Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

Steutel calls out officials' egos after emotions boil over

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date15 April 2024
Publication titleEvening Chronicle
The passionate playcaller revealed a build-up of frustration was behind his emotions boiling over towards the end of a tetchy affair in Guildford. And Steutel insisted he would continue to campaign for better communication between coaches and officials after two rapid-fire technical fouls led to an unceremonious ejection

"First of all I never want to be ejected from a game," said the Newcastle Eagles head coach, in the wake of a potentially costly 90-77 loss at Surrey.

"But I'll fight for my team every single day.

"I've spoken to other coaches about this issue and the officials need to ensure there's appropriate respect when they're communicating with us.

"I just didn't feel that respect was there on Saturday and I was really disappointed," he said. "There was a lack of constructive communication and the officials took a very egotistical approach - something that's been evident at times earlier this season."

Steutel felt that breakdown in communication reached a critical level down the stretch.

And his frustration boiled over in the face of a series of close calls and the repeated failure of the referees to address his concerns.

"There was a travel by Padiet Wang with about four minutes to go, in a 10-point ball game, when he shuffled his feet four or five times at the top of the key," explained Steutel.

"It was a blatant error that you'd expect to get picked up in a junior basketball game.

"We were on the receiving end of that when the officials went on to call a foul and then they missed an obvious goaltend at the other end.

"When Larry [Austin Jr] asked for the goaltend - without swearing or raising his voice - he was given a technical.

"It was a build-up of all of those incidents that triggered my reaction." Although Steutel was clearly aggrieved by what he perceived to be a poor level of officiating, the Newcastle playcaller did not look for excuses in the wake of a fourth defeat in five games.

And he...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT