What do you talk about in the coaches/ captains meetings?

I keep the captains meeting short. Everyone seems to have their own pet peeves. I talk about the boundry lines, addressing me and my partner, taking care of the coach. Seems like most of the time I am talking to a brick wall.
Some partners start going over the rules, expalining what is considered jewelry, etc...

With coaches I ask two questions...Are all your players properly equiped, do you have any questions for me.

Suggestions?

"Ladies (or gentlemen), introduce yourselves.
Great. Sportsmanship yadda yadda yadda. help each other up yadda yadda yadda.
Have a good game."

That's about all I say because it's all they're gonna hear.

Book at 12 minutes, captains at 6, coaches at 2.

Captains meeting is, "I'm Mr...this is Mr/Ms..., who are the speaking captains, you are who we want to hear from if something comes up, we are emphasizing sportsmanship so step up and handle your teammates for us, questions, have fun."

Coaches, "Are your players properly equipted, sportsmanship is key, so please handle your players, questions, good luck."

In Iowa, we have the captains and head coaches at 12 minutes. "This is Mr. xxx and I am Mr. xxx, we will be your officials tonight. Sportsmanship is a priority of the athletic union. As captains and coaches please have good sportsmanship. Black line (or whatever color) all the way around, keep your hands off the dribblers, straight up on rebounds, and have a great game." Takes 10-15 seconds and takes care of everything.

Please tell me that you guys don't tell them where the boundary lines are! Do you also say, "This is the ball we'll be playing with tonight."?

No wonder kids think we're idiots!

Hey MJT,
Aren't we supposed to be reading the card, word for word!

I summarize a little Stan, but I get the "meat" in what I say. The meat is the only thing they will hear, if they hear anything. I don't think I would be banned for what I say.

Some of the gyms have other colored lines close to the BB boundaries, so doesn't hurt to clarify in 1 second. We have some black, some blue, some maroon, so I think the 1 second is warrented.

I stopped mentioning the boundary lines in my captains speech a while back. I also stopped telling the kids during a free throw to "relax" on the first of two. Now I just say "two" or "one" and just as many kids jump in for that rebound on the first of two as they did when I said "relax". They don't care so they don't listen. Might as well keep things moving.

I will say "for the visitors benefit, the OOB lines are..... home team knows their lines well.

I have been on some courts where the lines are just spaghetti there are so many. There is one gym where I have to look everytime I am there to remember which of the 5 near the sides and end line is the right one. There are vollyball lines, other basketball court lines (from the sides), and whatever....

After intros and handshakes. Me "Coaches are your teams legally and properly equipted?" They always say yes. Any questions? Never have any. "Have a good game." Takes about a minute.

I do the same thing. I also add a "Sportsmanship Speech" which takes about 10 seconds to complete. I ask my partners "Do you have anything to add." Usually the do not and say something very short and sweet like "Good luck." They I say "Good luck and have fun." Then I dismiss them. My meeting might not take a minute.

Peace

Dudly, this is one of those topics that seems to recur quite often. Here are a couple links to recent threads:

http://www.officialforum.com/showthr...threadid=17199
http://www.officialforum.com/thread/17211
http://www.officialforum.com/showthr...470#post190470
http://www.officialforum.com/thread/7081
http://www.officialforum.com/thread/3268

I never ask: "Players or Coaches do you have any questions?"