Question Number: 15175

Mechanics 4/14/2007

RE: High School

robert of stanwood, washington united states asks...

My son was playing a high school game. The center ref grabbed my son from behind during a play and moved him aside. Are the refs allowed to physically touch a player when no fouls are committed. thanks

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Well the answer is no. That should be plain as day. No referee should ever grab a player and no player should ever grab a referee.

However, a little more detail may help us to understand the context of what has occurred.

Was your son about to be punched by an opponent? Was your son about to punch another player? Was your son running while his team was on a great attack and did the referee pull him out of that play?

I'm not saying those facts make what the referee did right or wrong, because we didn't see it, but it may give us a little more understanding as to what happened and why. Then perhaps we could give you a little bit better detail in our answers to you.

Answer provided by Referee Nathan Lacy

I would agree with Ref Montanino that "grabbing" a player is out of line and that a few more details would help greatly. During dynamic play I have, on occassion, used my hands to help alert players to my presence (a touch on the shoulder with a word that I'm there) in order to avoid a significant collision but I try to keep any physical contact to a minimum and then only as necessary and as required if we might collide. I don't know if your scenario might possibly fall into the "trying to avoid a collision" category but might be something worth considering. All the best,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I have on occassion turned and was about to run into the back of a player. Instead, i used my hands to avoid running over the player. No one would question this. I too would like some more detail.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Again, through the eyes of a father or mother, what happened is a serious event. If it happened it isn't right and should be reported through official channels.

I have used my hands and arms to fend off a player rather than collide with him. There, too, is the off chance a player uses his proximity to the referee to take a free shot. These actions are violent conduct and the referee, if he sees it coming, usually defends himself. Given the description of what happened it's hard to say why the referee did what he did.

Regards,