Conduct Foul

GRAYLING · #1 (**permalink**) Thu May 20, 2004, 10:35am

Question:
I was working a game last night with a Rookie official. He made a conduct foul call. From my vantage point this call should have been a push (30 seconds) or and excesive body check (1 minute). When he relayed me the call I said conduct foul what reasoning. He said that he did not want to put the kid in the box for the full minute and all the older officals that he has worked with have told him to use that call.
After reading the rule book this was the wrong call. Has anyone experienced this situation, when an inexperienced offical makes a call and you know it was not the right call? How did you handle such a situation?

Snake~eyes · #2 (**permalink**) Thu May 20, 2004, 10:53am

Well maybe he was making the conduct foul call instead of an unsportsmanlike conduct foul? Maybe he passed on the push/bodycheck and then the coach maligned him so he called a conduct foul.

GRAYLING · #3 (**permalink**) Thu May 20, 2004, 11:00am

He was on the other side of the field so both coaches where not involved in the play. It was a sure case of not knowing the rule book. When I suggested that he think about the call he told me that I should check the rule book and it is in there. Sure the rule is in the book but if it is not enforced correctly then that is not enforcing the rules the way the book is written. I understand there is allot to interpet but that is why when I consulted him about the call he should have asked me since I was the senior offical. I even asked if he meant to call a Unsportsmanlike on the kid, but he said no. I clearly was just trying to make a point that in my 2 years of being an offical I have not used that call on the field of play.

loulax · #4 (**permalink**) Thu May 20, 2004, 11:50am

We deal with this a lot due to being a new sport with a lot of growth. Every year we have brand new officials come on board with & without experience. With this said, new lax officials can offer techniques and tips from other sports that I tend to see as beneficial. What can not happen amongst any official is arguing amongst yourselves during a game/call....this looks bad and you lose creditability.

As the senior official, I find that if I differ from a new official on a call, but it is his call/side of field....I will conference with him at midfield, tell him what I saw and believe should be called, but let him report the call or let his call stand. If after the game, follow up is needed, I will go over the play with him.

Our local officials have discuss this issue at great length, and senior officials can not take the whistle or creditability away from their partner. Now, you can correct the wrong enforcement of a personal foul is called 30 seconds penalty, etc. But, I do not call fouls on my partner side of the field unless I absolutely have to to b/c of the play/result.

Snake~eyes · #5 (**permalink**) Thu May 20, 2004, 01:39pm

Well in that case I agree with loulax on this one. Talk to him and midfield, tell him what you think and you let him change or not change his clal.

LaxRef · #6 (**permalink**) Thu May 20, 2004, 02:30pm

Quote:

Originally posted by GRAYLING
Question:
I was working a game last night with a Rookie official. He made a conduct foul call. From my vantage point this call should have been a push (30 seconds) or and excesive body check (1 minute). When he relayed me the call I said conduct foul what reasoning. He said that he did not want to put the kid in the box for the full minute and all the older officals that he has worked with have told him to use that call.
After reading the rule book this was the wrong call. Has anyone experienced this situation, when an inexperienced offical makes a call and you know it was not the right call? How did you handle such a situation?

The "older officials" part is where the problem is really coming in. A lot of older officials like to give the "lessor foul" (calling a slash a hold, calling an illegal body check a push, calling a trip a push) because they think this keeps both coaches happy. This official may have gotten that idea from these officials.

But here, calling a conduct foul makes NO sense, since the penalty would be the same as for a push from behind, and since the push from behind in no way meets the definition of a conduct foul. I think in this case I'd huddle with the official and say, "Look, you can call that a push, or an illegal body check, but there's no way you can call that a conduct foul. If you don't think the foul was an illegal bodycheck and you don't want the kid in for 1:00, call it a push. But if it was an illegal bodycheck, you put him in there for 1:00. It doesn't matter what you ''want'."