Calling AAU Tournaments

[CYO Butch]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
CYO
I am not sure that continuing the game is worth the future paychecks. And the organizers are spineless if they wouldn't bounce the coach. They should have told the coach that he could leave or forfeit. I surely hope that nobody in my organization would put potential future tournament registrations against backing the referees they have hired.

I happen to know of a private gym owner who banned a team from his gym, and the tournament he was hosting gave the team a one-year ban from participation - they won the championship and won't be allowed to participate this year.

I agree with all your points. Clearly the organizers were spineless. I was also pretty impressed that the other coach was not going crazy complaining that the guy was still there. He did a really good job setting an example for his kids and keeping them focused on basketball rather than the circus at the other bench.
My neighbor has said that this guy, who at least a couple of years ago, headed up a group the fielded three different teams. Again, according to my neighbor, he changed the names of the teams whenever he/they got banned. I don't know if my neighbor had any real knowledge of this, other that that he knew for sure the guy had a team with a different name, but generally the same players, the year before, and his daughter's coach said they had been banned the year before.

[Hawks Coach]

You ban a big club, it has an impact. Big clubs have names that are recognized and draw good players, espcially in the younger age groups where you initially recruit players. The older the teams are, the more independent operators there are, and they are next o impossible to patrol. You register your club annually for a relatively small fee, and there is no real patrolling of behavior. So this year's Tigers are next year's Rebels and the folowing years Bulldogs. You can't suspend the Bulldogs, they aren't the Rebels or the Tigers. Those were different clubs!

[Rich]

Originally posted by CYO Butch
The only really out of control coach I ever saw was at a girls AAU tournament in Northern VA. One coach received 3 (yes three!) direct technicals and was told he was ejected. He remained standing in front of his bench, refusing to leave. Game management refused to force him out physically (which is what it would have taken) and refused to allow a forfeit as this coach threatened to pull all the teams from his program from all future tounaments hosted by these organizers. It was also clear that the officials would not get paid if they refused to continue.
This was a really ugly episode that drew all the spectators from all four courts in the gym. When the opponents won the game, everyone in the stands cheered. The crazy coach tried to follow the officials off the court screaming at them, but he was stopped by a couple of rent-a-cops.
I don't think the poor guys working the game had a very good time. I don't know what else they could have done, but they acted very professionally the whole time. My guess is that they decided that that was the last time they would work a tournament with a team entered by that coach.
By the way, I did not have a team in the tournment. I was just watching a girl I used to coach whose parents are close friends. Her team was in a different bracket and didn't have to play that other team, although they had come across them before.
This is the only time in hundreds of games that I have ever seen things out of control. I've never seen fights, and I've never seen real personal abuse directed at officials. What I have seen is a trace of attitude that the teams have paid good money to be there, so they may feel they can stretch things a bit, and that the organizers want to make sure that teams get their moneys' worth so that they will particpate in future events. I don't think this means that officiating gets abused, or that it is not good work for an official who is learning. Just remember that this is a "pay to play" environment with a lot of passion for winning and not many organizational checks on people who may push the limits.

No paycheck would be worth staying in an environment like that. I would've put the ball on the table and gone to the house. Let the organizers referee the games.

[Nevadaref]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
You ban a big club, it has an impact. Big clubs have names that are recognized and draw good players, espcially in the younger age groups where you initially recruit players. The older the teams are, the more independent operators there are, and they are next o impossible to patrol. You register your club annually for a relatively small fee, and there is no real patrolling of behavior. So this year's Tigers are next year's Rebels and the folowing years Bulldogs. You can't suspend the Bulldogs, they aren't the Rebels or the Tigers. Those were different clubs!

Just take the guy's name and ban HIM. Not that hard.