Injurys: Whistle or not?

[egausch]

5th grade travel league, playoff game. A1 dribbling toward hoop on a FB about midcourt. A2 and B2 well behind play. B2 trips over own feet, goes down hard, crying and slow to get up. A2 back by B2, still well out of the play. No risk of further injury.
Whistle or not?
EG

[Bart Tyson]

since it is a playoff game and everything it even, then let the player finish his layup. Now if the outcome of game has already been determind then i don't see a problem with stopping the game. I think you have to go on your gut feeling at that time.

[kevin]

If you feel like the kid has a serious injury, you can stop the game no matter where the ball is. You just have to use your own judgement on a play like this.

(UH OH), there it is again, an official has to use good judgement.But seriously, you might hold your whistle and let the play go on if the dribbler has a clear cut path to the basket ANDthe kid is not seriously hurt.

[tharbert]

If he's slow to get up but is getting up, I'd withhold the whistle for the layup . If he's up after the basket I may even withhold the whistle then. If the coach needs him in the game and you blow the whistle, he has to leave for one clock tick. Let the coach buy some time with a TO if he need it. Having said that, it's ten year olds! Half the kids this age still cry when they get a booboo (I know, I have one.) If I see anything like an injury, I'd whistle it dead in less than a heartbeat.

[Spaman_29]

I had a bad injury in my game last Friday that I am glad we whisted dead. Boys varsity, 4th quarter 1:30 to go, Team A just scored and B is inbounding. Two A players run into each other. One player was a little bit shorter and had jumped just before the collision. Well his forhead made contact with his teammates mouth and teeth went flying. It knocked the kid out and put a 2 inch gash on his forehead. Blood was going everywhere. 15 minutes later they transport both players to the hospital and we finish the game. UGLY!!! I am thankful that it was two from the same team. This was my second game this year that I had a kid transported. My first came in a college game that a kid dove for the ball and crashed into the advertisment board that is in front of the table. That one took over 30 minutes to resume.

[Don in MN]

My rule of thumb is to blow the whistle when the injury would interfere with play, unless it is a severe injury, then the whistle is blown immediately.

For example, A1 has the ball, B1 steals it and begins a fast break. A1 twists his ankle and falls to the floor. I let B1 finish the fast break before I blow the whistle. If Team B doesn't make a basket on the fast break and go into its offense, I blow the whistle.

[Bart Tyson]

Spaman_29, I think it would be a good idea to get and keep a game tape. Put in writting a recap of the game and what happened. Better to be safe then sorry.

[DrC.]

Originally posted by tharbert
If the coach needs him in the game and you blow the whistle, he has to leave for one clock tick

For some reason I thought you could stop play to make sure everyone is OK. I thought he/she only had to go out for a tick if I beckon the Coach or Trainer onto the court. Am I wrong ??? I rather be wrong on this Forum then on the court!
Thanks...

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by DrC.

For some reason I thought you could stop play to make sure everyone is OK. I thought he/she only had to go out for a tick if I beckon the Coach or Trainer onto the court. Am I wrong ??? I rather be wrong on this Forum then on the court!
Thanks...

DrC. is right; tharbert is wrong on this issue

[ChuckElias]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DrC.

For some reason I thought you could stop play to make sure everyone is OK. I thought he/she only had to go out for a tick if I beckon the Coach or Trainer onto the court. Am I wrong ??? I rather be wrong on this Forum then on the court!
Thanks...

You're not wrong, Doc. Blow the whistle, kid says "I'm ok", he stays. If you blow the whistle and the kid doesn't respond or you see it needs attention, then call the trainer and the kid goes out until the next opportunity to substitute after the clock has started.

Chuck

[Josh Ovens]

i had a game on sunday where B1 girl had tried to get a rebound and fell to the floor. i took a glance at her and she was holding her knee. i thought she bumped it on the floor. well the offensive was pushing the ball upcourt, and i saw that she had dislocated her knee. her right patella(kneecap) was shifted over laterally to the right side of her leg. i immediately blew the ball dead and tended to the player, since i am an EMT. luckly, my partner is a retired paramedic,and he stabilized her leg. so we took care of things. i sure hate to see things happen like this.

[coach mb]

Grade School age 12-15.
A1 (about) 180 pounds comes down with a defensive rebound and brings the ball down to his waist. B1 (about) 110 pounds immediately grabs the ball. Now they both have it. No whistle for a jump ball and A1 whips around sending B1 to the floor. B1 is in immediate pain holding his leg. (no attempt to get up). No whistle.
A1 passes the ball up (no fast break) just a 5 on 4.
Within 10 seconds team A scores. After the shot, whistle for the injury. By this time the coach was on the floor with his player.

Player went out for awhile but did return to the game.

I spoke with one of the 2 refs and his logic was that if you whistle to early, players would fake injuries every time they got beat. That made sense to me at the time. Thinking about it now, the size mismatch and way the player hit (flew to) the floor, justified an immediate whistle.

[JRutledge]

Faking happens. I realize that with kids you might want to be careful, but just because a kid falls down does not mean they are seriously hurt. I officiate football and I do not see very many serious injuries with kids during basketball. If anything they might strain an ankle or knee, but that is about as serious as it gets. And just like anything, you can use judgement. But I would not stop every play until a fast break is stopped, or the injured player's team has control of the ball. I have seen kids fall down and you think they got shot, next possession or next opportunity they are running like nothing happen. The rules are laid out for a reason. Players do fake injuries.

Peace

[RecRef]

Originally posted by egausch
5th grade travel league, playoff game

Read, 10 and 11 year olds playing in a “RECREATIONAL” league. Travel or house, it is still “RECREATIONAL” ball. These are children nothing more. At this level I blow whistle first and ask questions later. This holds for 7 year olds to 18 year olds in rec ball.

Sounds harsh? My nom de plume is RecRef for a reason. When you are involved in running a rec league your first duty is to the children. We drum into our refs the safety of the kids is paramount. Ten years ago I had a 9 year old taken away by the EMTs, on a team I was coaching, because a ref held his whistle. He gave me a smart butt reply as to why he held it. He never refed again.

In socialistic HS it is a different story. IÂ’ll hold the whistle if I think the lack of severity warrents the play to finish. Had one this past weekend. JV girl goes down on her knee and I allowed the fast break to continue. At the miss I blew the play dead.

[coach mb]

Good feedback on both sides.

Whistle or not? I teach ... We go with the ref's decision and keep our heads in the "game" (easier said than done).

Some observations I did see after the fact:
The player who got hurt came back with a vengeance.
Both teams were warned to stop pushing while under the boards (twice).

This was early fourth quarter play with a 10 point spread. No warnings in the first 3 quarters.

The moral of the story for me is ... I like a quick whistle when both teams have good grip on the ball. Any physical display will only escalate if left unchecked.