FIGHTING BETWEEN PLAYERS
 
This is the referee report concerning this incident.
 
On Oct 19, 2025 (Sun) @ Prolific Sports NE court # 3 there were 3 fights on the 3rd game between the Purple vs Green / Orange team. These are:
 
1st fight … approx. 3 min left of the game, #1 Purple player did a hard foul on #10 Green / Orange player that was called by my partner as a U foul, #10 player not liking the foul, grabbed the #1 purple player shirt right below his neck, resulting in both players holding each other’s shirt while throwing punches. It took six players, me, Allan & Aiden to separate / break the fight. After which we told both teams to stay in their respective area, ask the scorer to ensure that no player crossed mid court while me, Allan & Aiden (Brodie mngr) discussed their penalties mid court (inside jump ball area). Penalties were:
  1. U foul to #1 Purple player
  2. Ejection to both fighting player #1 Purple & #10 Green / Orange
  3. 3 Tech’l on Purple team (3 bench player was emptied during the fight)
  4. 3 Tech’l on Green / Orange team (3 bench player was emptied during the fight)
  5. #10 Green / Orange player left the court (later on, I was told he went to toilet for his bleeding nose) whilst # 1 purple player stayed @ the very end of their team bench slowly picking his things, changing to street clothes as the game is about to end.
2nd fight … approx 2 min after the game ended, 2 purple players started shouting @ each other (not in English) that eventually led to pushing. Again we have to separate these teammates. I did not get their numbers because they already took off their jersey (remember this game is over).
 
3rd fight … approx 5 min after the game ended & during the hand shaking ceremony, somehow #10 Green / orange player came back to the court shouting then fist fight happened again. #1 purple player & 2 purple players did engage in a shouting match that eventually led to another fist fight. This time some punches landed before we broke the fight.
 
We stayed a little longer to ensure that no further scuffle occurs. Eventually, Aiden allowed us to go home after giving him all the info we had i.e. who are the instigators, he told us that he knows those instigators & that they will be suspended.
 
Our 1st game was good although the losing team score was half of the winning team, the 2nd game was quite competitive & won by a point only with no incident.
 
What a night … Peace

FOLLOW-UP TO THIS INCIDENT

As we all most likely know, fighting on the court is a serious incident, not only from an injury perspective, but also from a legal perspective.

Brodie League is mens 18+ age group which makes this an adult problem. Players involved in this sort of incident could be charged with assault.

We as referees need to take this sort of incident very seriously and remind players of the consequences before matters get out of hand.

Possibly placing ourselves in between the problem players and quickly reminding them of the consequences is one measure that can be taken.

Just avoid getting hurt yourself, because once an official get’s hit by a player, that player is gone for the season, possibly banned from the league, and could be facing criminal charges.

 

A reminder to all readers that this sort of behaviour needs to be dealt with to the extent of the league rules, and the consequences shared with everybody involved. 

 

All the teams and players should know before hand what the rules are, and the consequences as well.