NFHS Bench Restriction Implications

[Manny A]

Someone on another discussion board wants to know what implications beyond being confined to the dugout apply to a head coach who has been issued a bench restriction. For example, is the head coach no longer able to:

1. Appeal a batting-out-of-order violation?

2. Question an umpire's rule misinterpretation?

3. Lodge a protest of an umpire's rule misinterpretation?

4. Make a decision on an option play (e.g., catcher's obstruction)?

5. Request Time to have a defensive conference next to the dugout?

Some on that board feel that the bench restriction of the head coach is equivalent to an ejection of a player who, by rule, is allowed to stay in the dugout. In other words, the head coach is no longer the head coach and cannot participate in the game in any way, shape or form. I, OTOH, feel that the rule doesn't prevent anything more than simply disallowing the head coach to exit the dugout (unless he/she has to tend to an injured player). That doesn't mean I have to put up with his/her crap if the reason I restricted him/her was to shut him/her up for being a whiner. But if he/she is simply in there because he/she failed to report a substitute twice in the game, is he/she really "gone" from the game for all intents and purposes?

Unfortunately, there's nothing in the rule book or case book that I can find to justify my position other than the wording (or lack thereof) in NFHS Rule 2-48. It doesn't stipulate what the head coach can no longer do other than step out of the dugout to carry out his/her coaching responsibilities (e.g., no base coaching, no conferencing at the circle, no reporting of substitutions, etc.)

What say you? Have you seen something written like in the NFHS Preseason Guide for Softball that NFHS puts out?