Hi all,

I'm not a newbie to officiating, having done youth basketball for a great number of years. However, I am new to the high school scene (will be entering my 3rd season this upcoming year) and realize I have a lot to work on.

One major part of my game I want to work on is communication with the coaches/assistants/players. I have yet to find a comfortable ground when a coach openly questions my calls as to how to handle it.

One reason I bring it up is because a very well known varsity coach here in the Bay Area was coaching the school's freshman team last night at a summer league. My partner called a player control foul for throwing her elbow out. Later on, as I ran past the coach, he said to me: "She only threw her elbow because she was bumped three times".

I heard it, thought about it, and chose not to say anything. I personally was wondering if I should have said anything back to the coach. However, I thought the call my partner made was pretty obvious.

In any case, I would appreciate any advice from the folks as how you worked on your communication and also how you handle various situations when people get out of line.

Thanks!!

It varies by person, the coach and by the situation. Some situations you can just nod your head and say okay. Some situations you can just say nothing. Some situations you can say that you saw the same thing as your partner. Like I said it varies greatly, the most important thing to do is don't hang your partner out to dry, even if he did make a bad call don't agree with the coach and make your partner look bad.

For me it's like Jeopardy, it needs to be in the form of a question. If a coach is making a comment, I don't feel any obligation to acknowledge it. I'm certainly not going to get into a dialogue with a coach that is commenting. The most they'll get is an, "I heard you, coach."

How you handle your partner's call is up to you and your partner, and should be part of the pre game.

You should avoid explaining their call, or making any comment that the coach can use to play divide and conquer.

If your partner is comfortable with it say, "I'll send them over when we have a chance." Some officials don't have a problem with it, some will. If the coach has a legitimate question, it's best answered from the calling official.

My all-purpose acknowledgement to almost anyone who isn't shouting at me (coach, player, fan) is "Thank you." I say it calm and straight, with no hint of sarcasm or arguement. If I can, I look them in the eye when I say it. In your situation it would have been the perfect response. It tells them, "I heard you,and we're done talking about it." If they're smart (there are a few!), they also hear, "My partner and I are sticking together." and "I won't be sucked into an arguement."

The funny part is that a lot of coaches will come up with a Davism at this point. It gives me an opportunity to show how relaxed and in control I am, since I can laugh and respond lightly, if appropriate. Example: I say, "Thank you." Coach says, "Oh, you're welcome. I'm always glad to help out." Me, joking tone of voice, no sarcasm, "Between you and him (other coach who had been howling a lot) I probably could go sit down, eh?"

He started the joking, so he couldn't be offended. And he knows I hear him, and also that I'm approachable (something I've been working on a lot). It often works out great like this when I just use, "Thank you."

You should have replied, "That's why we called the foul, coach. She doesn't earn an elbow until the fifth bump."

Coach -

When you can, with your arms folded and hand cupping mouth say "Coach, I hear you. What you are saying is that you feel the defender initiated contact. We will watch for that" or "Coach, I hear you. But in my judgment, contact by the defender was minimal/incidental and did not put your player at a disadvantage." You've answered his question in a professional manner. Do not let it drag on anymore after that.
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"The more time you have to think things through, the more you have to screw it up."--Clint Eastwood

The sooner you fall behind, the more time you have to get caught up!

At camp, I learned from a D1 official that sometimes the best thing to say is "Coach, the defense did nothing wrong."

This is short and sweet and to the point.

Others:

I hear you coach.

We'll watch for that.

Thank you.

We're told to not respond to comments, only to questions. If the coach respectfully asks "Didn't she get bumped first?" then I will give a dignified response such as "Coach, he had a better look than you or I, but we'll talk about it". If he is making a comment, 95% of the time, I will ignore it unless it requires an acknowledgement such as "I hear you, coach" just to get him to stop repeating it.

I think that without a doubt, your response was the best one. This, to me, is a good example of a comment that not only is not worthy of a response, probably was not even made hoping for any verbal response. This coach was merely planting seeds hoping to have this call go the other way (in his favor) the next time the players in question made contact.

When a coach is yipping, just turn to him/her and ask either

Do you have a question coach?

OR

Are you questioning one of my calls?

The first is okay, the second is a lot like, "Say one more thing and it is a T." It is too confrontational. By saying that you are provoking a response, that most likely will lead to a blow up by the coach. Talk to diffuse, not to challenge.

Agree with that completely. The answer that you are likely to get from the coach to your question is "No, I'm questioning all (or most) of your calls". It's kinda tough to now "T" the coach up for just answering a question that YOU asked. If you don't wanna listen to the yipping, just use a stop sign along with "that's enough, Coach". The onus is now on the coach, not you.

Thanks for the responses!! Some useful information and I'll try to apply some of the tips/tricks here and see what works the best for me.