could I have fixed this?

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by tcosmo

No home book being kept. Home team Coach ok with visiting team keeping the book. Inexpierenced clock person (trouble with posession all game).
5th grade tournament. Tie game 39-39 8.9 left on clock, Blue calls time out after a red make. Time out awarded. coming out of time out ball is inbounded to red and they score 39-41, blue inbounds after make and time runs out. game over. Blue Coach protests. There are no options? right? Game over my mistake. Even the director of the tournament has no options, except to learn from the bad call and possibly put rules to mandate there be a rep at the table to help the Blue coach.

By Rule (which becomes something sort of important for us in the officiating business), there is nothing you can do in this situation for the Blue team. Putting someone at the scorer's table will do NOTHING for the Blue team.

What the Blue coach needs to do is keep a MUCH CLOSER eye on who the officials are giving the ball to for a throw-in. I would also have a designated inbounder, with this small amount of time remaining and the score tied, you can bet that all five players would have had a role to play. That player would have known something was wrong pretty quickly!

What YOU need to do as an official is develop a technique for remembering which team will be inbounding the ball. If you are at the inbound spot/location always hold the ball in a manner in which you can determine which way the ball is to go (personally, I hold the ball in the hand nearest the basket the offensive team is attacking when I face the scorer's table. If the team can run the end line, I do the same, but I stand slightly inside the end line.). If you are an off official, you can slightly pull the pocket up in your pants or keep the hand open (similar to the ball situation above) or stand slightly to the left/right (by a few inches) of your designated position to help you remember direction. Additionally, make sure that you communicate to both teams and your partner(s) where the ball will be located for the next throw-in and WHO will be taking it as you report the time out.

You could "correct" your error as many have suggested. Most or even all of the parents, coaches and players would likely support your decision by getting it right. I have argued that this situation SHOULD be "correctable" to a point (I cannot justify correcting this one after the basket is scored), BUT it is not today. "Correcting" this error would be reasonable to just about anyone who DOESN'T KNOW THE RULES!!! So, if, after reviewing this thread you feel that you want to set the rules aside, you may have done the "fair" thing as several have pointed out. On the other hand, you would be CLEARLY setting aside a rule in doing so.

Good arguments on both sides. Unfortunately, when arguing a rules question on an officials forum, I hope you understand that we should be following the rules as they are defined. But, in the future, let's hope that the official (and the coach) are paying a bit more attention so that the kids aren't learning that kind of life lesson on their "watch."