I blew the call....

Originally Posted by RefTip

BeerFanmike20,

I work quite a bit of youth ball because I really enjoy the kids, so I've been in your shoes . This year I employed a new technique with youth ball and it worked great all year long. Coach's / Captains meetings ( used in all games ) : I tell the coaches that " I realize this is not HS ball, so we'll allow both the HC and AC to be up " coaching " as long as they stay in the box . I tell the kids that when we blow the whistle to immediately let go of the ball b/c we've already made our decision and we don't want anyone to get hurt.


This pre-game meeting has really made a dramatic difference in how the coaches and kids behave.

Bringing the HS pre-game into the youth game works really well for me too! I worked my first 4 game competitive set of the year this weekend & forgot to conduct it in the first game. 2 minutes in... WHACK apparently coach wasn't aware that he couldn't step onto the court & yell abusively "over the back" into my partners ears. When my partner stood there & just took it I felt compelled to come off the endline & stick coach swiftly before he tried the act on me & got himself ran.

So we took care of business upfront for the rest of our games & there were no more problems. Coaches know upfront what to expect from you & what you expect from them. Most have never heard of the seatbelt rule or staying in their box.

RefTip - I just don't agree with your text in red... if we're going to enforce it, lets do it right! Because when officials like myself work the next game (after yours) we don't want to have to explain why 2 coaches will not be standing for THIS ballgame. Regardless of what took place last time.
Other than that good advice.