Question about player and 4 quarters per night...

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by offici88

It's not our responsibility to enforce the quarter rule, but we still must know about it enough to explain it.

You're right that OT is an extension of the 4th quarter. For small schools, I often see the V coach keep a quarter for a JV player until the 4th quarter in case other players foul out or the game goes to OT.

Occasionally, I'll have an assistant coach ask prior to the start of OT if the JV player can play in OT. I better be able to give him the correct answer.

Is that your association's policy? Is it posted on the state website?

[offici88]

Originally Posted by offici88

Occasionally, I'll have an assistant coach ask prior to the start of OT if the JV player can play in OT. I better be able to give him the correct answer.

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Is that your association's policy? Is it posted on the state website?

Official policy---no. But it's a credibility factor. My response may simply be "OT is an extension of the 4th quarter."

I'll always preface a question about quarters with "it's not my jurisdiction but my understanding is...."

I don't want to be the jerk who is unhelpful. Yes, coaches should know the rules, but they expect that I know the rules as well.

Same for players who have been tossed from a game. It's not my place to tell a coach a player can or cannot play the next game. (State Association requires 1 game suspension.) I'll state that I'm not in a position to make the determination for the coach, but the general principle is to sit a game. I encourage the coach to talk with his her AD and the state association to be sure.

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by offici88

Official policy---no. But it's a credibility factor. My response may simply be "OT is an extension of the 4th quarter."

I'll always preface a question about quarters with "it's not my jurisdiction but my understanding is...."

I don't want to be the jerk who is unhelpful. Yes, coaches should know the rules, but they expect that I know the rules as well.

Same for players who have been tossed from a game. It's not my place to tell a coach a player can or cannot play the next game. (State Association requires 1 game suspension.) I'll state that I'm not in a position to make the determination for the coach, but the general principle is to sit a game. I encourage the coach to talk with his her AD and the state association to be sure.

In Kansas several years ago, we were instructed not to tell coaches the eligibility rules. We weren't expected to track eligibility, and a player who had used all available quarters of play could still play in the game - it just counted as an additional game played and would hinder his ability to play in another game that season.

As officials, having any sort of discussion - especially one where "well, I'm not sure but I think he's okay to play" is bad news. If we're wrong, then we've potentially contributed to costing a player a game of eligibility. The coach will certainly use the "but the official told me it was okay" excuse to his admin/the state. And then the official will be getting a call about "why did you do that?"

We were instructed to say, when asked, something like, "Coach, we aren't given instruction in the rules on eligibility, and we don't enforce those rules, either. You'll have to ask your AD. Sorry we can't help."

[phansen]

Had a similar situation several years ago. Upon asking the state clinician, he said that is out of the officials jurisdiction as we do not rule on eligibility issues. If the opposing coach wants to play a player the entire junior varsity and varsity, that is up to them. The official has no responsibility here. However it would be the opposing teams responsibility to report to the state and file a complaint.
Sorry I have no rulebook citation for this.