Detroit Free Press article of interest...
 

From Mick and I's neck of the woods........
St. Ignace coach wins box battle | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

Sorry to read that it went down that way but I do side with the coach and it was unfortunate it came to what it did.

Before any of you cite the rules, let me be blunt. In this instance I will go by the spirit any day over the letter.

Me too, but to be honest, the comment in the article about the occasional official or player tripping over the wheelchair makes me cringe.

I work with a guy who's sister played for her.

I don't like it. I don't like the idea of someone other than the head coach being allowed to stand. Dealing with timeout requests from coaches are hard enough; having an assistant standing with the head coach requesting timeouts while sitting would only make it harder.

If this lady wants someone else to stand then that is fine with me, but the other guy who stands gets all the other duties of the head coach as well including requesting timeouts, verifying that his players are properly equipped, being responsible for bench personal, and very importantly dealing with the officials.... If the school wants to hire the lady as the head coach and list her as the head coach on the team roster they can do that as being the head coach does not require the use of the coaching box.

At the pro summer league I did stats for in 2006 & 2007, one of the coaches now has to use a wheelchair and nobody gave him any trouble over it. And the sidleines in that gym have veryt tight clearance. Of course, the fact that the local official assignor also runs this league might also have a role in how the officials handle this, too ;)

There's a very good chance that I will work for this coach in the Regional Final that I have been assigned. I am anxious to read the thoughts on this matter.

I am not unsympathetic to the lady coach, but we have some sidelines around here that simply will not accommodate a wheelchair. It's a matter of physics.

As for the main issue, why does anybody have to "utilize the box?"
I can't see having both of them in it. She asked how many timeouts she had left and they gave the answer to her husband. This is a big problem?

Sounds like much ado about very little to me.

I'd just answer the assistant coach if an assistant asked. So obviously these officials were trying to make a point, which seems a bit disgusting to me.

I would probably do the same. It could have been worse. If they were truly treating her as an assistant, some officials probably would not acknowledge her question at all.

And exactly how many days of your life have been spent in a wheelchair? How many days of your life have you had some OOO treat you like a pile of dog crap in order to win their little turf war???

This was ridiculous on the officials part. No excuses.

zebra44,
Looks simple enough to follow Uyl's rules.
Congratulations on the Regional final.
Have fun with it.

This always gets me. I try and treat everyone in a game that I officiate how I want to be treated. Its how they act that determines how I will be towards them. I will treat all coaches and players with the same respect that most officials only reserve for the HC and captains. Why does it have to be that way? If an assistant is acting cordial why just glance them over like they do not exist. That type of thinking only sets us back. Why should we punish others over past bad experiences with different people. SImple holding an assistant coach position does not make them useless, no matter how much we might joke about it.

What could the husband do standing in the box that she couldn't do from the wheelchair?

I think this is an over-simplification of how many officials treat assistants. If assistants are clearly being helpful to their team I do not see many officials not talking to them. What often happens is that assistants want to argue situations or calls and that is not acceptable in my opinion. Or the assistant wants to talk when the head coach is talking directly to the officials. I do not know about you, but I am not going to have a two on one conversation when the head coach is the only person responsible for that information. I am not sure any of this took place here, but I do not know many officials simply dismissing assistants without some level of provocation.

Peace