Sportsmanship
Coaches coach.
Players play.
Officials officiate.
Fans support.
Each person can only participate in ONE of these categories.
Sportsmanship is as much a fundamental of the game as dribbling and shooting.
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Head coaches should select assistants who exercise good sportsmanship, uphold league rules and comply with the Coaches' Code of Conduct.
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Teaching sportsmanship starts and ends with the coaching staff and parents.
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Coaches should have a preseason meeting to discuss all league rules with players and parents.
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Head coaches have oversight for the conduct of the players, coaching staff and fans during games.
Team Sportsmanship Awards
To promote the concept of good sportsmanship and fair play, the GABL Sportsmanship Award is presented to teams in the winter program that exhibit the highest standard of good sportsmanship throughout the season.
Coaches’ Code of Conduct
This coaches’ code of conduct has been adopted by the league to assist coaches in creating a basketball environment that promotes the highest level of sportsmanship. This code of conduct is not intended to be a complete handbook on the subject of sportsmanship. The code of conduct should instead be viewed as a beginning. Coaches who follow the guide posts established in the code of conduct will be laying the groundwork for the “good sportsmanship and fair play” that is at the heart of the GABL philosophy.
Some of the rules in this code of conduct are mandatory. Violation of these mandatory rules will result in the imposition of the discipline set out in the rule. Other rules are advisory. Violation of advisory rules will be considered when approving coaches and in reviewing the overall sportsmanship record of a coach for purposes of determining whether probation or suspension should be imposed.
Mandatory Rules.
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Shaking hands with the coaches and members of the opposing team is an essential requirement of good sportsmanship. All coaches and players shall, at the conclusion of a game, walk through a line to shake the hands of the opposing team’s players and coaches. A coach who instructs his/her players not to go through the line shall be suspended for two games by the league office. A coach who fails to go through the line when his/her players go through will be suspended for one game by the league office.
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Coaches who violate the playing time rule break the covenant between GABL and the player and his/her parents. Coaches who violate the playing time rule will be warned on the first violation by the league office. The second violation will result in forfeiture of the game and suspension of the coach for one game by the league office. A third violation will result in the suspension of the coach for the remainder of the season.
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Head coaches shall communicate with fans when requested to do so by the officials. Upon the request of an official, the head coach of a team shall communicate with his/her team’s fans to encourage good sportsmanship. The coach should not argue the point with the official but should instead communicate with the fans to promote a sportsmanlike environment. The failure or refusal of a head coach or acting head coach to communicate with his/her team’s fans upon the request of an official shall result in the coach being suspended for one game by the league office.
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Only the head coach may communicate with officials during the course of a game. The head coach is the only coach allowed by rule to communicate with officials during the course of a game. An assistant coach may be designated by the head coach as acting head coach, but in doing so, the head coach loses the ability to communicate with the officials.
Advisory Rules.
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Coaches should promote a sportsmanlike environment prior to a game. Coaches should introduce themselves to the officials prior to a game. Coaches should appoint team captains or representatives, who may be rotated from week to week at the discretion of the coach, who will meet with the officials and will shake the hands of the opposing team’s captains or representatives prior to the start of the game.
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Coaches shall not disrupt the concentration of an opposing team’s free throw shooter. Once the official hands the ball to a player preparing to shoot a free throw, coaches on the opposing team’s bench are prohibited from yelling instructions to their players or saying or doing anything intended to interfere with the concentration of the shooter. Coaches shall instruct their players that once the official hands the ball to the opposing player to shoot a free throw, they are not to yell or do anything that is intended to interfere with the concentration of the shooter.
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Official scorekeepers and timekeepers are to remain neutral in carrying out their duties. Head coaches shall instruct the individual chosen to serve as the team’s official scorekeeper or timekeeper to maintain an appearance of neutrality while sitting at the scorer’s table and not to cheer for the team or yell to players on the team.
Disciplinary Program.
a. Each head coach is directly accountable for his/her own conduct, and the conduct of his/her assistant coaches, players, parents and supporters.
b. Unsportsmanslike conduct on the part of coaches, players or fans is subject to disciplinary action as may be determined by the Basketball League Management Committee.
c. Failure to abide by GABL rules, particularly as they apply to player participation and to the objective of the zone defense rule, may result in suspension of the head coach and/or forfeiture of the game in question.
d. Any coach or player ejected from a game will automatically be suspended for the next game as a minimum penalty. (Note: In the high school winter program, the minimum penalty shall be suspension for the next two (2) games.)
e. A second ejection of a player or coach will result in suspension for the remainder of the season.
f. Any flagrant action following the completion of a game will result in a minimum automatic one-game suspension for the player, coach or fan involved. Further penalties may be assessed at the discretion of the management committee.
g. Coaches and fans will serve suspensions off premises. Playeers may dress in street clothes and sit on the team bench.
h. Any coach who uses an ineligible player (a player who has not paid a fee and submitted a registration form) may be suspended for the remainder of the season.
i. Coaches who violate the playing time rule will be warned on the first violation by the league office. The second violation will result in the forfeiture of the game and suspension of the coach for one game by the league office. A third violation will result in the suspension of the coach for the remainder of the season.
