Question Number: 22056

The Technical Area 9/23/2009

RE: House Under 11

Jeffrey of Markham, Ontario Canada asks...

I was reffing a BU10 game a few weeks ago. The coach was not respecting the 'technical area' he was way over on the other team's side giving tactical directions. Since I had requested for the opposing coach earlier to get back on his side, I had to request for this coach to get back on his side too. When i made the request He responded no in an ignorant and annoying tone. Quote, 'NO I WILL NOT LEAVE. SHOW ME IN THE BOOK' was this enough to send him off not for the technical area offense but his attitude towards the game official?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jeffrey
There are a few matters to be considered here
1. The referee can decide not to restart the game until the coach has complied with his/her request. That is a strong sanction
2. The Coach cannot be cautioned or shown a card but he can be told that he will be asked to leave the technical area and field of play if he fails to obey the referee's request. His ignorant and annoying tone on its own would be insufficient to remove him.
3. As this is Under 11 there is the question of Child Protection has to be considered and are there other 'responsible' adult present to look after the team.

The first consideration is the impact the technical area 'excursions' are having on the game and whether sanction is needed . Unless the coach is misbehaving and causing a problem for the game and the referee I would not get too bothered particularly if both coaches are not 'respecting' the TA. Just shouting tactical directions from the 'wrong place' is something I'm not too bothered about at an underage game.

However if I needed to take action because of misbehaviour by the coach I would be saying to him "Coach, your shouting and failure to respect the technical area rule is interfering with the match, and I must ask you to return to your position and to settle down'.

If he does not then I would say to him
' Coach, please remember that you are in a young players' zone and this match will not restart until you return to your position and settle down'

Finally if he does not then I would say to him 'Okay Coach If you will not accept my authority, then you have no place here, and the match will not continue until you leave the field."

If he does not leave or he cannot leave for CP reasons then I would tell him that he leaves me with no option but to abandon the game.
Hopefully it would never get to that but it is the ultimate sanction and then the League has to deal with his misconduct.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

It is impossible to improve on Ref McHugh's excellent answer, and you can use that advice at any age or level of experience.

Please do know that under no circumstances are you ever required to show anything in the 'book' to a coach. His behavior was totally irresponsible and should be reported to his league. Belligerence begets bad behavior, and it will spread from the coach to the players, which makes our jobs ever so much harder.

Refusing to continue the match when confronted with such buffoons is the only sane thing to do - for your safety, the kids' well being and the integrity of the game.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The only thing I would add is that if the coach had been warned or told previously to get back to his area, I would consider a rude and insulting reply, if it were loudly said, sufficient grounds to tell him to get his assistant coach to take over or a responsible parent because his presence on the field could no longer be tolerated and you were not restarting the game until he was gone.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 22428