Injury time

Following the introduction of new injury time procedures and protocols it seems a good time to clarify some of the issues surrounding this that people may be unclear about.

• Severity of injury

In all of the following information the severity of the injury must be the deciding factor - the vast majority of netball injuries are fortunately not severe, but head/back injuries should always be treated with extreme caution and care needs to be taken that all injured players are given the correct assistance by their team mates when leaving the court.

• Player unable to be moved

With a head/back injury where the Primary Care personnel have decided that the player cannot be moved then the match must be stopped immediately. The umpire should make a note of the time during the game at which the injury occurred. This, together with the score, must then be reported to the league committee who will make a judgement on whether the game should be replayed or whether the score stands.

• Role of Umpires

The decision of when to stop the game rests with the umpire. However, umpires are not there in the role of Primary Care personnel and although they should always ask ‘why?’ to clarify any injury call which is unclear, they should always err on the side of caution. In this age of litigation it is wise to allow players injury time when asked.

Once the umpire has stopped the game she should take no further part in dealing with the injury; the decision of whether the player is fit to continue or not should be left solely to the teams Primary Care personnel. The umpire should take herself away from the scene of the injury and keep control of the whole of the court.

During injury time players may leave their area of play but may not leave the court area unless they are the nominated Primary Carer for that team and are dealing with the current injury. The umpire should remind them to remain on court and anyone ignoring the umpire at this time can be penalised once the game restarts.

• Which umpire to ask

The ‘active’ umpire, i.e. the one who is currently controlling play, is the umpire who should be asked for injury time.

If you are not the active umpire then don’t ignore the person, but indicate that you will deal with it when you become the active umpire. This could be when the ball enters you half of the court or when the ball goes out of court. If it is a serious injury, deal with it immediately.

If a goal is about to be scored and the injury does not appear to be severe then an umpire may acknowledge the injury call (never ignore the player) and then stop the game for injury time once the goal has been scored.

• Blood

If a player has a blood injury then it is the responsibility of the umpire to stop play if no-one else has called for time. Injury time must include cleaning the ball, court, player and clothes that may have been affected by the blood injury and time must be allowed for all of this. Blood is a special case and is not counted as an injury time call.

• What is an injury?

People who start a game with strapping or support of any kind cannot ask for injury time to deal with the strapping falling off or support moving. Any strapping etc should be soundly applied/placed in position before they take to the court and checked at quarter/half time for any problems.

The game also cannot be stopped for trainers coming off or laces coming undone during the game. All footwear should be securely fastened before the start of play and checked at quarter/half time. Players should be made aware of the problem if they haven’t spotted it but must deal with it themselves during the match.

People who enter the game with long term health problems such as asthma can ask for injury time to deal with any sudden outbreak of the problem. It is wise if anyone knows they might suffer from such a problem to have a word with the umpire before the game so that the umpire is aware of an existing condition.

• 1^st injury time

Each team is permitted one injury time of up to 2 minutes duration in each quarter. The call for injury time must be made by an ‘on court’ player and not someone who is on the team bench or who is just watching the game.

If the injury is dealt with within the 2 minutes or a substitution is made then the injury time is deemed to be over and players must restart the game on the umpires whistle. Players should be given a 30 second warning of the end of injury time. If substitutions or team changes are made by the team with the injured player, then that player must be part of the team changes and/or substitutions.

NOTE – during injury time players may leave their area of play but may not leave the court area unless they are the nominated Primary Carer for that team and are dealing with the current injury.

• Subsequent injury in the same quarter

If there is a subsequent injury in that same quarter for a team who has already had an injury time stoppage, then the player for whom time has been stopped must leave the court and has up to 30 seconds to do so. Even if the player subsequently feels OK within the 30 seconds, she still has to leave the court. No treatment can be given to this player on court; any treatment must be given once she has left the court. Players should be given a 10 second warning of the end of injury time. If this player is a centre then one person must be moved to play in this position – if the centre then wants to return to the game she must play in the vacant team position until quarter time or injury time when team changes can be made.

Substitutions and/or team changes can be made as usual by both teams at this point in time, but they must also be done within the time limit and reserves should be ready for this eventuality at all times. If a reserve is not ready to take the court then play resumes with 6 players and the reserve can take to the court when ready in the vacant position after a goal has been scored.

• What options are there for a team with only 7 players?

If you have a second injury during one quarter and your player has to leave the court then you can –

• Play on with only 6 players – if the injured player is a centre then you may move one player to play this position
• The player can be treated off court and can return to the game in the vacant position after a goal has been scored

• Role of the coach at injury time

At any injury time where team changes and/or substitutions have to be made the coach may give direction and tell her team how to change positions and/or who a new player will be and what position she is going to play in.

The coach may not give coaching advice to the team at this time.

• Restart of play following an injury

There is no need for the umpire to hold onto the ball during injury time; however it should be checked for blood if it’s a blood injury stoppage and it should not be used for shooting practise or other ball practise by either team during injury time.

The umpire should remember where play was when the injury time was called and the team that was in possession of the ball at that time – play should be restarted from this position.

All players should regain an onside position before play restarts, although they do not need to go back to exactly where they were when play was stopped.