Last Night During High School Boys Game
 

I pulled the Head Coach aside right before they went down for halftime and told him that I wasnt appreciative of all the gesturing and talking that was going on with his players during the first half. I told him to pass the word on to the kids and that if myself or my partner heard another word in the 2nd half it was an automatic T. Well, when we came back out to start the 2nd half....he meets me at the scorers table and said...."We(coaching staff) lit their ***! We could sense the frustration from them and we are glad that you took a stance." Has anyone else had this type of situation occur, and if soo how did you handle it? I am sitting here questioning myself about the way I went about this. It must have worked, because the kids were more respecitve the rest of the way.

Mightyvol

Glad to hear it worked for you, but IMO approaching a coach like that has a better than 50/50 shot of ending up causing you more problems than it does helping you...if he is frustrated about anything at that point, you coming up to him with that is liable to set him off and cause you to end up with a dilemma of whether or not you end up teching HIM..I see something from the coach like "Well if you guys would do your job they wouldn't be gesturing!"....if you are having problems with players, address it with them, give them/the captain a warning if you see fit and/or just issue the tech...again, just my opinion, like I said glad this worked for you, but this could have been bad....that said, if you have a relationship with the coach this has a better chance of working out well...

I'm glad to hear your method worked out too, but here's how I handled a similar situation.

Last night boys sophmore tourney early in the 1st quarter, Team A player voices displeasure about any foul/violation call against his team. I speak with him about it & address his teams captain on the issue as well. Captain says he'll "take care of it" for me.

2nd quarter the block call goes against said player, he jumps up yipping again... Whack
On his way to the bench & before the sub is beckoned the player flails his arms at me, as if to say "I dont give a phuck"... Whack

Coach he's done.
20 seconds please.
Have a seat young man.

The player chased me down to apologize post-game as his coach watched from a distance.
I really hope they make it to the Championship game tommorow, so I can interact with the kid again, he's a very talented player... maybe it was a good lesson to learn now rather than later.

That's how I handled my situation rather than talking to the coach about it. After all what does coach know, he wanted shots on offensive fouls & 3 seconds called before the ball was inbounded.

Not that I'm keeping track or anything ;) but 3 Ts & 1 ejection on the season so far. The common factor is that the Ts were given on lower level contests
:(

NOTE: At halftime we wait at midcourt until both teams & their coaches have left the vicinity of the gym.

Well, it's a start, anyway. ;)

I don't allow ANY gesturing, and only a few words, if spoken respectfully, from players who are complaining about calls. My only exception to the gesturing part is towards the end of an intense game, I may choose to ignore an "involuntary- due to great emotional involvement" gesture, as long as it was not obviously directed towards an official.

Two examples....towards the end of an extremely competitive playoff game, I saw an official T a player for slapping the floor (from a prone position) after losing a ball out of bounds. In my mind this was unnecessary. In the other example, same atmosphere, State Tourney, a girl, after getting called for a travel, bounced the ball hard to the floor, missed the ricochet, and the ball bounced high over her head. Officials chose to "look the other way".

What do you think?

Both reactions came from frustration on the player's part. In #1, the player was frustrated at him/herself for committing a turnover. In #2, the player was frustrated at the official's call. Big difference.

Imo, if any calls were to be made, the calls should have been reversed. Look the other way on the player who <b>isn't</b> showing up an official; call a "T" on the player that is.

IF you are going to talk to a coach about it, don't use the "or else it will be an automatic T." You've just put yourself into a box that you can't get out of.

IF you are going to talk to him, make it a friendly warning, "Coach, I've noticed some of your players starting to show some frustration. Could you mention it please? I just don't want it to get to a point where I have to make a decision."

I like the "make a decision line" because it puts the onus back on you rather than shifting the responsibility to him.

Perfect. KBilla is correct, too, it can go either way. But when you are at the point where a T is looming, do you have a lot to lose? I also agree with JR. Tough to pass on a ball spike. Even I would not. OK, JR, hope you were sitting down when you read that.