quote:
Originally posted by Jerry Baldwin on 01-04-2000 11:47 AM
Officials are usually the only ones in the gym who really know whats going on on the floor even to the attitudes of the players and we try to prevent things from happening before they explode or we have a game like Mark described in an earlier post where nothing was going right.
Again, I politely disagree. I have coached (girls) at those levels, and I would prefer you call all the travelling. The style of officiating you suggest seems only to take the game at hand into account. It is very difficult to teach when the officiating is entirely different from game to game. What will that player learn by getting a no call when she'll get the call in the next game? Yes, the kids are learning, but they will learn more quickly if the officiating is consistent.
As to the comment quoted above, I take mild offense. The officials have no history with the players on the floor (in most cases). The coaches are working with them over the course of months or years. I will grant (and have granted) that many coaches could stand a rules review, but there are definitely things in the coaching world that most refs don't encounter or know anything about. Skills development - especially in younger players - is difficult business. I assure you that good coaches do "know what's going on on the floor" at a much deeper level than the refs could possibly know (at least as it applies to that coach's own players.) I know my players pretty well, and I know their attitudes and reactions on the floor.
[This message has been edited by JoeT (edited January 04, 2000).]