quote:
Originally posted by jackgil on 03-01-2000 02:49 PM
Hawks Coach -
What level do you coach at? I've been on the other side of the court also as a coach of travel 8th grade CYO. What I tried to look for in a good ref was consistency, fairness and hustle. Refs blow calls too ....just like players make bad passes and coaches make run some plays that never work. I will say I've had better games .... but it seems that the games I'm not satisfied with my overall performance are in ragged games...those are tough to officiate.
I coach 7th grade boys in a Select league and 5th girls and 7th boys rec ball. I have also coached many years of soccer and refed soccer as well. I look for the same types of things as you appear to - on top of the play, consistent, in charge of the floor (as need be - some games can run themselves better than others), and knowledge of the rules. With respect to the last, I do not hold them to a standard of being the resident advisor to this bulletin board, but the common stuff they should understand and get right. I also look for referees to work well as a team - it's a long game when the refs can't work and communicate with each other.
For the select level, I look for a little more game control from the referees, since the games can get pretty physical and the refs need to let people play but keep things from getting out of hand. I also look for a more strict enforcement of the rules at the higher level. When I see a kid take two hops on one foot while making up her mind to pass in a lower level rec game, I am comfortable with the referees giving a little slack, as long as they are consistent in their approach and enforcing the rules at a level that matches the level of play.
With the higher level play, I want the players to be held to a higher standard, because these are kids we are preparing for high school and beyond. The refs are just an additional teacher for the players. I can take the calls that go against us and teach alot in practice the next week. Its amazing how much more they believe me in practice when the ref has called them for travelling or reaching in on defense.