St. Patrick Notes:
I have had an issue with the referees in our last two games. This league is to teach the girls the fundamentals of the game of basketball. We, as coaches, do this during our practices. However, the referees should teach them the rules, by calling fouls, during the game. Even though the refereeing did not change the outcome of the game, the girls did not learn the rules either. 1) Both games the opposing team post players were holding our girls on the block as they were defending them. I brought this up to each set of referees and they mentioned that it did not give us an advantage. It may not have given us an advantage, but it did not teach the girls the rule against holding either. This is not a league where wins and losses are most important, but where learning the fundamentals in which to play is most important. They only need to call this once so that the girls know they are holding and not defending the players. 2) There were numerous traveling calls that were missed. The majority of these probably should have gone against my team. Once again, by not calling these traveling calls the girls are learning that it is acceptable to move their pivot foot. 3) Both games there was at least one referee that did not make it up and down the court. One example is that one team lost the ball out of bonds at mid court. Instead of getting the ball out where it went out of bounds the other team had to take it out under the opposing teams basket (since the referee did not make it any further than this). I feel that if they do not want to at least jog up and down the court they should get another referee. 4) The referees have had a hard time keeping track of who gets the ball on each jump ball. My team ties the ball up quite a bit and the referees do not keep track of who got the ball out last. There were numerous times when one team got the ball out three times in a row (this was both for and against our team). I would like for someone to address this with the referees so that the girls in this league can learn the fundamentals of the game, as well as the rules that they need to follow. Once again, this did not affect the outcome of the games, but still needs to be addressed. Please let me know if anything will be done with this. Thank You, Jack Bolly