Long Island District Board # 41

Get the Fight Right

Written by Tim Malloy

In light of the recent NCAA on-court fighting incident between Xavier University and Cincinnati University, it reminds us that even the best officials can get caught in a nasty situation where your "paramedic officiating" training can come in handy.

That is to say, calm and instinctive responses that have been drilled into you and allow you to block out the noise of the on-court crisis to coolly restore order and correctly rule on what has transpired.

And there is arguably nothing more in need of this officiating skill set than when a fight breaks out in your game.

Why the skirmish occurred and how to possibly prevent one from happening are topics for another day. For now, let’s take another “60 Second” look at the key components to consider so you may confidently and competently rule on a fight in an NFHS contest.

PLAYERS ON THE COURT

If an EQUAL number of players from both teams participate in the fight ...

ALL are charged with flagrant technical fouls and disqualified.
No free throws are awarded and the ball is in-bounded at the point of interruption.

If there is an UNEQUAL number of players who participate in the fight...

ALL are charged with flagrant technical fouls and disqualified.
The offended team will be awarded two free throws for EACH additional player.

Keep in mind, taunting may be viewed as the “first punch." If the provoked player physically retaliates, both players are charged with flagrant technical fouls and are disqualified.

PLAYERS ON THE BENCH

Simply stated, if a player leaves the bench area and comes onto the court during a skirmish, they are charged with a flagrant technical foul and disqualified.

Penalties for bench personnel stepping onto the court will also impact the head coach.

For those reserves who ENTER the court, but DO NOT participate in the fight...

The head coach is charged with a MAXIMUM of ONE indirect technical foul, no matter how many bench players come onto the floor.

If there is an EQUAL number of non-fighting bench personnel on the court ...

Those players are disqualified.
No free throws are awarded for their actions.

If there is an UNEQUAL number of players who leave the bench area and DO NOT fight...

Those players are disqualified.
The offended team would be awarded a MAXIMUM of two free throws for this segment of the scenario.

For BENCH PERSONNEL who DO PARTICIPATE in the fight...

The heads coach is assessed an INDIRECT TECHNICAL foul for EACH bench person who participates.
Remember, three indirect technical fouls would result in the head coach being disqualified.

If there is an EQUAL number of bench personnel fighting on the court...

No free throws are awarded for their actions and play would resume at the point of interruption.

If there is an UNEQUAL number of players who leave the bench area and participate in the fight, the offended team...

Would be awarded two free throws for EACH additional player involved.
Would receive the ball at the division line for a throw-in.


For liability purposes, disqualified players are permitted to remain on the bench and should not to be ordered to leave the court area without proper adult supervision.

Now in the aftermath of a fight, typically no one comes away from the incident unscathed, and the officials will be at the front of the line to be evaluated, and maybe second-guessed.

The cries of “Ref, let them play; you’re not the game!” and “Ref, it’s getting physical; somebody is going to get hurt!” fit nicely onto a double-edge sword that may slice you when things go bad. Second-guessing is a spectator perk.

It’s frightening to consider all of the hard, competitive plays that take place in a game where players simply pick themselves up and resume play without any retaliation. In hindsight we understand and shudder a bit knowing any one of these plays could be motivation enough to provoke a verbal or physical response that sets in motion the events outlined above.

That a fight happened is most likely out of your control; what is in your control is how quickly and calmly you extinguish the skirmish and correctly mete out the penalties according to NFHS rules.

Hopefully this “60 Seconds” session on fighting has bolstered your ‘paramedic training’ in this vital area.

Rule References

NFHS 4-18; 10-4; 10-6