Hey y'all. This is in response to the post I had last week about my horrible Saturday. I recieved a forwarded e-mail from the recreational specialist about technical fouls in the 13-15 age division. Tell me what you think:

To: All 13-15 coaches and players

From:

Date: February 4, 2004

Re: Technical Fouls

Due to the overwhelming number of technical fouls being issued in this age division, I will be enforcing a different set of rules from now through the rest of the season. Any player receiving a technical foul must come out of the game immediately and will not be allowed to re-enter. Any player receiving two technical fouls from now through the rest of the season will no longer be eligible to play. Depending on the offense, some players may have additional consequences. Any coach receiving a technical foul will be asked to leave the gym immediately, and after receiving two technical fouls will no longer be able to coach. Any fouls received up to this point will not count toward any player or coach.

The purpose of our basketball league is to teach participants the rules, fundamental skills, and strategies of basketball, while having fun. Good sportsmanship is required of all coaches and players. Our Coaches Contract and Code of Ethics that all coaches signed states:

I will show respect and good will toward my players, parents, opponents, referees, and administrators.

I will refrain from the use of profanity and not tolerate its use by others.

I will be a model of sportsmanship for my players.

I will discuss discrepancies with the referees in a calm and quiet manner and not engage in emotional outbursts with referees, staff, coaches, players, parents, or fans.

I will give every child an equal opportunity to play.

All players should abide by these guidelines as well. Our referees are not perfect, but I have yet to see any that are. They do the best that they can, and any problems that you may have should be discussed with them in a calm, quiet manner. If you do not feel like they have addressed the problem, then please talk with me immediately. Players should also respect the officials at all times.

Players should all receive equal playing time without being warned by scorekeepers. Playing one player an entire game because you only have 2 point guards and one didn’t come to the game will no longer be tolerated. Your team needs to be versatile enough so that every player gets an equal amount of playing time every game regardless of who shows up.

The referees are aware of these new rules, and have been instructed to give technical fouls when the guidelines listed above are not followed. Please make your players aware of this so that we can continue the season showing good sportsmanship. Thank you for your cooperation!

I can see where she is coming from...I'm a little iffy about it, though. I understand it's a recreational league, and that's where the support of it comes in. What do you think?

What do I think? I think it's great, what's the problem?

Consistent enforcement
 

The problem is going to be in making sure all officials are enforcing it consistently. One ref lets somebody get by with saying s*** under his breath, the next T's him up and tosses him on the spot. Ouch. No pressure making those calls! Still, sounds interesting. Keep us posted as to how it works out!

Only one problem
 

The only problem with one and your out is that some refs will now put up with a lot more than normal as they don't want to toss someone.

Good policy. Yes, you will have someone get a T. No problem, its a good way to be done with problem players.

I think:

#1 - You should be thankful for a director who backs up her officials and demands sportsmanship.

#2 - You'd better make damn sure somebody truly deserves a T before you throw one.

Thank you all for your comments. I agree with BktBallRef - I'm very thankful that our director supports us like she has. I wouldn't trade that for the world.

And yes, I'll be damn sure. :)

I wouldn't like a policy like that because it changes the way I would officiate the game. The level of tolerance for a technical to be called would have to be much higher. In fact, this well-intentioned policy could lead to more abuse because officials will put up with more before penalizing and it could be disruptive to the league if a single ref decided he likes to call a lot of technicals. Good idea, well-intentioned, but the rules of basketball were set up as they were for a reason. One possiblity though, is the chance of suspension for multiple technicals over the course of a season.

I have a slight problem with this. Not that they are getting tough on unsportsmanlike behavior, but what if a kid reaches through the out of bounds plane and slaps the ball? This is a T and now he is gone. He probably doesn't even realize that he can't do that at that age. If they separated out the behavior T's then I would applaud this.

I also think that it is a good idea, but I think you have to seperate out the T's for sportsmanship and the T's for other thing like the kid reaching out of bounds, but then again, sometimes extreme circumstances call for extreme measures. From the sound of the letter it seems like this league is getting out of control.

Hello everybody.

Those were the same concerns I was having. Looking back on it, I was wondering if I would call the same technicals as I have this season now with this policy. I'm going to talk to the director about it this afternoon. I agree with the reaching through the boundary plane...maybe a team technical? I don't know. The league isn't getting out of controll, but these four particular teams do get some attitude. You can see what I'm talking about here:

http://www.officialforum.com/thread/11992

Anyway, yeah, I'd probably have to change my officiating style. We'll see how it goes - maybe the shear threat will clean things up.

I think it is a good idea in principle-that is, it is directed at cleaning up the level of sportsmanship. However, I feel like some others in that I am uncertain about what standards the officials will use in deciding whether or not a technical is merited. However, you kinda have to look at like a situation that might arise in a high school game. The league has already issued a warning and made it clear what is not acceptable. If they choose to violate it, they have pretty much thrown themselves out of the game.

One other point-do you think this is going to create some unspoken tension between the officials and all other parties involved (players, coaches, parents, etc.)? It might start out being similar to your overall feeling about police personnel right after you have just recieved a speeding ticket...They might feel like you all are now out to get them...What do you think?

Good point. The NBA already has a rule similar to the recommendation you are asking, and I think asking for an NBA-style technical foul rule, separating the T into Unsportsmanlike Conduct and Non-Unsportsmanlike Conduct fouls is fair. In the NBA, technical fouls for leaving the coach's box in an accidental reason, illegal defense (in the NBA, it's defensive three seconds, but there are many youth leagues with illegal defense guidelines), delay of game, the extreme circumstance above, six players on the court, and when a team has only five players remaining and one player fouls out (That player can stay in the game at the expense of a technical foul.) are all non-unsportsmanlike conduct technical fouls. No ejections are possible for those technical fouls.

And if a league is for fun, would it be feasible to use an NBA-style rule when no players are on the bench because of fouling out, a no-foul-out rule goes into effect, a single bonus free throw added on all fouls, offensive or defensive, with an offensive foul or a non-shooting, non-penalty foul by a player with five or more being one free throw and the ball? That way five players would be guaranteed on the court at all times.