No dunking rule!

[Mark Padgett]

Had a referee meeting for our local kids rec league this past weekend. We were told that the number of HS boys (and therefore, teams) who will be in the league is way up. Because of that, we are short on gym space on the two nights a week those games are played (at middle schools). We'll have to play some of the games at one of the elementary schools. This is where we usually play 5th and 6th grade games on Saturdays. This school has really old hoops and backboards and they are not breakaway. The ref coordinator told us to inform all the HS teams prior to their game that no dunking will be allowed at any time. We can't take the chance of breaking the hoop. If they dunk, it will be a flagrant T! We're also supposed to tell them no hanging or pulling on the rim and/or net. This will be a T.

Apparently, all the HS coaches were already told about this at the coaches meeting two weeks ago, but we can't expect them to remember anything from that long ago.

It's a decent gym for elementary and MS games but it's going to be really "tight" for HS. There's less than two feet clearance on some of the sides.

Oh yeah - we'll be playing almost all of our girls HS games there. Funny - it wasn't mentioned when we were talking about the dunking warning.

[bainsey]

My rookie year, I took a bunch of YMCA games in trade for a family membership. These were mostly spring high-school age boys' games.

The Y staff repeatedly told the kids to stop dunking in pre-game. I asked the league head, why not just T them up?

"Oh no!" he replied. "We don't want to go THAT far!"

"They'll never stop until you penalize them," I reminded them.

"Yeah, but..."

Fast forward to the championship game, which I'm working. One kid tried to dunk in pre-game (missed), and held the rim. I called the T.

The result was what I expected: No-one got mad at me, but everyone yelled at the kid! (He was a fun kid who was a frequent target for abuse.) We started the game with free throws and the ball at the division line. No big deal.

Actually, the one person who made it a big deal was the 18-year-old who was supposed to be my partner. He was so disgusted with my call (this was a kid who openly admitted he "hated to call fouls"), that he feigned an injury just to get out of working with me! We found a quick replacement, who was better qualified, anyway.

[letemplay]

in our 50 and over league. Officials are reminded to warn both team's prior to toss. It's been non-controversial...really has.

[Adam]

We had a no dunking rule when I played. Well, it was a law, really. Based on the principles of physics and biology.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

We had a no dunking rule when I played. Well, it was a law, really. Based on the principles of physics and biology.

The Law of Universal Gravitation?