[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by fiasco

I'm going to go out on a very large limb here and say that, in my opinion, having done both, that officials have a much harder job, within the context of one basketball game, than do coaches.

Your job as a coach is to maximize the play of your team.

My job is to be judge, jury and executioner (in some cases). It is our job, as officials, to be God out on the court. We decide what is a foul and what is not.

Boy, I'm really starting to sound like a hardened cynic, aren't I?

First of all, keep in mind that I officiate tons of Club Soccer games/tournaments, OHSAA high school soccer games, youth basketball games/tournaments and OHSAA high school basketball games each year.

I also happen be the Director of Coaching for a soccer club and help coach a single basketball team. Point is, I am far more of a referee now than I am a coach.

That said, this attitude -- and the limb you are out on -- is part of the problem. This statement implies that you do not respect coaches to the level that you respect referees.

Top college coaches make millions of dollars each year. Top college officials make, well, let's just say somewhat less than that. Apparently, a fair number of people must think that coaching is at least a little challenging.

When I coached, I spent many hours each week watching tape preparing for our next opponent. I prepared a game plan. We developed that game plan during many hours of practice during the week. We would then make final preparations the hour before the game for the execution of that plan. We then attempted to execute that game plan during the game.

As a referee, you show up somewhere between 15 minutes and one hour before the game. You prepare for the game during that period of time. You conduct your pre-game, you stretch, and you get ready to officiate the game. You officiate the game and the game is done. You may discuss the game with your partners for a debrief after a game. It is quite rare that an official would watch a tape following a game (I have done it several times).

As a coach, after the game is over, I would almost always watch the tape at least once before going to bed. I was reviewing our performance against our game plan while beginning to prepare for our next game.

Many coaches follow this same routine all season. If part of their game plan is to attack one of the opponent's guards because they are constantly using their hands/arms to play defense (handchecking/arm barring), the coach EXPECTS the referees to do their part and properly make these calls. If the referees elect to only "call a few of them", they are shortchanging that team. If one team is shorter than the other team, the shorter teams better get good rebounding position and box out consistently. If the officials allow pushing on rebounds, electing only to "call a few of them, but not all of them", they are shortchanging that team.

I do not mean to imply that officiating is easy. I have a tremendous amount of respect for the work that WE as officials do each time we walk out onto the floor. At the same time, please respect the job that coaches do as well.

I just get frustrated when referees act like coaches are the enemy AND when coaches act like referees are the enemy. I have some very good friends who are coaches. Some think that referees are out to get them. This usually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I have attempted to convince a few of them to get their referee license to gain a better appreciation for how difficult our job as officials really is. At the same time, I have a number of other good friends who are referees as well. Many of them have very good relationships with coaches in general. For the most part, these are the officials who get the high level tournament games each year -- regardless of the sport. There are others who insist that coaches are the enemy. The vast majority of these officials do not last very long. Those that do, end up being very frustrated throughout their careers.

Respect is a two way street between referees and coaches. The first step toward a successful career in EITHER profession is to respect the job that the other does day in and day out. BOTH professions require dedication, hard work and respect to be successful.

Still another $.02.....