Hand checking versus touching

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Rbn3
I coach a 6th grade travel team and one of the major things I'm trying to accomplish is to teach the kids the rules. I was a poor high school player many years ago in the "pre-hand check" era. I'm glad to see a trend back to that era, but it is still a bit vague to me. I have read the POE for this year and it starts with "hands off". Seems very clear to me. But I still see alot of teams coached by guys younger than me who have obviously taught their kids to "use their hands as their second eyes" - often this goes beyond simply "tagging" the offensive player to find him. My guy is standing at the wing and their guy is next to him with his hand on my guy's chest. I tell my kids that they themselves are not permitted to do that, that defense is played with the eyes and feet, etc. etc. Then they ask me if it's againt the rules. If it is, it never seems to be called.

You're in a tough position, IMO. A lot of the guys/gals
you'll see working your games might be reluctant to call the
handcheck, especially when the kids are using their hands
as a second set of eyes. (BTW, I myself would have a really
tough time making this off-ball call if it's done right,
ie it's not a clear hold.) If you don't teach your team how
to use their hands then you will be at a disadvantage. So
maybe don't be such a purist. Obviously you know how to use
your hands on defense, teach your team how to do this as
well but remind them that some refs will call it more often
than others so they have to adjust. Might be a bit much for
a bunch of 6th graders, maybe devise a defensive set where
they use their hands, maybe a variant on a 2-1-2, you can
see how the game is being called and adjust for them.
Good luck!

(BTW, apologies to the "purists" out there )