Had a discussion the other night at our association meeting.
It seems we have a new private religious school that comes into our area for games. The problem that has arisen is that this team cannot leave their school before the sun has set.
As a consequence, the team was late for a "B" Varsity Boys contest that our officials were to officiate.
I'm not sure how late...but, they were late.
The referee for the contest administered a T to the team...and let them have 8 minutes to warm-up before the game. (The official said he had got together with the AD's and that's what they agreed on)
Well, one of our board members stated that he thought this was not enough time to warm-up...and that it was a safety issue that we should be aware of.
He asked me if there was a rule concerning time allowed for a team to warm-up.
I stated that I did not know of a rule regarding this, but agreed that since the team had already received a T...to let them have at least 15-20 minutes to warm-up...for saftey reasons and for the officials pre-game duties.
I also stated that I thought this should be a league concern, since it will probably continue to be a problem.
Maybe they can change the start times for this school on long road trips.
Comments?

I've really never thought about this kind of thing happening to be honest. Always said there's no excuse to be late unless of bad weather or a last minute transportation issue. I don't know, in some ways it sounds like an AD problem. Why don't they allow and schedule the game a little later for the team to travel? If they already got a T, I agree, I would put 15 on the clock to allow them to get warmed up, no need for some one to get hurt when an extra 5 minutes could have prevented it.

I would not give a T for this. I don't like to punish kids for the lack of organization of adult administrators. But that is just me. After the game, I'd alert my association's board of directors of the situation and have them elevate it as high as possible to get some permanent resolution.

To me, this isn't something the officials should have to deal with. I would also take the responsibility (liability) off of my crew by getting the two A.D.'s together (or coaches if A.D.'s weren't present) by saying something like this:
"You guys decide how much warm-up time you need and when we start." But that's just me...

Z

Has anyone checked out this guy's homepage on his profile? It's really disgusting porn. I'm not kidding.

Vampires??

IMO no T. Let them have at least 15 minutes to warm up. And get a clause in your contract for late fees.

Must have missed it Mark. I guess it was removed.

Nope...probably Seventh Day Adventist. We have one of their schools here also...can't compete from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday...the league schedules all their Saturday games for 8:00...

That will teach me to let an official "friend" of mine use my puter at work...sorry if any of that crap offended you...I didn't even open it, but I DID delete it after I read your statement Mark. (I thought you were kidding) :(

P.S. Thanks a lot RedneckRef...I wonder how your ratings will turn out next year.
Of course Mr. Padgett probably could have used a little more discretion and e-mailed me about this...but hey, at least he got to look at some "disgusting" porn and tell the world about it to. ;)
Edited:
Just checked with my buddy RNR...he assures me it wasn't him...so I guess I have to figure out who has my password around here. ????

[Edited by RookieDude on Feb 10th, 2005 at 03:51 PM]

Yep...but the Vampire thing was pretty good! :D

The current homepage link is the Official's Forum --- are you trying to insinuate something? ;)

TJ,

I live in a big metropolitan area. It is not totally uncommon to have a school be a little late because of traffic that can be compounded by weather or accidents on these local interstate roads. If I have a team that is late, I would be as accommodating as possible. I would give them normal time for the most part. Really this is an issue between the schools and not really that involve the officials as much. Until the game starts we really do not have much say as to what is going to happen. I would have no problem giving the full time depending on how late they were. If it was less than an hour I probably would not make a big deal out of it. This happens all the time during the baseball season and we are fighting light. That is usually not a problem during the basketball season.

Peace

I'm showing the www as chat112 -dot- com

I wouldn't issue a T for this. This is an AD/administrator problem. The only time I'd issue a T prior to the game for being late is if they warm up, go to the lockerroom and then return to the floor after the buzzer has sounded.

As mentioned above, don't penalize the kids for an administration problem.

I agree that no T should be issued for this type of situation. Having the roster and starters turned in prior to the 10 minute mark assumes that the team is at the location.

Once they are in the facility, put 15 minutes on the clock and use SOP from there.

But I would NEVER issue a T in this situation.

The assignor needs to address the situation would the administrators who steup the schedule. I understand that there are religions who won't play after sundown on Friday, etc. But what in the world had leaving the school after the sun goes down got to do with anything? :confused:

I agree with no "T". I say bite the bullet and let the game begin as it normally would.

That type of sportsmanship (<I>as demonstrated by the A.D.</I>) would be short-lived around here. That A.D. may have never wanted to play the "new" school", but was forced to take the game.

Tactless. Tasteless.

mick