve of mine. Here's his situation:

Away cheerleaders along the baseline lined up two deep in a staggered formation. Here's my best drawing:

x x x x x
x x x x
-------------|---------------------

Vertical line is the lane line. Multiple times during the girls' game, he comes close to stepping on a foot as he's at the L and has very little space to move in that area. Start of boys game, first time down, he steps on one's foot. They are just NOT moving at all, standing their ground in a way that Patton would admire. He has enough and says something to the effect of "girls, we're not doing this all night. You've got to go single file." They don't move and he hears them making some smartass comments among themselves. He ignores it and moves on as game action increases.

A few possessions later, he steps on the foot again and looks at the girl and she STARES HIM DOWN!!! He stopped the game, went to game management and told them they weren't starting until those girls were single file. Coach of away cheerleaders gives management a hard time, but agrees. He said they still were not single file and there was still not much room to move.

I told him after the first time I asked and they didn't move, I'm getting them off the court. Any thoughts on how you'd handle it?

I don't understand why in the world they insist on going two wide on a baseline that doesn't have much room in the first place. It just drives me insane, and my patience for that is really thin for some reason to start this year.

I run full speed towards them with my head turned back towards the court. At 6' 5"/250+, they get the message. :D

First time, I politely TELL them they need to be outside the 3-pt line or completely off the neutral zone (if there is one) on the end line. That doesn't work, I'm going to game mgmt or the cheer coach. If that doesn't get the job done, I employ the tactic in the first sentence of this post.

Sis Boom Bah ...
 

Because that's the way they practice this.

I'm not allowing any situation to develop that would put the officials, the players, or the cheerleaders at physical risk.

If there's room for a single line, then that's what I would tell them to do. If not, I'd tell them to vacate the endline.

If the cheerleader coach tells me that the cheerleaders have been allowed to cheer on the endline in a double file in previous games, then I'll tell the coach that I don't care because I'm in charge tonight.

https://youtu.be/dOKwTYOfrDU

In Massachusetts cheerleads are not allowed on the endline at all. Should be a NHSF rule. Easy to get them out. Tell game management and explain that it is not "safe" for all involved. Even when these are not rules this always gets attention.

Why should it be a rule? Why is it not safe? There are gyms here where there is 10+ feet on the endline (one with over 30'). There is plenty of room in some. In other gyms, not so much. If there is going to be a rule, it should be related to the space involved.....that 3 (or 4 or 5) feet along the endline must be clear. Behind that, who cares.

One Size Doesn't Fit All ...
 

We have a few fieldhouses (with an indoor track around the basketball court) here in my little corner of Connecticut where there's actually more than fifty feet of empty space from the endline to the wall, with far, far less space along the sidelines (once the bleachers are pulled out).

The cheerleaders will often retrieve the ball when it heads out of bounds toward the wall behind the endline in these fieldhouses.

Let's continue to handle this problem case by case, gym by gym. That's why we get paid the big bucks.

As the Crazy Russian Hacker says, "Safety is number one priority”.

https://youtu.be/Far6hbt3CCA

When stacked cheerleaders are a problem, ask game management to solve it. There's nothing worse than an official getting into it with either adolescents or cheer coaches. If it is the safety issue you state, don't resume the game until it's rectified.

Stacked Cheerleaders

If at work don't google Stacked Cheerleaders ;)

FHSAA (Florida) Rule 33.2:

33.2.1 Cheerleaders must remain in their seats along the sidelines at all times when the ball is alive or a match is in progress.

33.2.2 Officials are responsible for the enforcement of this regulation. First offense – warning; Second and subsequent offense – technical foul...

Without that rule, I'd move them for safety reasons.

Cheerleaders on the baseline in a double file formation
 

If the ball is alive, I’m getting a new ball. [emoji23][emoji23]



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sadly, I copied that straight from the FHSAA basketball manual.

A Basketball Match ???
 

"Officials are responsible for the enforcement of this regulation. First offense – warning; Second and subsequent offense – technical foul..."

Sure, let's add this to the officials' responsibilities.

What an inane mechanism, giving warnings and technicals. If the concern is safety, there should never be a "second or subsequent offense." Get the game administrator to address the problem and don't restart the game until it's safe to do so.

But at least with this policy, officials have explicit backing so some whiny cheer coach can't argue "There's nothing that says we have to sit in the stands." And if it gets to the point where a T is issued, I bet it's never an issue at that school again. And chances are that AD's are well aware of this policy so officials don't even have to get involved.

I agree that we shouldn't be "responsible" for this, but this is something I personally would have no problem enforcing.

I subscribe to Raymond's first philosophy. After the first one gets knocked on her ass, it is amazing how fast the rest of them get out of the way for the remainder of the game.