“Someone’s going to get hurt out there”
People who have read BasketCases are well aware that the headline to this post is also one of the “Ten Senseless Sayings from Parents Row” listed in Chapter 4. I hear the statement all the time. Sometimes its uttered legitimately because mom or dad doesn’t want junior to get hurt. I get that. Sometimes its uttered when a player fell or when there was no illegal contact at all.
During a recent youth basketball game, I called an intentional foul that most youth basketball officials would have only called a personal foul. The reason I did it: to prevent a retaliation foul, or, in other words, try and prevent “someone” from getting hurt out there.
This incident happened in a girls’ elementary game that was well played and close until the last couple of minutes when one team pulled away. With two minutes left and the game essentially over, a player from the winning team went up for a shot. The opposing player went for the ball, but she also hammered her. I mean hammered her.
Sixth grade girls do not foul this hard. My partner who was close to the play called a foul. Before he reported the foul, we had a discussion and I convinced him we had to call an international foul. The penalty: two free throws and the ball. While my partner was administering the free throws, I was explaining why we called an intentional foul to the coach.
His argument was expected, saying his player went for the ball. Which is true. But I determined she committed “excessive contact” even though she went for the ball with one hand because she absolutley clobbered her with the rest of her body. This was a point of emphasis in the NFHS rule book a couple of years ago.
Bottom line is one team gets an extra possession, that’s it, which isn’t a big deal at all. But calling an intentional foul in that situationhopefully teaches a lesson that lasts much longer is that good sportsmanship is expected throughout the game. Because no one with any common sense wants to see a basketball player get hurt on the court.