Advice
I had a game last week I wish I could have handled better so looking for some advice.
Boys JV / V contest at local HS, I arrive to find a partner who shows up about 20 minutes before game time and I've never seen before. We pregame as he's putting on shoes and while we are on the court . He begins the JV Captain's meeting and starts with "we are going to be preventative officiating then proceeds talking for another 2 or 3 minutes on OOB, play defense with feet, etc.... In my opinion way too much but it's his game. At the end he asks if there are any questions ..... then raises his hand and "chops down " and says " LET"S GET IT ON !!!!" very loudly. All look at each other like WTH was that?
JV game begins and I'm thinking maybe I misjudged because it goes on without a hitch (a very easy JV contest). As we are watching warmups for Varsity I'm sensing he has little or no experience as a Varsity official due to questions he's asking and seems a bit nervous. Game begins and within a few minutes I realize he has swallowed his whistle except for OOB and obvious violations. The play quickly becomes very physical and soon both coaches are letting me know about it. By the end of the second quarter each coach has told me basically the same thing "I'm not sure why your partner isn't blowing the whistle but you have to get control of the game" I tell them "we have the game under control coach" as to not throw my partner under the bus.
I talked with my partner at halftime and emphasize the need to blow the whistle on the fouls (don't talk with the players just blow it). Ultimately, the game became more and more physical as it went on (evidently a player hit in face by elbow of player with ball after rebound--- no call) . By the middle of the 3rd quarter I decided to "reach" on some calls as to prevent the game from getting way out of hand. I hated to do this but it was just getting too physical (I don't believe he called more than 2 fouls the whole game). The game was very close game with the visitors winning by 1.
I’m in my 10th year BUT only have concentrated on Varsity games the last 3 (conflicts previous years with kids playing). I guess I’ve been lucky this situation hasn’t come up before in Boys V game…… (it’s happened to me before in lower level games but not in Boys V where it can be difficult to “just work the game” due to the speed) --- 2 man .
Advice – What could I have done differently and what else would you communicate to the coach.
Help is appreciated
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