It pretty much rained all day today. Had a game at an older gym, and the roof started leaking, leading to a wet spot near the baseline on one end. It got so bad by the third game of the night, we had two kids stationed down there to wipe up the water every time we ran to the other end of the court. They were actually putting a bucket under the leak while play was at the other end and pulling it back when we came back down the floor.

I know I went flying into the wall once, and the kids slipped a few times too. I don't think it directly led to any turnovers, and it definitely didn't affect the outcome of the game (score was something like 47-10). But I was afraid the whole night that someone might get hurt. Would any of you have considered getting the coaches together, saying that you thought the court was unfit and unsafe for play, and asking if they would agree to call off the game?

Last year, doubleheader womens varsity followed by mens varsity score was 18 - 0 in favor of the visitor.at the end of the first quarter. Carpeted gym floor, and the roof starts leaking around the free throw line. Wet carpet is very slick. THe home team who was getting beat agreed to call the game and take a forfeit. It was inevitable. Varsity boys game to follow. I told the A.D. and the coach the leak had to stop and the floor had to be dry or I would not do the game. The A.D. had a cow saying he was the only one who could say it was not safe. I told him it was my responsibility and if they could not take care of the problem my partner adn I would not start the game. My association & myself would be personally liable for allowing a game to be played under dangerous conditions. Needless to say the rain stopped and they got the carpet dry by the next game time plus a few minutes and on we went. I would NEVER allow a game to proceed with dangerous conditions. You and your association could be liable for any injuries that might occur.

Never should have played the game.

I couldn't agree more.

(clipped because you don't ASK the coaches, you TELL them. It is not their decision, it is your's as the referee.)

I certainly would have considered it, and from what you described I probably would have declared it so. However, I wasn't there and didn't see the actual conditions, so I can't say for sure.


Why?

That's why. Who cares about turnovers? Care about the safety of the kids playing and yourself and your partner(s).



[Edited by Nevadaref on Jan 18th, 2006 at 04:34 AM]

I had a similar situation this season. Drip from the ceiling, but wasn't as bad as yours sounded. About one drip per minute. I wasn't thrilled about it, but we had a kid there to wipe up anything that fell. I told both coaches about it before the game and said that if any one of the 3 of us (coaches and me) ever felt the situation was dangerous, we would discontinue the game.

Believe me, I watched that spot on the floor like a hawk the whole game. I thought one kid might have slid slightly, but my partner said it was not the spot where the drip was falling. If even one kid had gone down, we would've stopped it.

The kid with the towel did a great job and it was not an issue at all in the game.

In your sitch, I think as soon as anyone (yourself included) slipped, I would've stopped the game immediately. In fact, now that I re-read the story, I probably wouldn't have started the game in the first place. If you need a bucket, that's probably a good indicator that it's unsafe. :)