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Ask The Umpire
Question: Should an umpire card the captain or the coach when the coach causes problems on the side line?
Answer: There are, basically, three kinds of problems that a coach can cause on or from the side line:- Coaching continuously and excessively
- Directing comments to the umpires (a.k.a. umpire coaching)
- Getting in the way
A team coach is allowed to sit on his or her team bench, walk behind it (like in ice hockey), and/or stand or walk in front of the bench as long as they are 5 meters/yards away from the side line. In short, they must stay within the designated team area (see governing rule book for details).
1. The job of the coach is to prepare the players for the game, before the game begins. A coach is not allowed to provide the athletes with continuous excessive coaching during games. This is typically measured by the degree to which a comment from the coach might delay a play from being executed. For example yelling to switch the player who is taking a free hit or otherwise changing what an athlete appears to be about to attempt and telling them exactly something else to do. In these examples, the coach is demonstrating that they failed to prepare their team for the game and they are causing a delay. Game time is not the same as practice time and players should not look as though they are puppets being controlled by strings pulled by the team's coach.
When a coach is interfering in the game in these kinds of ways, umpires should card the coach in games governed by the NFHS and the NCAA. The captain should be carded in games governed by the Rules of Hockey.
2. Team coaches are not to direct comments toward the umpires. This includes commenting on calls -- direct or subversive in nature that could undermine an umpire's role.
When the coach directs comments to umpires, especially negative public comments, or otherwise demonstrates poor bench decorum, umpires card the coach in games governed by the NFHS and the NCAA. The captain should be carded in games governed by the Rules of Hockey.
3. Coaches who stand or walk within five meters/yards of the competition surface will more than likely end up interfering with an umpire’s line-of-sight or movement. Umpires do not have x-ray vision nor do they have radar. Umpires maintaining proper position during the game run up and down the sides of the competition surface looking into the game. In short, they’re not watching where they’re going, they’re watching the game. They do this in order to maintain an optimum view of the play so they can make appropriate calls. Many coaches don’t seem to realize that the space next to the side line is actually needed by an umpire who is maintaining proper positioning. This area is called “officiating space” by our publisher, Cris Maloney, to help emphasize how (and by whom) this space is used.
When a coach occupies the officiating space in front of the team's area and/or it is not cleared of inanimate objects (stick bags, waters bottles, hockey balls, etc.), umpires should card the coach in games governed by the NFHS and the NCAA. The captain should be carded in games governed by the Rules of Hockey.
A fourth way the coach can interferre with the game, though not necessarily from the side lines, is when the coach delays a game by extending a time out (NFHS and NCAA) or by delaying the start of a half by occupying some part of the competition surface with what is or otherwise amounts to a team meeting.
When a coach delays the game in any of these ways, umpires should card the coach in games governed by the NFHS and the NCAA. The captain should be carded in games governed by the Rules of Hockey.
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