What a horrible Saturday. It would make any decent referee want to quit on the spot (oh yeah, that bad).
As some of you know, I'm 16 year old and I officiate in a jrW/NBA league here in North Carolina. The league runs from ages 5-15; my schedule is as follows:
2 - 11-13 Girls Games
2 - 11-12 Boys Games
2 - 13-15 Boys Games
I officiate in that order. The girls games are usuall uneventful...sloppy play, but they ENJOY just playing. I have rarely seen an attitude. I've been having a pre-game with the coaches, in which I go over general stuff, etc.
We get into an 11-12 boys game, and roughly mid-way between third quarter something happens during a dead ball and one player goes "S--t!" really loudly. I call the technical and move on, no big deal.
Ah, now the 13-15 boys. These kids have poor, poor attitudes. I call the coaches together and the captains and go over everything in one swing. I remind them of the stepping over free throw line while shooting a free throw, can't cross plane on a throw in, etc. Then I get to the part about sportsmanship. I tell them that poor sportsmanship of ANY kind will not be tolerated. That includes, but is not limited to, spiking the ball, swearing, disrespectfully addressing an official, etc.
Early on, I've got two travels on this one particular kid (from the gold team). He gets all puffy (he is the big center). He's dribbling the ball down in his back court, and while I am lead watching the play (I was back peddling), he gets the ball stolen from him, then complains of a foul. I shake my head and move on. The player that stole the ball then hits a layup, in which #15 (the center) spikes the ball. TWEET! Technical #2 for the day.
Keep in mind, the coaches for that one team had been houding us all game about stuff (see: over the back *shudder*, three seconds, etc.) I'll be the first to admit, play was rough - my partner was a substitute and has never officiated before, so there wasn't a WHOLE lot of support there. He did good, but I felt like all the weight was on me. Anyway, the gold coach calls a timeout, then proceeds to center court whilst I stand at the table, complaining about how "you can't go over the back, you can't do this, you're not calling this, blah blah." I look at him and say "I'm not telling you how to coach your team, you're not going to tell me how to referee." I turn to walk away and he goes "I'll tell you how to referee." I look at my assignor who happened to be there and she just said "Do it." (I was going to anyway). TWEET! Technical #3 for the day.
Opposing team shoots shots, and I put the ball into play. Not five seconds into it, I have a kid from the team that had their coach T'd just walk up and give a two-handed push. TWEET - Intentional foul #1.
Shoot the shots, put the ball into play at POI, and not five seconds later, I've got the same thing. TWEET! Intentional #2 for the day.
We finish the game on a sour note (just one more game to go!)
We begin the next game with a conference like before and I HEAVILY elaborate on sportsmanship. This game was terribly rough too, but it felt like I was by myself the whole time. On a time out, I tell both coaches to let their team know we are going to tighten it up before it gets too rough.
I guess somewhere around the third quarter or so, partner and I have a double-whistle for a double dribble on Black #5. Frusterated player slams the ball down. Coach says to the player "That was all you, you knew not to do that." TWEET! Technical #4 for the day.
We shoot shots, get ball into play, play a rough quarter. Fourth quarter begins, we play and about midway, a breakaway occurs. I'm trail official, and parter as lead has a foul on the layup (which goes on). Parter goes to report, and Black #1 (the one who fouled) turns around and says "This is bulls--t!" TWEET - Technical #5 for the day.
My assignor was present for all of these, and completely stands behind our calling. I feel like we did a good job, I just hate that it happened like this - it NEVER should have gotten that rough. I mean, I called five technical fouls and two intentional fouls by myself. My regular partner was out of town, so he filled in. I think part of it was a) he is brand new, b) he doesn't know how to react to different situations, and c) we just didn't click as an officiating team. He's a great guy, and I know him really well, but we just don't work well together.
It was a horrible day. In that last game, red lost by one point in the last 30 seconds - they had yet to win a game, and were very close to doing so. It's just too bad.
I can't wait to see what it's going to be like next week!
[Edited by TXMATTHEW05 on Jan 31st, 2004 at 06:39 PM]