How would you handle....?

[ca_rumperee]

I have some cyo girls diocese championship semifinal games today.

They will be at a gym that has a 'hiccup' in it's clock setup.
Erratically the horn will sound at the :15 second mark for about a half of a second.
It doesn't happen every time, but if you work 3 or 4 games there it will happen about 4 or 5 times.

So, going in, how would you pre-game that?
What would you communicate with coaches about it happening?

In some past games we have said, "play on" if there was no contested action (the clock does continue to run.)

When it has clearly distracted play and there was team control, there have been times where we would blow the whistle and inbound. This has all been in regular season games.

I would rather have a bullet-proof plan going in today, rather than make things up as we go.

My thinking is a simple, "play the whistle not the horn" would make it straightforward. We could then simply blow the whistle in addition on each of the 'real' soundings of the horn at the end of playing periods & quarters.

Sound like the best strategy?

[grunewar]

Certainly sounds like "a" place to start anyhow. It's similar to when many games are being played in one gym - and play inadvertently stops when a/the player(s) hear a whistle from an adjacent game.

[Adam]

Inform the kids and coaches of the hiccup. Also let them know that the horn does not kill the play, and that they should play until they hear a whistle.

If it does end up affecting play, play it by ear.

[NM_Ref]

wow...i officiate at a school with the EXACT same problem...lol...weird

we usually let the teams know in pregame conference to stop on whistles...not horns...

[ma_ref]

"Play the whistle...not the horn" is a sentence I always say during my pre-game captains meetings. In this particular instance, since this is a known problem with the site then I'd also let the visiting coach know about it as well, and tell them that you've informed the players to play through it. Unless they're a new coach in the league, chances are that they already know about it, but I'd still tell them anyway. 99.9% of the time I'd think the visiting coach wouldn't have a problem with it, but if they do then I'd tell them to take it up with the league director afterwards.

[Dan_ref]

Set the game clock for :15 more than the period (8:15 for example). If the horn goes off incorrectly then the period is over. If not then the kids get an extra :15 of basketball.