I'd like to get your feedback. The other day, I was watching a GJV game where a parent of one of the girls who was playing yelled at an official. This parent is a Varsity official, and sits on our association board. His/Her, (not wanting to tip anyone off), daughter wasn't on the floor, and the official got the play correct. It happened to go against his/her daughters team. (His/Her daughters team was up by double digits in the first quarter when this call happened and the game never was close) Though the comments weren't vulgar by any means, they still were directed at the calling official. This is not the first time I have seen him/her yell at an official. In fact, I think I have had him/her yell at me.

My feelings are, we as an association are a fellowship. We should stick together. By yelling at one another, do we not embarrass our association? Someday, these two officials may have to work together. If so, will the official who yelled at an earlier time feel superior to the other official. By the way, who of us hasn't kicked a call or two? Who of us is so good that there is no room for criticism? I'm not, often times I go looking for officials who have seen me work to ask for advice on how I can improve. I've even asked this same person for help after working in front of him/her. Am I wrong for feeling that we as officials shouldn't be yelling at our fellow associates? I'm not talking about High School officials yelling at Collge officials, I'm talking about peers yelling at peers. Your comments.

If this happened in our association, I would urge the official on the floor to file a grievance against the official/parent. It's uncalled for, esopecially for someone in a leadership position, who should be setting an example.

We had that same thing happen in our local association a few years ago. That official, who was on the board at the time, was admonished by the rest of the board members and given a copy of our code of ethics. He shaped up real quick.

Z

Should not be tolerated.
 

This kind of behavior is simply unacceptable.

We had an official a few years ago who had a similiar problem, he was suspended by our association and then put on probation for a year.

He is no longer a basketball official in our association.

Thanks
DAvid

You are 100% correct BUT a group of officials cannot compare to the unconditional love of a parent. The parent wants their child to win. Period. The best thing to do it to attempt to address this with the parent/official. How long has the official been working? How good are they? Forget their standing in the association, how good are they? In my experience this is something a young or marginal or frustrated official will do.

My kid played Freshman ball this year and let me tell you, some of the calls were, well, I can't really explain it. I refused to get on the refs (although there were times I had to bit the insides of my lips to hold them together) There's another Dad from the team who refs and together we tried to help our parents to understand how hard the refs were working. What I'm trying to say is this: we were able to influence the sportsmanship towards the officials for the whole group of parents, someone needs to help this parent/ref/board member, and maybe it can be done without embarrassing them infront of your association. Have another boardmember go to a game you know they will be at and observe. Then they can deal with it right there one on one.

yelling
 

I also coach a local grade school league team on the weekends, and as a coach, I have, on occasion, voiced my opinion about certain calls. It has never been about whether a call was wrong or right, but rather a call that has been made from 50 feet away when the other official was right on top of the situation. It is very difficult to hold ones tongue in these situations, especially having a background in officiating. The ref. in question was a board official, and still wears the patch, but has not taken the test for re-certification in a few years. He has been officiating for several years, and doesn't go through an assignor. I am seriously thinking about contacting the board president and letting him know that he is still trying to pass himself off as a member. Hint: It's all about money with this official(supposedly can't afford dues/test/assignor's fee etc...)

That's crap
 

Then in my opinion, he can't afford to officiate.

There is a cost to officiate, and he hasn't paid it... and that's just the dollars - not the time and effort required to do a good job.

I didn't realize there was really any money to be made in grade school or even high school officiating. Mine has always been pretty close to a wash. And if you think of it on an hourly basis, the pay is pitiful.

Total not acceptable and unprofessional. I would file with your local association.

I would not file a report. I would just let officials know what kind of person they are dealing with. I would not know who to file a report to when something like this happens. Officials talk to each other. You might just find that no one respects this official in the first place. I would not go out of my way to file a report.

Peace

Whether you file a report or not, JRut is right -- officials talk, a lot. If this person is a board member, then at the next opportunity, I'd try to generate enough support to make this person not a board member. It's bad enough that he's acting this way in public when he should know better. But he's also a representative of the association leadership. What kind of impression does that give other's about your association's product? Vote the bum out!

I take it you're not a parent. . . :(

We have a guy like that around here. He\'ll yell at the umpires from the stands when his kid is playing on one of the two teams even though he is a regular umpire in the league. Last year he even started on the umpires while sitting in his kids\' team\'s dugout.

The best thing you can do as an official is steer as clear as possible, I think.

Winning is overrated in youth sports. Good sportsmanship is underrated.

One time is bad enough but I would let it go. If it continues, I\'d say something. When I coach my kid\'s team, we get high schoolers, many of whom I\'ve reffed their games, perhaps the night before. If they come up with something like \'dribbled too high\' I simply educate them, and they respect that. Hollering accomplishes little.