Coach yelling FOUL THEM

[Mark Padgett]

I am in the same school at Rut in that you let the action determine the foul call. Simply put, follow the rule. If, in your opinion, the foul was committed solely to stop play, then it is intentional.

Now, having said that, I do not call it intentional if the player was going for the ball and the contact was not excessive regardless of the game situation and whether or not the coach was yelling.

I believe this is within both the letter and the intent of the rule.

Where you get some flak from coaches is when the direct their players to foul and the kid grabs a jersey and you call the foul intentional. Even worse is the case where the coach directs his kids to foul and one of his players comes up to an offensive player and just barely bumps or pushes him (an act that really is not enough contact for a common foul) and they expect you to call a common foul - their thinking is that if you don't call this "preventative foul", then the contact will just escalate. Of course, they don't want you to call it intentional, however.

I guess they want their cake and eat it too.