What can a coach do

[grinderpete]

Yesterday I was coaching a high school game and one of the officials was the brother of an opponent. This ref made several iffy calls with his brother, like he was protecting him. I asked him to call the game fair, even though his brother was on the other team (which i got a flag for, rightfully so). But here is my question, during this situation, is there anyway to have the ref removed from the game. I realize that he shouldn't be reffing the game in the first place, but is there any recourse for a head coach during the game.

[laxfan25]

No, nothing you can do during the game - there is no appeals court on the field. While normally it would be frowned upon to have someone officiating a game involving a relative, I'm not aware of the situation in your area - i.e. # of teams, # of games that day, # of officials available, etc. I know that things get hectic for our assignor right about now, but that should be a last resort.
Your only option is to talk to the assignor afterward. A bad choice is to malign the official during the game...

[shrekjr]

I agree contacting the assigner is the best option.

I did referee one of my son's games one time, but only because 2 of the 3 officials didn't show up and the only official left asked me to help. I made sure the other team's coach knew my son was playing and asked his permission first. Also, although you never really know how a game is going to turn out, I had a good idea this game would be a huge blow out (and it was) or I never would have helped. Had it been against a cross-town rival and expected to be a close game, I wouldn't put myself in that position. I even told the assigner not to give me any games for my son's team the year after he graduated because I still knew too many people on that team and it just would be bad perception for the other teams.

[KnoxVegas]

The proper thing to do was for the ref to have asked off the game because of the conflict of interest.

[Sonny]

The proper thing to do was for the ref to have asked off the game because of the conflict of interest.

You guys don't know the nature of the assignment. Liimited officials on a busy Saturday may have severly limited the assignors' options. Also many players, coaches, and teams don't realize how one small last second change to the schedule creates a domino effect where lots of other changes happen.

[Lax_Stats]

The proper thing to do was for the ref to have asked off the game because of the conflict of interest.

You guys don't know the nature of the assignment. Limited officials on a busy Saturday may have severely limited the assignors' options. Also many players, coaches, and teams don't realize how one small last second change to the schedule creates a domino effect where lots of other changes happen.

I totally and completely, whole heartedly and respectfully, disagree with you!!! We don't need to know the nature of the assignment to know that under no circumstances whatsoever should the official in question ever have accepted this assignment in the first place!!!! It is completely inappropriate and unprofessional for an official to accept an assignment in which a relative is playing for one of the teams!!! No matter how impartial an official might feel he can be, you have already put him in a position where his professionalism and integrity can and most likely will be questioned!! No matter what took place or whatever "last minute change" may have taken place, the official in question should have immediately contacted his DAA and informed him that he had a brother on one of the competing teams and would not be able to accept the assignment. If even after that the assigner said it would be okay or tried to convince him to stay on the game, the official in question should have politely declined the game anyway and let his assigner know that in good conscience and to avoid even the slightest appearance of impropriety, that he would not be able to accept the assignment under any circumstances!!! You can see from this thread and the comments contained herein what a can of worms this has now opened and how the officials integrity has been called into question. I personally would never allow myself to be put in a position where my ethics or integrity could be called into question this way and my reputation as an official potentially tarnished.

[BigheadTodd]

The uhsll does all their ref assignments by thearbiter.net . I don't know if there is something in there for the refs to put in teams that they are affiliated with, but there should be.