Bad Partner

[Grail]

Worked with a partner last night ...

Wait. Let me start again. I worked a game last night. My assigned partner showed up 2 minutes after game time, wearing wet black track shoes with white stripes. The first half there were 10 fouls called on the visitors and 7 on the home team. I called 10 fouls on the visitors and 7 on the home team. 2nd half a total of 18 fouls were called, 16 by me. The last call was a double whistle in his primary. I gave up the call to him, but he couldn't decide who had actually committed the foul and than misreported it. I could go on, but you get the picture.. I worked alone with a partner.

How do I communicate this to my assignor? I certainly have no delusions that I'm the best ref in town. On the contrary, I am a 2nd year ref trying to learn. Working with better refs than myself allows me to learn a great deal. Working with refs similar in skills to myself also affords me a chance to learn. Even working with a rookie that is trying hard gives me a chance to learn (and sometimes teach). Working with someone that doesn't care leaves me in a world of hurt, not to mention the quality of the game.

Any suggestions?

Grail

[DJ]

If you are not willing to tell the assigner yourself if you know another official who has more experience and is more established you may be able to talk to him and tell him what happened and he may be able to talk to the assigner for you. Best to do it yourself but sometimes others may feel more comfortable with all the personalities involved and be able to help you out.

[Ref Daddy]

Do your best under these circumstances.

Think of the Kids.

Encourage your partner to "help clean up the game", subtle ways to motivate them. "Be quick", "call what you see", "How can I help you".....

[nine01c]

I can feel your pain. I had a "partner from hell" this season (we had a thread about that game). I deliberated over and over in my mind whether to discuss the situation with the assignor. I definitely do NOT plan to ever ref with her again. In the end I decided to not report anything and let the chips fall as they may. I was half expecting to get a call from the assignor, anticipating a complaint from the coach or AD. It never happened.

So, I have chalked it up to an "interesting" experience that is my refereeing "all time low." In the mean time, I have heard that other refs have experienced similar problems with this partner, so she will eventually cause her own demise. In future, I will respectfully decline any
potential assignment with her.

[Damian]

If he was as bad as you describe, others probably have already complained or others will. An assignor needs to know who he can trust to make a call and who he can't. Otherwise the same person will get games they shouldn't. Scratch him from your schedule.

[Board28'er]

I too have had this happen to me. My "partner" spent the entire game calling everything he could, whether it was in his primary or mine. It got to the point where the coach was yelling at me to tell him to eat his whistle.

A suggestion that can help this situation out is to talk to your partner during timeouts. I tried coming together and saying things like "let's remember advantage-disadvantage on some of these situations", and "good calls, strong whistle, but try to focus a little more on your primary area". I also try to make it a point in my pre-game to tell my partner to remember advantange-disadvantage, focus on your primary, and trust me. A great line that I have found that works is to tell my partner during pre-game that "I am going to trust you to cover your area, and I hope that you can trust me to cover mine, because I won't be looking away from my primary." This is a positive reinforcement, and doesn't look like you are being pushy.

If your partner is eating his whistle too much, which can be tough on you, try to mention things about the situation that you called. It might get your partners mind working a little, and get him/her into the game.

All in all, it's a tough pill to swallow. Just be professional, and do your best. People will notice that.

[Tim Roden]

Consider it a goweth experience. You can learn from anyone. Sometimes you learn what not to do.

[RecRef]

Originally posted by Grail
Worked with a partner last night ...

The first half there were 10 fouls called on the visitors and 7 on the home team. I called 10 fouls on the visitors and 7 on the home team. 2nd half a total of 18 fouls were called, 16 by me.
Any suggestions?

Grail

(You are not going to like this)

And he may be thinking, "Boy that guy called every little touch."

What level was the game, MS, F, JV, or V? Was it a scholastic or a rec game? Was it a Boys or girls game?

You said that you were fishing in his primary, where was it? Was it a scrum under the basket where who knows who committed the infraction? Hope you were not L and were looking out into the rear of the frontcourt. What was the misreporting of the foul?

Need to know a little more here.



Without having been there I am not going to touch you request for suggestions.

[Grail]

The game was a girl's JV game.

As for my fishing in his primary, I was trail and the action was in the paint on my side of the floor, down near the blocks.

As for my not liking it, I have no problem with the comments. As I stated, I'm a 2nd year ref doing my best to learn. I realize that some of my partners will be good, and some will not. I try to be a "good" partner for whomever I work with, but am sure that some think I am in the "not" category.

As an aside, this is the 2nd time I've worked with this person and the 2nd time he arrived for the game after the scheduled start. It is the 2nd time he has made virtually no calls. Could I be the problem for him? I don't think so, but it's possible. In fact that's the reason for the thread. How do I approach an assignor with my concerns as a 2nd year official. Certainly I am not God's gift to officiating, and perhaps have no business commenting on anyone else's work. I don't want to offend anyone, nor do I wish to come off as being arrogant. Mostly I want the assignor to know what kind of official he is, not to get rid of him, but to work with him. At the same time I'd like to avoid working with him because I don't feel that he helps me to become a better official.

Grail

[RecRef]

Now I have a better picture. Not justifying your partner’s action in the slightest, I do want to say a few things that I hope you consider.

Some referees are minimalist; I would put myself into that category. If a player can play through a situation, I tend to let it go. Advantage/disadvantage plays a big part in this. While this is a general statement, newer refs tend to call more than those that have a few years under their belt.

Your call in his primary is understandable. You probably had a better look at it than he did. Younger players tend to crowed the lane; girls tend to do this more than boys do. He may well have been blocked out. Unfortunately, this is something that you should cover in a pregame. Read back on some of the threads and you will see some that say. “just pick someone” in this type of situation.

In general girls have less body control than boys and they tend to use their arms/hands more than boys do. While this is not a very nice thing to say, a joke I have heard and used when assigned a girls game is, “Oh well, I’ll have to decide what not to call.” Don’t get me wrong I actually prefer doing girls games as there is not a court of junior MJs in the making. Plus, there is much less guff from them.

How do you approach your assignor? Very carefully I would say. The best tack I would think would be to tell him/her that you have now done 2 games with Mr. Wet Shoes and that your stiles just do not match. Could he/she help you in understanding how you can be a better partner/ref or if you could be assigned to the broadest range of partners. I’ll bet the assignor knows all about him and will try to help.

[LepTalBldgs]

I would try to pick some non-offensive form of communication to let my assignor know that your partner was late. I was also tell the assignor that the person was late for the second time.

If the assignor asked to know more, I would tell them.

But my impression is that ALL assignors would want to know if a person is showing up on-time, particularly if it appears to be habitual.