Game Over?
 

Middle School Varsity, team has only one coach. Coach is on the officials from the opening tip earning his first T early in the first quarter.

Second half, foul called on one of his players, kid slams the ball down in disgust earning himself a T, coach goes off and earns his second direct T, therefore and ejection.

Coach says "You can't throw me out, I'm the only coach". League rule is that there must be a school employee on the bench at all times (the coach is employed at the school).

Coach scrambles and says he will call and get a school secretary to come to gym and then someone else can finish the game coaching with her. She lives somewhere close and could be there in "15 or 20 minutes"

Officials say no go, game over.

Thoughts?

I agree with the officials, but the ultimate disposition is up to the league.

Middle school? With a jackwagon coach that acts like that? No way I'm sitting around for 20 minutes.

Maybe he should know not to act like that if he's the only coach.

^^^^^^^^^^^This!!!!

Or, come to think of it, maybe, just maybe, especially in middle school, a coach shouldn't act like that at all!!

Unless the league rule is specific, game over and I am leaving.

Act professional and he has nothing to worry about.

Peace

I'm giving the now-ejected HC approximately 3 minutes to find someone else capable of take over coaching duties. (ie: someone else who is already/still on site).

After that, I'm suspending the game, leaving the premises, and phoning my assigner as soon as I arrive in the parking lot. Let the appropriate administrative body determine if the game is forfeited or resumed at some later point (being Jr High, most likely it would be a forfeit).

I'm giving him 60 seconds to get someone on the bench, and I'd be inclined to charge him a timeout for that, but I don't think there's much rules backing there.
I'm calling my assigner from the locker room.

Other than that, I agree.

Been here, albeit a different sport (soccer).

Coach was ejected (no assistants), and suddenly turned from a wolf to a sheep in a heartbeat. He tried the "I don't have anyone" angle, but I insisted another adult take over. Two parents stepped up.

Granted, we didn't have to deal with a league rule regarding employees. Still, those that think they can't be ejected may believe they can push the envelope harder. Quite the contrary, since an ejection could result in a forfeit, they need to understand the consequences better.

under FIBA rules...
(7.6) If there is an assistant coach his name must be entered on the scoresheet before the beginning of the game. He shall assume all duties and powers of the coach if, for any reason, the coach is unable to continue.

(7.8)The captain shall act as coach if there is no coach, or if the coach is unable to continue and there is no assistant coach entered on the scoresheet (or the latter is unable to continue). If the captain must leave the playing court, he may continue to act as coach. If he must leave following a disqualifying foul, or if he is unable to act as coach because of injury, his substitute as captain may replace him as coach.

However for the youth (club), JrH & HS leagues we officiate an adult must be on the bench. In the case of JrH & HS, there must be at least 1 school employee on the bench either as HC, AC or team follower.

This game would have been a forfeit under the rules of the game we officiate.

NFHS doesn't address it, but virtually every league that uses NFHS rules addresses it on their own. Every state I know of states a coach must be present, most states define who can assume this role.

That is the big thing. If the State association mandates a coach be certified through its office, then only a certified person may take over. If one can't be found, then the contest is terminated.

I'm guessing this would have be enforced after the fact. At most, I might think to ask if they're qualified/certified/allowed, but I have no way to check their credentials during the game. I'd be inclined to accept their answer and play on. My report to the state would include the name of who took over.

Well this was not a high school event so any state association stuff might not apply to those rules. My state has an Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) body that governs these kind of rules, but even the IESA does not apply to all games at that level. So if there is not policy for who or how anyone is certified to coach, that could be another story. For example there are private schools that play in their own league and there are not the classifications for coaches like at a public school. It is possible that no one fits a standard. And none of us would really know that anyway unless we are associated with the league directly. Someone would have to be very convincing for me to stay and continue a game.

Peace

I had this happen once when I lived in Oregon. I think it was a freshman or JV game. The coach earned 2 T's and was ejected. He did not have an assistant so he called a parent down from the stands. The opposing coach apparently knew that a coach had to be certified by the state and she called BS on the parent being allowed to coach. So we asked if anyone else in the stands was certified to coach and no one said a word. We had to forfeit the game. As I recall, there was not much time left in the game and the home team (with the ejected coach) was winning at the time this all went down. It did not go over well with the crowd and we got out of there fast.

The best part here is that this guy is going to have to go to his school's administration to explain why the kids' game was stopped in the second quarter because he decided to throw a tantrum. If this is his first time, hopefully he'll learn his lesson. If he's done this before, hopefully the school will be smart enough to find someone else to coach the kids.