Unsportsman-like football!

[Old Cardinal]

I have obverved all too much holding during the plays. Also, badgering, pushing, threating to fight, and coercing and generally mouthing off during HS Scrimmages and Football games during the last five years. It appears to be getting much worst as the seasons go by. Is there anything that can be done to slow this trend down? There are teams that would get a holding call nearly every other play, if it were called by the Officials! Any Comments? Would writing a letter to the Official Associations do any good? Could the Coaches have influence with the Officials on this; if they banned together on this issue?

[sinton66]

I think that this problem starts and ends with the coaches themselves. Discipline is a hard thing to teach, but it MUST be taught.
Players who continually want to fight need to sit out a game or two. If the penalties are being caused by a kids' natural aggression, that's different. If they're nonsense penalties, that's a discipline problem. If the staff puts up with it, it will only get worse. Basically, there is no substitute for class.

[This message has been edited by sinton66 (edited August 26, 2002).]

[Swarm 51]

Old Card and Sinton 66 I fully agree with you. And, I have always believed a head coach should set a good example for the players as well as his/her assistants. Maintaining discipline is a must. If the HC has a tendency to constantly overlook that lack of discipline on the field then he/she should be looking for a different profession. Just my opinion.

[Pudlugger]

In the La Grange scrimmage against Brookshire Royal Friday we lost a sophomore fb Jay Schmidt to a severe ankle fracture(ten pins and a plate, tibia and fibula fractured). This kid weighs about 150 lbs, is 5'5" very quick and tough and is all heart, a real up and coming prospect for the team(his dad is one of the assistant coaches). He carried the ball into the left side of the line and a swarm of Royal players piled on at the whistle. No one has come forward and said that it was intentional, but there was alot of questionable behavior on the field that night from the Royal players. It would be a shame that this fine young man's sports career is over because of unsportsmanlike behavior.

[This message has been edited by Pudlugger (edited August 27, 2002).]

[sinton66]

I have witnessed in the past that rivalries can descend into who can hurt who scenarios. We have had schools in the distant past that we simply quit playing because the games had turned into a cheap shot festival. You don't get to choose in district, but you can control who you play in non-district. I won't mention any schools, because those coaches are no longer there, and that situation may not apply anymore. Your own coaches should always be aware that things like this can develop, and they should be vigilant in preventing them.

[Old Cardinal]

If you are really interested in expressing your opinions on these subjects, here are some places Google search engine GulfCoast Chapter TASO-F That is the Houston Chapter of officials or 1-800-785-8857 or locally 713 3299288......Find their other links and you can then reach the Beaumont Chapter(scroll to the very end, to e-mail them). Also links to all the other statewide chapters, can be found as other links.

[Chopblock]

As an official, I have been called a "Gun Slinger" because it is said that I don't tolerate enough and will flag a late hit, unsportsmanlike and so on.
I have seen kids permantly damaged from late hits, etc, and I don't put up with the crap . On the holding, I remember sitting in a college officials meeting and hearing" the average number of holding calls last year were 1.8 per game. they said that was .8 to many, go figure.