Foul or No Foul: What to do when Disagreements Occur


Wednesday, July 5, 2017 - 09:45
Jess
Customer Service & Admin Specialist

Basketball is a fast paced game. Like any sport, it can have its moments where teams get a little too aggressive, body-to-body contact becomes a little pushier than it should, and a foul occurs.

All CSSC sports are self-officiated, meaning that players are expected to call their own fouls! However, before the game begins, the Games Coordinator (GC) may ask both captains how they want fouls to be called: some teams prefer that only the offense makes calls if they were fouled against, some prefer that only the defense be responsible for calling themselves, but more commonly teams agree they should be called both ways. Regardless of the decision though, there will always be the occasional scenario where one team calls a foul on their opponent, while the opponent feels they did nothing wrong. Only one person can be right – so how do we decide?

To start, let’s remember that the GC is not your referee! Teams are responsible for calling their own fouls, whether they were the fouler or the foulee. If you feel that a foul was made, make the call immediately – don’t wait until the ball is half way down the other end of the court before deciding to call foul. By then, the play has moved on.

So let’s say you called a foul but your opponent disagrees. Unlike a Jump Ball where the team on defense always gets possession on the sideline, there is no general rule to say that one side will always win over another when disputing a call. Instead, each foul disagreement needs to be treated on a case-by-case basis and teams need to make a decision on who gets possession (sideline, foul shot, etc.).

In the event teams cannot come to a decision, the GC will make a call based on what they saw from the sidelines. If the GC ever needs to step in, don’t argue with their call. They are only getting involved because the 2 teams were unable to make a decision on their own, so they are stepping in to get the game back in motion.

At the end of the day, the CSSC promotes a ‘fun-first’ mentality when participating in our leagues. Disagreements should never take more than a few seconds to resolve, as we want our players having a good time out there and enjoying being part of the best sport there is!