Expert: Bret Temple - 2/20/2010

Question
I just left my daughter's park-n-rec game having started a "lively discussion".  Another player threw the ball to my daughter.  She was coming over the half-court line.  She was in mid-air as she caught the ball and landed in the correct half of the court.  The officials called a back court violation.  I thought that as long as she landed on the correct side, it didn't matter where she was when she caught the ball.  The argument was that she caught it on the 'back court' side so it was a back court violation, but I've always thought that as long as the feet come down on the correct side, there was no violation.  Please help. I would love to be able to prove people wrong, or correct myself (if I must).

Answer
Jennifer,

This is a very common mis-conception. The call was correct; it is a back court violation but not because of where she caught the ball. All 10 players on the court must have some kind of Status. They are either in the front court, the back court, out of bounds, in bounds, etc. Your daughter leaped in the air from the back court and caught the ball before she had "Front Court" status. In order to have front court status, both her feet must cross the half court line before she catches the ball.  So when she caught the ball in mid air, she still had back court status, hence the back court violation call. I'm not sure if the official knew the actual reason for the violation. But he/she did make the correct call. Thanks for the question, and let me know if you need any more explanation.