had a game the other night that has me a bit concerned with my choice of calls/non calls...game was close through out the contest and the kids were playing hard...the problem stems from the coach of the home team "helping" us officiate from his box, I had warned him to keep his comments to coaching not officiating, but he continued to help us now and then. What has set me to asking for your opinion is I found myself not wanting to "t" the coach because it would have impacted the game in such a way that I feel it would have been a game changer by the officals...I know I was justified to "t" the coach but I hesitated because the kids had been playing a great game. Has anyone else had this happen to them, is it part of growing into the game, or am I heading down the wrong road here?

I've had that happen to me before, and you find it difficult at first, especially at lower level MS games where you don't want some idiot coach ruining a game for the kids. The thing is, you've got to separate the emotional aspect from it, you are NOT changing the outcome of the game, the coach is by his actions. You are merely doing your job. Failure to penalize the coach in this situation means that you as an official are not doing your job.

There are a couple important things to know here regarding why to penalize and why it has come down to a game changing scenario. Since the behavior's coming late, more likely than not it's because you didn't take care of the coach early in the game, so you made your own job difficult later. I wasn't there but typically this is the case. Secondly, if you don't penalize here, you've now given the coach license to do the same thing to the officials in his next game. You gotta look out for your fellow officials, and if some people don't take care of the bench, then all coaches will start taking liberties. Anyone who says: "I'm thick skinned" has the wrong mindset because the coach will then feel justified in doing the same thing to the rookie working the next game who's not thick skinned and can't deal with the coach.

A technical foul is simply another rule, it's a penalty that should be called based on merit at any time during the game.

Think of it this way. Often, a T on the coach is doing him a favor. He settles down, coaches, and the kids settle down and play better. I've seen many games where a T on the coach was handing him the game. If you see it coming down to a close game, and the coach is harping, whack him as soon as it's reasonable. Then you have gotten yourself out of the endgame problem, and you've given him a fair chance to pull it out. If he loses from the T, it's his own problem; the parents should be dealing with his attitude.

If you did not take care of business the rest of the game, do not take action when the game is almost over. Usually a coach getting upset at that point has been doing or saying something most of the game and the officials never addressed it appropriately. Now, I am not saying not to give a T at that point of the game; I am just saying you have to be in tune to the game and recognize you need to take action much earlier. But if a coach does something that is so obvious that cannot be ignored, then I have no problem taking care of business. Usually these situations are not addressed properly.

Peace

A T *should* be a game changer.

It should change the game for the better.

In a summer officiating camp I attended a clinician said that "T's" if done properly CALL THEMSELVES. As an official you are just administering it. Many times "T's" can be avoided long before they ever happen with good communication but when they are necessary, don't hesitate to use them as a tool to keep the game under control.

It's not you GIVING him a "T" which changes the game - it's him EARNING the "T" which changes the game.

Get it early. If you let it slide quarters 1-3, you've made your bed for the 4th quarter.

I agree with kgruber, if called right, it's not a suprise to him or anyone in the gym. Give him an obvious stop sign and move on, if he runs thru it...whack. If parents from his team think he was inappropriate, they'll deal with him.