Why are intentional fouls (2 shots & possession) rarely called in youth games.

[agelof]

Originally Posted by dsqrddgd909

I have refereed this level a lot in this my first year. I have called a couple of intentional fouls. I do not think that calling them intentional or personal is going to alter the frequency or severity of contact.

I disagree. You can count on coaches to coach to win. It shouldnt be that way but it is. If these fouls when they occur cost a coach a chance to win he will coach to avoid them. The more it hurts the more the coach will try to re-enforce the rule in pre-game and practice. We heard the same argument for calling reach in fouls, double dribble and travel consistently couple years back at U8 level. Argument was kids just can't change behavior because of age (or that its going to slow down games too much) a few coaches made the plea to start calling the games tighter .... of course ... you still get a kid or two that get (and should) and do get a wider bearth ...but when the kids started getting calls ... they started to learn what can do and cant and coaches emphasized skills more ....