Someone please remember to stop after work and get a cake! The NFHS rule 10-6-12 is "born" this year (2014-2015 season) and we need to celebrate. If you are paying attention, keeping up for those of you not in my generation, you have noticed we have a new basketball rule this year. And, I promise you, it will generate some discussions between officials and coaches.
The new NFHS basketball rule reads this way - "10-6-12: The following acts constitute a foul when committed against a ball handler/dribbler: a. Placing two hands on the player.; b. Placing an extended arm bar on the player.; c. Placing and keeping a hand on the player.; d. Contacting the player more than once with the same hand or alternating hands." The letter then points you to this: "Rationale: Rather than continuing to make hand-checking a point of emphasis year after year, simply add a brand new rule that requires a personal foul be called any time this type of contact occurs on a player holding or dribbling the ball outside of the lane area, The NFHS game needs this type of illegal contact on the perimeter ball handlers and dribblers eliminated."
I would like to offer my congratulations to the committee. After a while of "tinkering around the edges," they went full bore at the heart of this one. And, for the rule's sake, it is very much straight forward. The definitions are clear, understandable, and in my mind enforceable.
The heart of the matter came in the "Rationale" statement. There are some things in it that stuck out in my mind. First, there seemed to be just a little bit of "exhaustion" coming across in the first part- "Rather than continuing to make hand-checking a point of emphasis year after year......." I guess the positive way to look at it would be they really do want to address other things in the future. But, if you have been around only a little while, you can perceive a little bit of the "c'mon we got to get this out of the game," sentiment there. That is born out in the last part of the statement, "The NFHS game needs this type of illegal contact on the perimeter ball handlers and dribblers eliminated."
The second thing I noticed, is again in the last part of the rationale-"The NFHS game needs........" I believe the committee is clearly trying to tell us something we should already know and believe-but evidently are failing to make evident in our body of work. And, I hesitate to mention it due to not wanting to provoke the proverbial, "Duh!"
The committee reminds us that it is "The NFHS game..." that needs to get this type of behavior out of the game. Sounds simple, but don't for a minute think it is. The real message is a not so subtle reminder that the high school game is different. The committee is once again making a clear distinction about this type of contact, and they are telling us that in our high school games across the country they want it penalized.
It's really no secret is it? I mean, watch high school kids play ball today. We see them mimicking and parroting what they see on television. And, there are games and coaching styles that will say to the kids-"play hard, go to the limit, and see if they call it!" I have actually heard that from coaches to kids during time-outs, "hey you gotta back off there, they are calling that......."
And, I have worked games with officials who are calling ball at other levels, and watched them as they officiate the key with a "broad definition" of illegal contact. Some even going so far as to mention their "resume" in the pregame and then tell me how they want a game called in regards to this type of contact. It is at times difficult to "get on the same page" with people like that, and work a high school game for its own sake.
My point is, this new rule is yet another opportunity for us to show we revere the high school game. Sometimes it is easy to get lost in the mechanics or the intricacies of how to penalize fouls in the order in which they occurred and so on. We do and should portray ourselves on a high school floor as what we are, even if for that night, high school basketball officials. The committee has given us yet another clear mandate to make our case, and get our calls right.!
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