At what point do you acknowledge fans/parents?

[SeanFitzRef]

Working 3 whistle, 8th grade A level championship. Large crowd for the size of the gym, about 350 people, made for a good atmosphere. Allowed parents from both teams to stand along baseline wall (about 10' away from the court).

One 'parent' from the home team starts consistently screaming at my partners and me on every trip down to that end of the floor, becasue the home team was shooting at the far basket and every trip down the court we were missing something or had our 'heads up our @$$3$'. After the last comment, towards the end of the first quarter, I gave game management a heads up that the next comment of such ilk would require us to clear the baseline. Sure enough, next time down he gives my partner an earful as we are setting up to shoot free throws, so I walk over directly in front of the 'parent' and order the baseline cleared. Game management was very helpful, and told the 'parent' that was enough. The 'parent' turned bright red, then quietly watched the rest of the game from the corner.

Embarrasment tends to work very well in these situations, and it performed beautifully in this one.