Suggestion for dealing with a Coach who is complaining to you AFTER winning the game.

[brainddeadjock]

I ref'd a game tonight in which one of the middle level team was playing a lower tier team. Anyway, the lower level team had a very active, physical defenseman who could be described as the teams energizer bunny, he never stops. He does play a bit on the edge, but usually clean. He put some solid checks, got called a few times for cross checking, but was a general pain in the arse to the team.

Anyway, after a very physical game in which the better team beat the lower level team soundly, like by 9 goals or so. The head coach was barking at me after the game, claiming three of his players were hurt. Now this guy's teams tend to be very physical and usually punishes the other team. But in this case, the weaker team pushed back.

During the course of the game, I gave him a 1 min USC for being an arse, complaining way to much about everything. His team was in control the entire game and yet he barked and complained to me AFTER the game, making comments like, "you lost control to the game", "you need to learn how to referee better", " 3 of my players got hurt and your responsible", and other stuff like that.

One, does he really think he is going to get any slack in the future? and two, what's the point of complaining after the game?

Is he trying to intimidate me into avoiding officiating his games? Is he just being an arse? What is the point? If he drives away all the new refs, does he think the officiating is going to improve? The nicest part, the parents on the losing team has no problem with the officiating and said so.

Comments and suggestions, please.

[LaxRef]

Well, for starters, once he started complaining after the game he would have gotten a second USC with the automatic ejection and suspension. But I'd complain to the league about being accosted after the game in any case.

[eme]

He had one USC penalty during the game?

Very simple. Throw the flag after the game. Second USC penalty. He is now ejected and must serve whatever penalty his league has mandated for ejections. Make sure it is recorded in the official scorebook. Keep your cool because this is going to be a heated situation. Make no statements about what the future will bring in terms of consequences as this is not your job/domain.
Report the incident immediately to your assignor by cell phone on the way home. Write up a report when you get home and send to your assignor.

[Beacher]

Even if you didn't flag him for comments after the game you can still append an incident report to the game sheet, or in this case type one up and send it to your assignor. It's good to pass these things up the line so future refs know. More importantly, if there is another incident you have paperwork to rely on when you say "This guy has a pattern of blowing up during games etc."

[LaxRef]

Even if you didn't flag him for comments after the game you can still append an incident report to the game sheet, or in this case type one up and send it to your assignor. It's good to pass these things up the line so future refs know. More importantly, if there is another incident you have paperwork to rely on when you say "This guy has a pattern of blowing up during games etc."

But if you don't flag him, when you file the report, they'll ask, "If his behavior was so bad, why didn't you flag it?"

[Beacher]

But if you don't flag him, when you file the report, they'll ask, "If his behavior was so bad, why didn't you flag it?"

Throwing the flag makes it easier to sell, you're right. But not throwing one is somewhat understandable given the game is completed.

I'm coming from an ILF perspective where the referee's authority technically ends with the final whistle. (So much so that there's an explicit AR banning stick checks after a goal in sudden death overtime because the game is over and refs no longer have authority.) But even if we can't flag we're encouraged to write up post-game shenanigans for arbitration by the league.

[LaxRef]

Throwing the flag makes it easier to sell, you're right. But not throwing one is somewhat understandable given the game is completed.

I'm coming from an ILF perspective where the referee's authority technically ends with the final whistle. (So much so that there's an explicit AR banning stick checks after a goal in sudden death overtime because the game is over and refs no longer have authority.) But even if we can't flag we're encouraged to write up post-game shenanigans for arbitration by the league.

We have an A.R. banning stick checks after an OT goal, but because the game is over, not because we lack authority. We specifically have the right to eject people after the final horn.

[gallbladder]

Is the second USC on a coach truly an "automatic ejection" or an unwritten rule/carry over from basketball?

[LaxRef]

Is the second USC on a coach truly an "automatic ejection" or an unwritten rule/carry over from basketball?

It is explicit in the NFHS rules; it is not part of the NCAA rules.