I'm only gonna say this once so, LISTEN UP!! As long as you blame the refs, your players aren't going to get better. It's very simple really. When the players think they don't need to work on their skills, their plays, their teamwork, their attitudes, they don't work on their skills, etc. So when you're yelling at me, you're letting them off the hook. See? Get it? Besides, I've got plenty of others coaching me. I DON"T NEED YOU TO HELP!!

Thanks for listening. I feel better now that I"ve got that off my chest...

This moment of catharsis brought to you by: All of us at Officials Anonymous.

plop, plop, fizz, fizz.... (even if no one else gets this, dinosaurs such as Clark, Jurassic, and Tim will!)

Do you have to relieve yourself in front of everyone? :D

Boy do I remember those commercials......

You must have had a "fun" game tonight. I had a PIL boys double-header. There were a couple interesting moments, but overall both games were great. This must be my "PIL" week - Grant tonight, Benson tomorrow & Jeff on Thurs.

Oh, what a relief it is.

Yes, I've seen the "remember this" shows on A&E. :)

It drives me bonkers when you call a foul and the coach is telling his player "good job, that was good defense". How does that kid learn to move his feet if the coach is encouraging him for bad defense?

He won't learn. :(

I had a coach tell me once...
 

Sometimes when you call a block on a kid, he may know that the ref is correct, but wants to encourage the kid to keep trying, so he will say, "good job, that was good defense" or something like that. He told me, that is not a slight at the refs at all. But, doesn't want his kids to stop trying by yelling at them that they didn't do it right.

Re: I had a coach tell me once...
 

It's easy to tell by the tone of voice which way they mean it!

Alka your noggin
 

I can't believe you ate the whole thing!:D

Re: Alka your noggin
 

Oh, wow, you're a dinosaur, too! Welcome to the club.

It's possible we hear too much. Coaching a kid for "good defense" when he's just been whistled for a foul is not automatically a dig at the refs. As mentioned, coaches use the "encouragement" to motivate a kid to continue to keep trying and also at times to keep a kid from "blaming the refs". Regardless, trust the coach to "coach" and trust you and your partner to "call the game".

Absolutely there are "bad" coaches and there are "good" coaches, but there are also misunderstood coaches as well. Try not to get too involved in figuring out which coach is which - time will tell, just as it does with officiating. Good coaches (and officials) are not made or broken in a single night or by a single call.

I've told kids (after the good defense comment) that they can play good defense like that 4 more times tonight and then they have to sit on the bench. They usually get the picture.

What rainmaker said!!!

Oh what a relief it is....

Alkaseltzer...

and I'm only 30

Re: Re: I had a coach tell me once...
 

Slippery slope. I haven't had a more frustrating conversation than the one with my woman when she says, "..., it's the way you said it."

As a coach of 3-8th grade girls sometimes giving girls defensive instructions will have them back off defense completely and become timid. They'll be afraid to make mistakes because you might be "mad" at them. Girls also get sloppy when they get aggressive, forgetting everything they've been taught in the heat of the moment.

My 6th grade girls played in a tournament last weekend. The other team had 3 coaches and they yelled and screamed constantly. We won but his girls had 16 fouls in the first half to my team's 2. The coach screamed "call it both ways" so many times I thought I would scream. At the end we were up by 12 and I told the girls to run the clock and pass around. He screamed for them to foul my point. Foul they did, by knocking her to the ground.

It got uglier at the end with the coach screaming at the refs, me and facility management. Finally, one of the refs told him if he taught his girls to play the game then they might win. As might be imagined that didn't go over well. It almost caused a riot with the parents of his team wanting to fight. The other team's asst. coach told me that was the worst reffed game he'd ever had and asked why I wasn't more upset because he thought we were "cheated" out of calls too. I told him first it didn't seem to me to be unfairly reffed. I'd had these refs for several years and they've always called what mattered, not every bump, slap or little push. Second, no one will remember this game in a year, EXCEPT now the girls will forever remember that their coach wigged out over a game; and third my motto is that the refs ref, the coaches coach and that the parents of my team cheer. That's what we all sign as a code of conduct at the beginning of the season. Of course he disagreed because it was a "tournament" game.

We'll see what happens. I was supposed to feel guilty because I wasn't on board with the other coaches. I've learned a lot here, that's why I lurk.

Coach G.

Coach G.,

Just curious....did the officials call an intentional foul when your point guard was knocked to the ground at the behest of their coach?

I wasn't there, so can only go by your description, but based on what you described I probably would have sent the opposing coach to the parking lot before it escalated. Others may disagree, but personally I tend to put up with a lot less misbehavior from GS/MS coaches.

Superb Job Coach....

I appreciate when I have coaches like you on the bench. Keep up the great work! Continue to be a positive example for our kids!

WOW.....I don't think there are enough shoes available for all that puke ! ! ! ! :D

Re: I had a coach tell me once...
 

Sorry, but I call bull****. ;)

Plenty of other ways to get that message across without directly (and loudly) contradicting my call. 999/1000 times the coach is saying "the ref blew it", not "nice effort, keep trying".

Nice! I might use that.

Re: Re: I had a coach tell me once...
 

I suppose it depends on what kind of games you're doing what the percentages are. I'd say of the times I hear this it's more like 900 out of 1000 are showing up the ref. But there are those other 100. Sometimes, I'll even say to a kid who looks discouraged, (I sidle over to them while everyone is lining up for free throws), "Hey, that was a good try. Next time get there a little sooner." Or, "You almost had it. Keep trying." Or, "Great foul, you stopped the ball." Fouling is part of the game, and can be okay. If a ref says that to a player, it takes out a little of the anti-ref attitude.

No, he didn't call an intentional, but the ref did tell him that he got away with it this time, next game he wouldn't be so lucky. The ref told him about a half dozen times to stop, but he just kept screaming, foul her, foul her. I didn't think they would tackle her! The girls got as overexcited as their coach. The facility called me tonight to tell me that they informed the coach he could finish the tournament, but that he wouldn't be welcome back for any other leagues or tournaments in the future. The kids are the ones who suffer in the end.

Coach G

You realize that a coach that says this most likely says it after every game. That should tell you something right there.

Re: Re: Re: I had a coach tell me once...
 

I agree - I do that sometimes, too. Even when a player is protesting, wondering what they did, I find a good, quick, low-key explanation while we're on the lane works just about every time.

I do think you're being a bit generous with the 900/1000 thing ;) - I'd maybe agree on 975/1000, but that's as low as I'll go :D