Not enough bench, what to do?

[chapmaja]

Originally Posted by PaREF

Is the "bench" a set of bleachers? If so, I've had similar situations where the players who couldn't fit in the front row (the bench) would sit directly behind the bench in the second row of the bleachers. Typically they were the second or third stringers.

I've also worked in places where the benches are chairs. When there are more players than chairs I have allowed players to stand behind the bench. May not be allowed by rule but if the benches are close to the court I'd rather not have inattentive players (those who won't see playing time unless the 12 players ahead of them all were injured) sitting on the floor at the end of the bench.

The chairs for a bench is common where I work. I normally have the host school find more chairs. If not, I have the players behind the chairs (which I do allow for standing)? Why? I would rather have the players standing in a non-playable area than be sitting on the floor in a potentially playable area. The last thing we, as officials, need is to have a player sitting on the floor with a clipboard taking stats (as many bench players do), and a player on the floor chases a ball towards the bench area. A seated player on the bench/chair is at a high enough level to see the bench player and potential avoid them. If the bench player is sitting on the floor, the player may not see them, chase the ball and run into that player, potentially injuring one or both of them. Having the players standing behind the bench is a better option from a liability standpoint.

The other issue with the players sitting at the end of the bench on the floor is creep. They tend to creep forward towards the court, much like standing players will do, when allowed to stand. Having them stand behind the bench puts a barrier (the bench) between them and the court.

Obviously, having the right number of chairs is the best solution.

I have had situations where one team does not have enough chairs, and the other has extra open chairs. We asked the team to take chairs with them so everyone has a chair when they switch sides at the end of the set.

Most places using chairs don't have a problem with the number of chairs though, and if they do initially, they find more.