fan/coach behavior

[brandan89]

It gets really fun when it is a block and they wanted a charge or vice-versa.

[williebfree]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ChuckElias
[B]

Originally posted by Meggies_Human

It's never a good idea to threaten people, but especially when you're on the court. Regardless of how stupid and/or obnoxious a coach/player/fan is, officials have to refrain from making statements that could get them in trouble.

As always, JMO.

Just as in "real life", I have found there is a core of people; an official in this case, who are more concerned with "flexing their muscle" (abusing the authority of the position) than dealing with the situation in a professional, controlled manner.

I agree with ChuckElias: Be consenctious of what you do, because it reflects upon us all. positively or negatively.

[SMEngmann]

One thing that I do in rec league games where there is not an office is that at the end of the game I avoid the scorer's table and any lobby area where fans would be congregating because this just invites a comment. I'll go to a vacant corner in the gym, that way nobody can misconstrue what happened, the fan/coach directly confronted me after the game and went out of his/her way to do so. If an incident happens, the facts are now on your side and nobody can make a false claim.

[Indy_Ref]

Originally posted by MPLAHE
I would like to share an experience I had Saturday evening. I want to state first that I am still relatively new (approx 30 games) but have played and coached my whole life ( I am 45) and have a good feel for the game. As a current and past coach, I would also say I tend to let coaches vent more than most because I relate to them (provided they don't get personal).

...They made statements like "you are terrible" and "you should never officiate another game in your life." I kept my calm surprisingly and told them that was there opinion and that I did my best. They then both said it wasn't good enough and continued to exhibit hostile behavior. I should mention my 11-year-old son was standing next to me. I then walked away and was approached by countless parents who said they were way out of line and felt the game was fairly officiated. Once in the lobby, they came up again and started at which time I said, just get out of my face, I don't want to hear it anymore. I filed a complaint with the league, as they did, but once I got home and had time to reflect on the issue, I became more angry (however, I am glad I managed to maintain my cool there, since I believe I came across as the professional in this). But as I reflected back, I felt the coach should have intervened - he just stood there and listened without any attempt to control them. And my partner should have gotten more involved as well. I have heard all of the horror stories about parents and have seen it from the coaches perspective, but I have never had anyone talk to me the way these two did. And I suspect if we were out in the real world, they would never think of talking to me this way, since physically, I am over 6 ft tall and weigh about 190 and am in good shape and these two looked like they would have had a hard time kicking my sons butt! Anyone else have anything like this happen? Any helpful hints on dealing with this?

thanks

Mike L

Mike, now that you are an official, I'm glad you get to see things from our perspective rather than only from the player/coach perspective. This job is not always easy...but anyone doing it HAS to love it for many reasons. The poor sportsmanship aspect of officiating is always going to be there. Keep your mouth shut and walk away. If poor sportsmanship happens during a game, whack early & often. If needed, get game management and eject anyone who threatens the safety of the kids playing or you.

[ChrisSportsFan]

Just this past Saturday afternoon, my partner and I was given credit for a 30 point loss and invited out into the hallway to discuss some of the calls by "The Next Superstar's Dad", we paid him exactly zero attention and called the League Director who immediately came to the gym. I was told today that that parent is not allowed at anymore games for the rest of this season (which is only 2 weeks old). I feel supported and am glad to ref his games. Also, we have decided in our Captains/Coaches meetings for rec games to remind coaches that they are responsible for themselves, their players and fans with regards to sportsmanship and we get confirmation from them. Makes it real easy when a parent losses it, usually the coach gets involved without us asking. Games go smooth as butta....usually, sometimes, well that's the intent.