US Lacrosse COC Notice 3-28-07

[Sonny]

US LACROSSE COLLEGIATE OFFICIALS COMMITTEE NEWSLETTER 3/28/07

Warren Kimber requested that the following memo to coaches by USILA President Kevin Corrigan be sent to all COC Officials.

Coaches,

Four weeks into this season and a number of things to report.

We have received an unusually high number of reports regarding instances of misconduct and unsportmanlike behavior on behalf of coaches and players. To date we have already surpassed the number of suspensions from last season. These incidents will (and must) continue to be called, and when necessary, appropriate and subsequent suspensions based on the USILA's Code of Conduct must apply.

Please make sure the language of your players is in accordance to NCAA rules. Numerous incidents of player and coach language violations have been reported, but not flagged. Please know that THE OFFICIALS ARE BEING INSTRUCTED by Warren Kimber TO PENALIZE THIS VIOLATION, so be forewarned.

Close games mean that every call may be more intensely scrutinized and potentially more important. Officials are working to do the best job they can, and, it should be noted, are also being held more accountable for their performance than ever before. Your evaluations, along with the observer program and the scrutiny of the DAA's and Warren Kimber, allow for a balanced evaluation of the officials....so please continue to fill out your evaluations....they do make a difference in time but only if coaches take time to fill them out.

Given the increasingly competitive nature of games at all levels, we, as coaches, are responsible for assuring rule and sportsmanship compliance from our teams. Thanks for your continued efforts in this area.

[Vox]

Accountability for the behavior on the field belongs to the coach. If officials are not strong enough to enforce that accountability, they'll soon lose the match control needed for success.

If it's language and you can identify the player, make the call. If you can't identify the player, say something, somewhat loudly, like: "I don't know who said that. Clean up the language because now I'm tuned in."

If it's yapping from the bench, deal with it sooner rather than when you (or your fellow officials) may be prone to overreact. I like the step approach (as appropriate) of first give the verbal warning, then take the ball away, next give a T foul, third call the P foul, then toss the perp (and his shifty eyed lawyer).

Not all situations permit the step approach due to the severity of the inappropriate behavior.

Be assured that failure to deal with the early inappropriate behavior will most likely escalate to increasing inappropriate behavior. If it's the player, enlist the cooperation of the coach to deal with it. If it's the coach or assistant coach, you need to deal with it. "Just do it."