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Old Mon Dec 03, 2007, 03:06pm
TheOracle TheOracle is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Velley Forge, PA
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This topic has many layers. The better the judgment, the less emotional reactions you will get from coaches. Credibility also plays into that. New officials have to earn credibility, and good judgment over time builds that.

For the purposes of development, which is the topic being discussed, new officials should be working on judgment, as that is the base building block to game and people management. The more they can be introspective, and understand that for a coach to start yelling or throwing out insults is frequently the culmination of several things (judgment, calls, posturing, how you project), the quicker they will develop.

For context, since my "scary" description seems to have stricken a JR nerve, is that far too often new officials feel the need to be the enforcer, and draw a line that they won't put up with anything. Typically, actions that warrant a T by coaches have many precursors. New officials should try and understand these, and understand how their judgment, and they way they react to difficult/controversial calls, can either escalate things to a T situation, or de-escalate them. We have also seen the new guys that get off on giving T's and ejecting coaches/players. They brag about it.

I am unhappy whenever I have to give a T. I am very unhappy when I have to T a coach--it represents the lowest common tool in my box to manage the situation, and tells me that I was unable to prevent it. It should be the tool of last resort--the ejection handle for Goose and Mavberick from Top Gun. Where if you don't use it, you're dead.

My advice to new guys for the purposes of their development--use the T sparingly. Learn how to be stoic and have a thick skin. It will serve you well when you advance, and you'll be surpirsed how sparingly you'll ever have to use it when you get there.
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