Youth dribbler and defender running parallel

[WI_Ref]

Originally Posted by KansasJoe

Appreciate the replies and the encouragement. Have 8 games this Saturday so should be interesting as some coaches are great while others think every time they're on offense a foul has been committed yet while they're on defense everything is clean.

As far as the responses I'm still a bit confused with conflicting answers. I understand if he gets hit in the torso because the dribbler didn't get his head and shoulder past him. Where the question is since they're shoulder to shoulder. Let's say A1 jumps sideways and a little forward into the defender while running it's not in the torso because it's the shoulder but doesn't the defender have a right to that spot? Would this be better to have a no call or is someone at fault?

You will most likely want to make a call on this especially if the contact seems more than just a brushing.

Based on your description of running side by side and A1 moving laterally into the defender I would call this PCF. I've done it in varsity games, my partners have called it like this and I've seen it and been witness to this same call in D1 men's basketball. Experience obviously helps in these situations as what could look like the same exact play to spectators or coaches could be called differently by the calling official due to their angle on the play.

It's hard for people outside the lines to grasp how officials see the game. We take in and compute a whole bunch of information very fast. When on the court we have a much better feel for the speed and intensity of what is happening.