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I hope I'm welcome here, and guessing that I am, as long as I don't DQ myself. I happened upon this site while looking for some rules clarification and am very impressed. I'm always looking to learn more about the game, and after browsing around in here it's clear I could gain a lot from these threads.
I have a number of basketball coaching sites bookmarked, including 2 discussion sites that I check from time to time, but you guys are far more into using this tool to discuss things and learn from each other than the coaches discussion boards are.
I thought I'd introduce myself, just to give you an idea where I'm coming from. I just finished my 5th season coaching Jr High girls. My daughter is a player. It looks pretty good that I'll be moving onto JV next season, but not counting those eggs yet, and if I don't get to move up, that's fine. I've coached a little AAU, took my 7th grade CYO team (St Marys) to its division championsip last year (Santa Rosa CA). I usually have a team in local city leagues, and have had as many as 3 at the same time. Oh, and together with my asst coach I've run a girls open gym in my town every saturday for 3 hours from mid May until basketball try-outs start for 4 years running.
I retired as a fire captain from the US Forest Service back in 2000, and have been coaching my daughter's teams since. I've really gotten into it. To learn as much as possible as fast as possible, I've worked at summer basketball camps (Hoop Jones, NBC, University of Sports) and go to 2 coaching clinics a year. I read everything I can get my hands on and study videos.
Last summer I got a call asking me if I'd be interested in helping referee the womens summer league at the local JC. Prior to that my only referee experience was taking my turn at summer camp. This summer league was comprised of the JC team, and about 5-6 HS teams. I was partnered with the JC assistant coach who is a carded HS referee. It was an eye opening experience. Since I began coaching, it has always struck me how much more you can see from the edge of the court compared to the near by stands. Seeing the game from on the floor as a Ref was like being 10 times closer than the edge of the court. I really enjoy the game up close like that.
I was real proud of the fact that I had never been "T'd" up since I started coaching. But my string ran out this year. Nothing real bad & I appologized later. Funny (& sad) thing- parents actually will begin to believe a coach is too passive, or doesn't have enough passion if the coach never yells at the Ref. This is more true in my observation with the traveling teams. Some of them actually seem to think you're not doing your job properly if you don't "work the Refs." I mean, it is important to me, but it's not like this is division 1, or the NBA. It's kind of a sad commentary on the nature of sports in our society- that it's somehow accepted and even expected that I'm supposed to bulge my eyes out, pop my neck veins out, and berate a referee at high volume.
The other Jr High coach who coaches with me (younger team) started coaching the same season as me. He's a hot head, gets "T'd" probably 5-6 times a season. He usually gets invited to leave the gym at least once a year. Then this year, he changed 180 degrees. Never yelled at the refs, behaved his self. My asst coach says it's because I was making him look bad & he had to change. Hey, whatever it takes.
I believe that 99% of the time a referee just wants to do a good job- make the correct call, see everything, let incidental things go that don't gain an advantage, and not have a problem with anyone along the way. The trouble is, Refs are only human and they're going to make mistakes sometimes just like the rest of us.
I believe that just as there are lousy coaches, there are lousy referees. And usually neither one will last for long because both jobs are no fun when you're lousy at them. Usually I am familiar with the Refs working my games in my area. By now, I know at least half of them by name, and say hello when I see them in the community. I don't see how a coach could be verbally abusive to a Ref, and then some time later see that Ref at Home Depot and not want to run and hide.
I definetly do not believe that a referee at my level of play would ever intentionally cheat, or otherwise try to influence the outcome of a game. The idea is ridiculous. If it ever happens at higher levels, I'm sure it's less than 1% of the time. People who decide to Ref tend to be high integrity types. Some of them may indeed have control issues, but that's a whole different thing from personal integrity.
As a coach, the things I don't like the most are lazy referees who won't run the floor and consistently get good position, and Refs who ignore fouls and infractions because they want to get the game over, or because there's a big lead that makes the idea of gaining an unfair advantage seem pointless. I just believe the rules need to be enforced so the kids learn to play the game right, even if that makes it take a little longer to finish.
I tend to be a somewhat frequent poster in sites I frequent. That's why I wrote this up. It's obvious I'm not a Ref, so I wanted to make it clear I respect your profession.
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