Call a summer league set of games. 20 minute running clocks for each half.. 2 of the games were high school aged girls. The first game I was calling it tight like I normally call a girls game. Problem was I was the one blowing all the whistles and my partner was not so I was getting heat from the coaches over it. I thought well summer ball and this is the first time I am calling here so it must be a bit different. Couple games later have the same aged girls and I swallow the whistle somewhat. Well we were better taking the nets down and putting up wrestling ring ropes.

What do you think I should have done? Should I have chewed on my partner between games some? Or just deal with the complaining and called it like I normally would have? or what??

My opinion is that summer is about learning and getting better. How do you get better if you don't call fouls and traveling. The only difference in the summer is that I am willing to teach a little more. Mostly parents and fans. I'll explain calls during time outs and breaks in the action. Especially if some clown is screaming about 3 second cal!!!

cowbyfan1,
My tendency is to loosen the game.
I make mental notes (e.g.,handchecking, small travels out top) to relay to coaches during opportune breaks, prefacing these notes with "For what it's worth coach, your point guard is...."
I do more talking to the players during a live ball and during a dead ball.(e.g., "The forearm is illegal in High school." When the post player has the ball, don't use your hands.")
However, I will be nowhere near a wrestling match. I guess calling it more like a Men's game is close to what I do.

Summer ball varies widely. If the teams are playing for bragging rights the games may be called very loosely, while if the prize for winning is a T-shirt, or maybe even a chance to advance (higher stakes), calling a tighter game will not harm the better team. IMO.
mick

Unless and even if you are a prodigy, I would call a game like I would call any game so you can improve. I want to work on my game all the time because I want bigger and better for myself personally and my schedule. I don't understand how a foul in the regular season isn't a foul in the summer. It could be an opportunity to work on many things in an officials game but the teams are playing to win and they should be afforded the opportunity to play under normal circumstances. They play for fun and they play to get better for the season but they almost always play to win. I think we should ref to control and apply applicable rules to the game without interruption and intrusion to the best of our abilities. That is just my opinion and what works best for me at this time in my career and area.

You never know who is watching your game--even in the summer.

Cowboyfan1, I am going to say one word. LIABILITY. I am going to call the game like it should be called Summer or not. I agree with tomegun work to get better.

Tomegun is right on! I also use this time to work on how to handle situations with a coach. Most all that coach in the summer are dads who THINK they know the rules and the game. They will throw everything at you to challange your ability to stay calm and cool. If you can do it during the summer games the regular season is not so bad.

[Edited by TPS2859 on Jul 13th, 2005 at 12:47 PM]

In general, I would agree with what's been said here. But I've noticed an exception for myself this summer. I'm working a higher level of game than I've worked before, and I'm trying to learn to "let 'em play" a little. The biggest game I had last season was a varsity girls game that was so important that there was an article about it in the paper. There was an evaluator there, and he said I called it too tight, that girls at that level are allowed to bump more. Then I did a boys varsity spring league where I was really concentrating on letting more go, or holding the whistle, so that I could learn to call less. I'm not calling my summer games the same as I did last season, but I'm trying to call them the same as I will next season, and I'm trying to be consistent with how others at that level work.

I try to approach every game the same way.

Obviously, there are differences between boy's and girl's games and younger kids and varsity and above, but I still attempt to call the game the same way with the same effort.

That said, contact at one level or sex is more likely to be a foul than it would be in a high level boy's varsity game. But I try not to go into a game thinking it's so-and-so level so this is how I'll call it.

Set one standard and adjust from it, don't have different standards for every level you work.

Why call a girls game different from a boys game? I think this is one of the biggest complaints of coaches and players of girls teams.

Mregor

Part of the problem we're discussing lies with the running clock. Too many whistles leads to far fewer possessions, really messing up the player rotations and substitution strategy to get everyone meaningful time on the floor. On the other hand, loosening up the whistle almost always leads to sloppier play overall.

As a coach, I'd prefer the games called no differently than regular season, so the kids don't develop bad habits such as overagressive and sloppy play that a loose whistle invites. The problem of balancing out play-time is better than wasting an opportunity to play with sound habits.

Any chance on compromising with a stop clock and fewer minutes per half?

I probably should have known the difference.
 

I'm sitting U.P. here wonderin' why I am the only one loosening up the game, and I believe I see my problem.

Summer ball U.P. here is not league oriented, but it is team camps. The teams go to a college with a $1,250.00 check to play running time 20 minute halves and may get a T-shirt or a basketball for the best record. {Interestingly enough 48 teams X $1,250.00 = $60,000. $60K which goes to the university general fund and not directly to the administering athletic team's budget.)

These teams are made up of next school year's varsity. Maybe they have practice jerseys that are the same color, maybe the best players from some schools are working and not participating, but the main goal for these team camps (as I see it) is to start a little team chemistry experiment to make the coaches' jobs easier when try-outs begin and to get a little look at the coming competition.

Half of our officials are working with college players and after 10 games ($8.00 per) the first day, some of our officials start over tomorrow to do it all again.

It's not a pretty thing. No blood, no arguments, no unsporting behavior is an excellent team camp.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. :)
mick

I'm calling like I would a regular season game, no reason not to. Especially with the running clock.

In regards to the original situation, I think the best way to handle a game where your partner isn't calling anything depends on the situation. I like to trust my partners, but maintaining control of the game is paramount, and if there are gotta get calls in front of your partner, you gotta get those and take the heat from the coaches. The other possibility is that your partner may be making quality calls and you could be overcalling, in which case you both gotta make the adjustments.

Summer leagues and mens rec leagues are great for me to work on communication, as long as they are in moderation. I don't really consciously adjust the way I call the game based on the level from assumptions. I tend to go in with an advantage/disadvantage philosophy and that helps me determine what calls to make in a particular game. I certainly wouldn't go into a summer league game consciously loosening what I call because I feel that doing so prevents you from working on judgement in the game, or seeing a foul and thinking, "I'm not calling that, it's summer league." I think doing that makes it harder to officiate because it adds an additional level of judgement.

With the girls you generally will have a quicker whistle, especially on possible jump ball situations. The girls overall seem to get more physical than the boys do. It is much less likely that if you let boys just play, they will not go nuts. Girls get emotional faster and thus things get more physical faster. I'm sure other people can point out other things as well.