T Up a Fan?!?

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by offici88

GV last night with a near first...almost had to whack a fan. I look forward to the fodder and clarifications.

Sit: Held ball, partner whistle, white lets go, girl for green hits the deck, starts crying and holding elbow she landed on. I wait a moment to see if she's getting up, then beckon green coach to floor. Before the coach reaches the girl a guy comes from the stands on his way to the girl--must be a parent (Great!).

Parent has a few choice words for me about the physical play and what I should be calling. I give him (parent now on the floor) the "one more word" ultimatum as it was appropriate.

(A)Is the parent a fan since he came from the stands?
(B)Is he bench personnel since he cam to the court?

If I had whacked the parent, what's the proper way to charge the T?

So glad it didn't come to actually having to whack a fan for stupidity.

No, it was not appropriate to give the fan an ultimatum. You should never back yourself into such a corner with a coach, player, or fan.

Yes, the parent is a fan, no matter what he does.

No, he is not bench personnel.

To whack the fan would have been stupidity, as it's only going to rein more crap down on top of you.

Once someone is attending the player, back away as far as you need to. It could be an emotional situation, get way from it. Let game management handle the fan.

Handle the situation with some maturity and calm, not with emotion.

[Mrcrash3]

Amen
...and to all a goodnight

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

No, it was not appropriate to give the fan an ultimatum. You should never back yourself into such a corner with a coach, player, or fan.

Yes, the parent is a fan, no matter what he does.

No, he is not bench personnel.

To whack the fan would have been stupidity, as it's only going to rein more crap down on top of you.

Once someone is attending the player, back away as far as you need to. It could be an emotional situation, get way from it. Let game management handle the fan.

Handle the situation with some maturity and calm, not with emotion.

Common sense prevails.

[TimTaylor]

Our instructions in the event of a player injury are to stop play and beckon the coach/trainer onto the floor, then step away from the situation and let them deal with it. Our time is better spent keeping track of what is going on with the rest of the players while the coach's attention is focused elsewhere. Penalize the team with a T for a concerned parent coming onto the floor? - no way! Distance from the situation can be your friend - if the officials are not in the immediate area, then they can't easily be approached by an upset parent. That alone will give them a chance to think twice before saying or doing something stupid. If they do it anyway, then their actions should be dealt with by game management in the same manner as they would with any other unruly fan.

Dealing with fans in general is the responsibility of game management. While the officials do have the authority under the rules to assess a T for fan behavior, it should be as a last resort. If a fan becomes aggressive or unruly and game management can't or won't control it, maybe, but even then I'd prefer to get law enforcement involved and let them deal with it. Further penalizing a team for the actions of an angry or unruly fan or fans has the potential of throwing gasoline on the flames.