Assaulted last night

[tnroundballref]

Let me give some background.

4th year official - 3 years varsity experience

Was working a 7th and 8th grade boys game. Home team had never been beat on their home court (2 or 3 years). Home team was ahead 5 at the half. Visitors made a run in the third to take the lead. It seemed that every call in the 4th qtr was right in my lap and went against the home team. Home team fouled lots late to try to get back into the game. Had a loose ball that was eventually tied up and had a jump ball but a home team player dove in late (after the whistle) and very aggressive. Whack T. 5th foul player was disqualified. Crowd was almost out of control at this point.Visitors get the W by about 10 after converting all there free throws late.

On my way out, I am verbally abused by the home folks...no big deal, I keep walking w/ my partner out the door where we are met by a mob of angry parents/fans. We keep heading for the exit sign and keep our mouths shut. A lady then grabs me by the arm and gives me an ear full. I keep walking she keeps walking too. Once outside she then starts hitting me 3-4 times in the upper arm, I keep walking, telling her she needs to go back inside. A man, her husband maybe, also is following us telling us our jurisdiction is over and what are we gonna do now. The whole situation looked very grim until I saw a law enforcement officer parked right beside our vehicle. I asked him to give us a hand and he got the lady off of me, the guy coninued to bager us until we got in the car and left. I called my assignor on the way home and let him know the scoop. He said he would call the school and take care of it.

My question is, should I press any sort of charges against this lady? I mean, she didn't hurt me, but she was trying. I just wanted to get the heck out of there last night but the more I think of it the more I want something done about this. No administrators helped us at all. My fear is that another official will go there and the same thing will happen to them. Thoughts and comments are welcome.

[Junker]

Sounds like a crappy night. What a lousy way to end a season. I would think you could file charges since she was hitting you and I would definitely pursue this, especially at the jr. high level. This is totally inappropriate at any level, but especially at lower levels where the players should be there to learn the game, not learn poor sportsmanship. Let us know if you hear how the school handles it. It sounds like you handled it as best you could. Thankfully the police were there when you needed them.

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by tnroundballref


My question is, should I press any sort of charges against this lady? I mean, she didn't hurt me, but she was trying. I just wanted to get the heck out of there last night but the more I think of it the more I want something done about this. No administrators helped us at all. My fear is that another official will go there and the same thing will happen to them. Thoughts and comments are welcome.

If you have the officer's name contact him & tell him you are thinking of pressing charges, or use his name when you go to the station to file charges. Don't wait too long to do this, in any event it might be that the cops will try & talk you out of it. You might also want to talk to someone at the DA's office to move things along especially since it looks like the officer at the scene didn't take a report including your friend's name & what he witnessed (maybe he did?). Also, write a full report & send it to the world: your assignor, your local associaton, the principal of both schools, the local police department. Do this with your partner or have him write one of his own. My 2 cents on this.

Also, and this is very important, there is no need for you to leave with the crowd. Give them 15 minutes or so to clear out & change into street clothes before you go.

[Indy_Ref]

In 11 years, I've had a few situations that could compare...but they all happened at the varsity level. On the two I can think of, each time the AD's took care of business. They told the fans/parents to go home, they kept me and my partner in the locker room for an extended period, and when the coast did clear, they personally escorted me & partner out to our cars.

Class both times.

Hopefully, your assigner will call that school and take care of it for you. I wouldn't pursue this lady...she didn't hurt you...albeit, she was WAY out of line, but she didn't hurt you.

Thinking more on this...I suppose it would be a good idea to write a report for yourself just in case you need to reference back to this situation.

[Edited by Indy_Ref on Oct 24th, 2003 at 12:11 PM]

[Junker]

I'm going to have to disagree with you Indyref. How is the woman going to learn what she did was wrong if she isn't dealt with? I realize that our courts are overworked and this is a "small" incident, but as Barney Fife says, "Nip it in the bud!" As more of these incidents are reported, maybe these fans will realize that acting like this is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

[mrm21711]

agree with the previous post, 110%

[TriggerMN]

YES!!! Definitely press charges!!! We are not allowed to physically assault the fans if we think they're stupid. I would definitely take legal action. And if the law enforcement officer actually SAW the physical assault, he's got to back you up, and you should have an open and shut case.

[RookieDude]

Excellent points on the extra-curricular activity...now how about a few observations on the "rest of the story".

originally posted by tnroundballref

4th year official - 3 years varsity experience

Wow...officiating Varsity ball after only one year of experience. Are you talking H.S. Varsity? If so, that's pretty dang good. It took me 3 years to get a full J.V. schedule.

a home team player dove in late (after the whistle) and very aggressive

In this situation it would have to be VERY late and VERY aggressive...otherwise I would pass.

Whack T. 5th foul player was disqualified.

Also, I've got an intentional foul after the whistle...not necessarily a T. (Two shots and the ball but different terminology)

Oh yeah!...Home team had never been beat on their home court (2 or 3 years).How in the heck do you know that...did you have a son playing or something?...I don't EVEN know the records of the many Middle Schools around the town...let alone for the past 3 years.

Just a few observations.

RD

[Mark Padgett]

In my state, Oregon, this woman (I hesitate to refer to her as a "lady") could be charged with assaulting a sports official. It is a Class A misdemeanor and carries a fairly stiff penalty including a fine and possibly even jail time!

Check the NASO website to see if your state has a specific law protecting sports officials. In any event, call the DA and say you want to file charges for assault.

You can bet that if you had hit her, she'd file.

[tnroundballref]

Originally posted by RookieDude
Excellent points on the extra-curricular activity...now how about a few observations on the "rest of the story".

4th year official - 3 years varsity experience

Wow...officiating Varsity ball after only one year of experience. Are you talking H.S. Varsity? If so, that's pretty dang good. It took me 3 years to get a full J.V. schedule.

a home team player dove in late (after the whistle) and very aggressive

In this situation it would have to be VERY late and VERY aggressive...otherwise I would pass.

Whack T. 5th foul player was disqualified.

Also, I've got an intentional foul after the whistle...not necessarily a T. (Two shots and the ball but different terminology)

Oh yeah!...Home team had never been beat on their home court (2 or 3 years).How in the heck do you know that...did you have a son playing or something?...I don't EVEN know the records of the many Middle Schools around the town...let alone for the past 3 years.

Just a few observations.

RD

Dude,

I'm not saying by any means that I am a great official. Heck, I can admit that I need lots of work on mechanics,judgement,court awareness and especially to learn to referee the "D" more.This was only my second game of the season and I'm sure I missed plenty last night. We are stretched pretty thin in my area and lots of officials get a chance to show they can make it early on, especially since we are strictly three man mechanics in HS varsity. So I got my shot and I'm trying to make the most of it. The T could have been an intentional instead, I agree. My partner and I talked about that very thing on the way home. Good point ! BTW, my partner had a whistle for this play as well as it was very late. Regarding knowing the record of the school, a partner that I work with sometimes has kids that goes to school there. He called me today and we were talking about the incident. He told me they had never been defeated there and I then thought maybe that was the gas that started the fire?
Roundballref









[Edited by tnroundballref on Oct 24th, 2003 at 01:55 PM]

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by RookieDude

Whack T. 5th foul player was disqualified.

Also, I've got an intentional foul after the whistle...not necessarily a T. (Two shots and the ball but different terminology)

[/B]

You can't,by rule,have an intentional foul after the whistle, unless it is an intentional technical foul. An intentional personal foul, by definition, is a live-ball foul only.The whistle, by definition, made the ball dead in this case, so the foul occured during the dead ball period. Has to be a T.

[tnroundballref]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

You can't,by rule,have an intentional foul after the whistle, unless it is an intentional technical foul. An intentional personal foul, by definition, is a live-ball foul only.The whistle, by definition, made the ball dead in this case, so the foul occurs during the dead ball period. Has to be a T. [/B]

I guess a blind hawk finds an acorn every once in a while JR. I feel a little better now knowing that we got the call right. Thanks for the clarification. Add rules as another thing I need to work on !

[PGCougar]

You've got to report this and consider filing charges. Just because she didn't hurt you doesn't lessen the fact that she assaulted you. If someone pulls a gun and misses does it make the act itself any less repugnant?

You can choose to drop charges later, AFTER she is held accountable for her actions, given a chance to reflect on how stupid she was, and perhaps shows some semblance of remorse for this crappy behavior. Don't reinforce this kind of behavior, letting it go unchecked.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by tnroundballref
[/B]

I guess a blind hawk finds an acorn every once in a while JR.
[/B][/QUOTE]Don't put yourself down. Sounds like you had a tough game, but you did exactly what you were supposed to do. You were fair to both teams,and you kept the game under control. You didn't make any rules mistakes either. You can be the best, most experienced official around, and when you get into this type of situation, the losing fans are gonna blame you, no matter what. Don't ever let them get to you. You know in your own mind that you did the right thing. That's all that really matters.

PS-I'm also on the side that thinks you should lay charges,with the help of your association. We don't want another ref to have to go through the same crap that you were forced to go through.

[Edited by Jurassic Referee on Oct 24th, 2003 at 02:37 PM]

[Damian]

This is Jr. High...

Parents think they know more than everyone and many are alrady thinking that little johnny is going pro and will support them in the reclining years.

There are lots of options other than legal. The school district's AD needs to be aware as well as the state association. The school will be put on notice and it will be taken care of at that end.

In the future, the AD should have the officer in the gym, not in the parking lot, especially when there is a hostile crowd. He should escort you out if there are still people present. Again, this is something that the school district AD will make sure happens in the future.

You will need to file a report to those people.

It is possible that these problem people will be banned from being in the stands for a while.

As far as legal action, I think it is rediculous that people are suggesting that you press charges. These are the same people that will go by the letter of every rule but not its intent. I wonder how many of them would have enough in them to follow their own bad advice.