For me, anyway. I will be out of town the next two Saturdays, and then the season concludes.
Two half-court games with 1st/2nd-grade boys, then 1st/2nd-grade girls. The boys game was very sloppy with lots of fouling, and the girls game was very clean.
In the afternoon I did full-court games of 5th/6th-grade boys and 5th/6th-grade girls. The girls’ game went well, but the boys again got called for a lot of fouls, only one of which the parents thought was “ticky-tack.” I usually draw more complaints than just one.
The last game of the day featured 7th/8th-grade girls. I was done for the day, so I got to watch my niece from the sidelines. She defends very well. If she could sense that she had already beat her defender on the breakaway and drive to the hole, she’d be lethal.
There were two instances where she rebounded the ball, and the person who was guarding her would go for a tie-up and end up wrestling the two of them to the ground. Our officials do a good job, but this is an area we need to work on. I’m not just saying that because my niece was involved this time.
If two opposing players get a hold of the ball, the whistle is blown and the ball is given to the team who didn’t get the “tie-up” the last time. Where we need to do better is when a player commits a foul in order to get to the tie-up, either with a push, a hold, or an illegal use of the hands. Too often we as officials let the players scrum for the ball and then call a tie-up. A player does not have to have possession of the ball to foul or be fouled. We need to call the contact, especially when it leads to an advantage such as a tie-up.
In high school and up, if there’s a tie-up and then a wrestling move or scrum, a technical foul can be called after the tie-up. Upward basketball doesn’t have technical fouls, so in that case the referee needs to inform the player about the poor behavior and inform the coach so that the coach has the opportunity to control or calm down the player.
The season is over for me. I miss it; it’s the most physical activity I get at home during the year. I’m sure the refereeing issue will be addressed as soon as possible: my “boss” is quite consistent in communicating points of emphasis to the referees.
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