Acting Class is in Session

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

I agree with your thoughts, I was just wondering about the rule. In basketball, I've only actually made that call one time (5th grade YMCA game, IIRC) after a solid warning to the coach. I put myself in a box with the warning, but then the kid went and fell, trying to draw a charge, before I could even start a 5 second count on the dribbler.

No there is no specific ruling that would support such an action. But just like the rules in basketball, the rules are not limited to the listed violations when it comes to unsportsmanlike act. My point is if we want to be technical, ever time a player claims they are held, blocked in the back or blocked below the waist we should have a foul. I would just tell the kid to stop flopping and move on. There is no way I can imagine throwing a flag for this.

Peace

[Forksref]

Preventive officiating. Especially at this level.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Forksref

Preventive officiating. Especially at this level.

To me there is nothing to prevent. There are no interpretations that support that would be a responsible foul call. If a player was to take a dive and take themselves out of a play, so be it.

Peace

[ajmc]

Regarding the 7th grader taking out the center, and you had suspicions he might have gotten away with something. "Fool me once, shame on you- fool me twice, shame on me". Level is really not significant, as this maneuver is as old as the game itself.

This is an example of why helmets have ear holes and Umpires have "little" voices. To avoid having to deal with that second situation, a well placed whisper into that players ear hole suggesting, "I'm not sure if you got away with a cheap shot on that one, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. If anything even close to that happens again, you'll watch the rest of this game from the team bus." can work wonders, as long as he believes you mean what you say.