Teammates fighting?

[houstonjaguar]

Pee-wee league using UIL (NCAA) rules...

QB gets sacked, hops up and literally begins yelling at and punching one of his linemen.  They both end up on the ground going at each other and we pull them apart and send them to the sidelines. 

The rules only define fighting as hitting one's opponent, but could we have done anything disciplinary to the players?  Coaches let them continue after taking a play or 2 off. 

[clearwall]

Pee wee? Teach em a lesson and throw em both out.

[wingnut]

Was it an isolated incident, or was it part of a larger pattern of unsportsmanlike behavior?

If it was an isolated incident, I think you did the right thing in asking the coach to handle his own internal situation.  Throwing a flag on them for infighting is likely to misplace attention, anger, and blame on you--you're just adding fuel to the fire.

But if it's part of a pattern of behavior and control of the game is in doubt, USC and DQ may be appropriate.  Good judgment is required.

[James]

I saw this in a men's league in Germany in my first year here. Only it wasn't 2 players. It was two player, a coach and the team president and they were really going at it!
Unfortunately I don't remeber how the crew handled it (I was a player at the time and not so interested in the finer points).

[clearwall]

Heres why I said just throw them both out...
1) the players at that level wont know that the rule states you can only be ejected from punching an OPPONENT. You can just tell them fighting will get you thrown out and since they did it, they're gone

2) They're already too heated up to be of any use on the field. Seems to me you're just asking for trouble

3) If you throw them out, that lesson will stick with them for the rest of their lives.