...at my local games???

I am military and I officiate between two bases (gyms) about 9 miles apart. There are about 30-45 companies per base and 15 games per week at each gym.

Being that officials here are in high demand, we get a lot of work. Especially this time of year, with the intramurals, rec ball, high school, middle schools, and American Schools in London, and a low number of these official who know the 3-Man Mechanics; we REALLY get a lot of work!!!

But NO MATTER where you go...It's the faces you see. They just go from being PLAYERS to being PARENTS or "COACHES". On court player Coaches, where the Coach is really the captain and the other 4 players out there are Coaches with a million questions that begin with, “WHY…?”

I FEEL THAT A LOT OF MY AGGRAVATION IS BECAUSE OF THE REDUNDANCY. I'm feeling over stimulated.

And this weekend, the fact that my two Veteran Partners during the game and our half time session referred to players and coaches by their first or nicknames.

(e.g. Hey, remember that play with Nate and Toddy, did he have advantage, coz' if he didn't I would have let that one go.)

OR

COACH: hey Richie talk to your boy, teach him something.
U2: you know, you know, we try......

OR

The Referee saying during the Coach and Captain's meeting asking (since we've been having problem with teams complaining about our "Call Selection")
REF to the Coaches: how do want us to call it? tight, loose, allow rough play, or do you want us to call the tic-tac?
their response was about as vague as humanly possible.

OVERALL, I FELT SINGLED OUT DURING THE ENTIRE GAME, AFTER TABLE SIDE RESPONSES FROM MY PARTNERS THE COACHES SEEM TO RIDE ME ASKING FOR RETORICAL EXPLANATION FOR CALLS AND ONCE I GOT TABLE SIDE AFTER SOME SNIDE COMMENT AND A SMACK ON THE BOTTOM, I "T" HIM. The ref told me that him or the U2 would administer the 2nd T, if need be. Which frustrated me more, because I think the coaches knew it, because of my new mechanic..."ALWAYS GO OPPOSITE TABLE OR BASE"

These are playoff games and they have a limited amount of officials that can even do this level of game.

The fact that I felt handled by both parties.

Makes me want to come back to the states. I loved the Anonymity.

Keep it Professional
 

Obviously you have standards and you need to maintain self-integrity... It will pay-off in the long run!

I did some work in the milatry in baseball and basketball. It was sometimes tough. But you had to be an official and separate the game from work. sound like you have it under control.

You might want to remind your partners about backing up your partner. What goes around, comes around.

During rec ball we have several rec league officials(they do not do Youth,Jr. High, or H.S. ball). If they start to become an official during a game versus a player. What i have done in the past..... I have stopped in the middle of the play turned around pulled off my whistle and start to hand them the whistle! I tell them you either play or referee... not both! If they persist a "T" is in order! Most of them understand!

AK ref SE

Hey EuroRef,
I officiated in the service for 17 years and it is one of the most difficult situations anyone will ever find.
You officiate games where your friends, enemies, supervisors, subordinates, and commanders play.
As one of the other posts stated, if you keep it professional at all times, then you can leave the court with your head held up.
The military never had enough good officials so a lot of training was required and some people who never would ever get it right you had to use just to fill the spots. In Heidelberg, Germany I scheduled for 7 gyms, 6 nights a week and did it with about 25 officials. Talk about work.
The good thing about that situation was that new officials worked a lot of games and therefore were able to be involved in many different situations which officials in other locations were not seeing since their total number of games was considerably lower.
Back in the 80s military intersrvice basketball was equivalent to Divison II--numerous high school and college all-americans. I missed refereeing David Robinson while he was in the Navy by 1 year.
Keep a positive attitude and when you return to the states get involved in your local association so you can progress to the higher level.

I can see where you are. Years ago, for the experience and the $5.00 a game it provided, I agreed to do the YMCA mens' Sunday afternoon league, in my home town. Everyone knew me. I was inexperienced, impressionable, greener then hell, and afraid to get yelled at. Boy, was I in the right place! Actually, it was good for me in that it taught me how to handle adversity; a lesson I, and every officials needs to learn. Some 20 years later, I have learned yet another valuable lession: your better officiated games are the ones where no one knows you. Anonymity is a blessing in officiating

Sometimes. However, this year we had a shortage of officials during my daughter's end of the seaon tournament and I was called in to officiate their championship game. My daughter, who is a senior, fouled out of the game and I called every one of her fouls. She got applause as she left the floor and I got hassled (in a good way) afterwards by some of the fans. Actually may daughter had never fouled out of a game before so she kind of went out "in a blaze of glory." The fact that people knew she was my daughter made it that much more fun. (My wife, however, took issue with one of the fouls I called on our daughter. We're still working it out. ;) )