Coaches
 

Hi,

The thread about the screaming girl made me think of a situation I have run into a couple of times, but I didn't want to hi-jack that thread.

Two times in my brief (3 year) career as a ref, I have had this happen. During a time-out, a VERY frustrated and angry coach has literally roared at his team. The worst one was a coach who was coaching junior high girls- he called a time out, and when the girls huddled up with him he roared this-"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU GIRLS TONIGHT."

He didn't swear, he was in the coaching box (time-out area), and he didn't do anything to demonstrate anger with the refs.

But, the gym had maybe 60-70 people in it, and it was...weird...and tense.

As a ref, is there anything I can do about it? I thought about this: the next opportunity, saying something like,"I know you are frustrated coach, but could you keep it down during timeouts?" But, I didn't, as that one happened in my first year. My partner, who is a veteran said that there is nothing we can do if they don't swear or direct their anger at us.

thank you

Your partner was right. Not your business as long he's not breaking any rules.

Let the parents of the players deal with it if it is a problem. Nothing you should worry about.

Absolutely agree with what's been said. It's not something for which the officials are responsible. Now if this happened in our local kids rec league, one of the Board members who would be present at the game would go over and tell that coach to knock it off.

That's what I thought fellas, thank you.

Playing Devil's Advocate
 

It appears that the general consensus is that we, as officials, should not say anything to the Head Coach. That said:

Daryl "The Preacher" Long (If you don't know who he is, search Daryl H. Long in the Officiating.com Forums) and I were officiating in the YBOA Girls' National Championship Tournament about ten or tweleve years ago. Our first game of the tournament was a 13U pool play game; DHL was the R and I was the U. The entire first quarter the HC for one of the teams was yelling and screaming at his players from the opening tip to the end of the quarter. He would take a girl out of the game and would get in her face and scream at her for making a mistake. He would scream at the entire team during TOs. The content of his comments were personal and demeaning in nature. There was and still is only one way to describe his behavior: child abuse. A mother of one of the players was sitting on the Team Bench keeping a scorebook. During the TO between the first and second quarters, I discretely said to her: "In the state where my partner are from, your coach's conduct toward his players would be considered felony child abuse." The mother looked at me with a suprised look on her face. As we put the ball into play to start the second quarter I saw her talking to the HC. The HC attitude and conduct was completely different the rest of the game; he was a completely different person the rest of the game.

Daryl commented at half-time how the HC had changed after the first quarter and I told him what I had done. He did not have a problem with what I did.

I have always taken the position that I would not have a problem with either one of my sons playing basketball for Bobby Knight, but having said that, coaches of youth teams do not have the right to conduct themselves like U.S. Marine Corps Drill Instructors.

And before anyone thinks I am dumping on USMC Drill Instructors, they do not know my personal history with the USN and USMC Drill Instructors. I have the utmost admiration for USMC Drill Instructors. Notice I have not referred to them as DIs because a DI is a "dumb idiot" and I have never met an USMC Drill Instructor that even remotely a dumb idiot, and I have known two USMC Drill Instructors personally.

The fact is, the best coaches of youth teams (includeing H.S. age players) do not need to be raging maniacs to the players.

I am done for the evening. Everybody have a wonderful Father's Day.

MTD, Sr.

I know how you feel, stir, but these guys have it.

I recall one like you had a few years ago. Seventh-grade girls game, home team getting beaten by visibly better away team. (Jealously of this away town is very apparent, even at this level.) Home coach calls time out and proceeds to guterrally scream at her kids. It was well beyond any typical yelling, and was entirely unnecessary.

When the anger turned to my direction ("that's not a foul up here, but it is down there?!?"), she earned her ABS technical. It's my only coach whack to date (six years), and the only time yet an A.D. recommended my partner and I wait for the gym to empty before we depart.

Like you, I also pondered for a while. Should I have pointed out to the coach that she was gutterally screaming at 12-year-old girls? Would that be proper game management or interference? Would I have whacked the coach had not been over the top earlier? Most likely not. Usually such words will only get a stop sign. Still, the only way I can answer it is when such dissent is turned to my direction, and it did.

F Bomb ???
 

Several years ago, I had a rookie varsity coach say to one of his female players, "Get your f**king head in the game", just loud enough for the the player, his bench, and me, and nobody else, to hear. After the game, as I was walking out of the gym, I bumped into the coach's athletic director, who happened to a a friend of mine. I decided to say something, but I was very careful about my words. "Your rookie coach is doing a great job. I've already seen a big improvement in your team over past season's teams. However, he needs to watch his language with his players", and I went on to describe what I had heard. The athletic director thanked me, and stated that there was no place for such language in any of his programs. I left feeling that I had done my little part as a basketball "carekeeper", and that by adding some positive comments, and carefully choosing my words, I really didn't think that I threw the coach under the bus. That said, if I didn't already have a good relationship with that athletic director, I don't know if I would have mentioned it.

If she screamed her comments to you, easy T. It's a possible ABS (as you suggest).

Timid.....
 

I did a HS age G AAU tournament a few years ago with a coach who was just nuts! A real screamer! A "large man" (being kind), coaching a team from Baltimore....and they just weren't getting it.

"RUN THE PLAY!" "SET IT UP" "C'MON, THAT'S NOT WHAT I TAUGHT YOU!" "IS THAT THE WAY WE DO IT IN PRACTICE?" "RUN THE PLAY!!"

"Ref, give me a TO." "You got it coach."

"RUN THE PLAY!" "RUN THE PLAYS!" "WILL YOU PLEASE RUN THE PLAYS!" Just a yellin.

As I blew the whistle to bring the teams back from their huddles, I said to two team parents sitting at the inbound location, "So, you think they'll run the play?" One said, "We hope so!"

Ball in.

Well it appears they ran the play as it looked like something drawn up...... result, ten foot shot - AIR BALL.

As the other team got the rebound and headed the other way, I heard him yell, "Thank you!"

They won going away......

Worst screamer I ever had. But, that's the parent's problem as far as I'm concerned. As long as he's not being vulgar, swearing, etc. I just try and let it go.

I had a screamer last season in a regular season HS sophomore girl's game. Kind of strange. He was a yeller at everyone. His players, us, etc.

Here's why I didn't have a problem in this game though...He would say his piece and move on without coming back to it. Even though he was yelling, I sort of recognized that he only had one volume. Was it showing us up? Maybe...but the fact that he would say one thing and move on didn't bother me at all.

Could I have T'd him? Probably, but I appreciated his intensity, and if it had been a problem I would have said something like "Coach, I really appreciate your intensity, but could you take it down a notch when you ask us a question?" IIRC, he was a reasonable guy, and I think he would have had no problem acquiescing (sp?).