players on the floor-held ball situation

[M&M Guy]

Originally Posted by Jurassic Referee

That's liable to get a Mummy coming outa the stands to give you a pop upside the head....."Don't touch my little James".....just before she hits the speed dial to her lawyer. Thoughts?

Hmm, that's exactly what my mommy does when the big, bad coach tries to intimidate me...

I've always been taught to stick my face in the middle of the pile, while maybe giving a few toots on the whistle. For some reason, players seem to relax and let go when I've got my ugly mug near theirs. It sounds like, in Chris' case, the ref just stood back a ways while the kids continued to tug. If there had been someone within their field of vision telling them to let go, good hustle, help each other up, etc., they probably would give up their little testosterone contest. (Even 7/8 year-olds? ) I'm not sure I'd be digging in and pulling them apart, but at least getting close to the players has that tendancy to keep them from going overboard on the tug-o'-war.