The Forfeit

Well, I had my first big coaching blunder...the first to directly cost me a game. In our league, there are substitution rules designed to keep the playing time pretty equal. For 7-10 players, everyone has to play 2 quarters and no one can play more than 3. However, I have that odd team with 11 players. The rule for that is that every player has to play 1 1/2 quarters, and I have to sub halfway thru the 3rd and 4th quarters to make that happen. The exact thing I must do is that one player that didn't play in the first half must play the 3rd and then sub back in for someone halfway thru the 4th quarter at the 4 minute mark. We were playing Iowa Park, and for whatever reason, they were irrate the entire game and yelling at the refs and had even been given 2 Ts. Well, there's a problem with the substituting because the clock faces the crowd and not the bench...to where I have to walk onto the court to see it. I have been close to missing the time several times over the last two years, but usually got it in. Well, with this game being a little more intense than usual, I looked up to find just over a minute left in the game. I had missed it by nearly 3 minutes. The player that needed to come in was equal to the one she was coming in for and we were up 28-17, so it was obviously of no benefit to me to not do it. She ended with 9 minutes instead of the mandatory 12. The penalty for a team protesting you not substituting right--a forfeit. The team decided to make us forfeit. It's a strict rule, but it is that way to keep people from purposefully cheating and then making excuses later. I'm not sure if they really believe that I cheated or if they just wanted the win, but they got it either way. Up until this year, first place was just determined by overall record. Beginning this season, there are playoffs in place to determine the champion, so luckily this game will only matter in the seeding of the playoffs and has no bearing on whether we win it all or not--maybe we will even face this team again in the playoffs, who knows?

On a side note, Alisha had a big game with 6 points...go girl.