How to talk to a referee

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by hooper
Thanks for these comments! These are very helpful! You've hit exactly on my concerns. These kids are still learning to play the game, and I rely on the officials to teach them what's legal and what's not during a game.

I've had kids come out and ask me, "How come that's a "foul, violation, etc." now? I did that last time and it was OK." (I usually try to explain as best I can - this is always a foul, it just wasn't called last time, or what you did last time was a little different than what you did this time - but sometimes I just have to say "This ref is going to call a "foul, violation, etc." when you do X, so don't do it." This frustrates them tremendously, but sometimes that's the best explanation I can give.)

"This ref is going to call it this way, so don't do it" IS without a doubt the best explanation, and it's a great learning opportunity for your players. I did a girls varsity game last year where I was really in a little over my head. I was used to JV and called a pretty tight game, especially in the first quarter. The coaches were both just going nuts, which I couldn't understand at all. But one team came out in the second half, and quit fouling. The other team didn't. Guess which team won? And which team had by far the better record both that season and also over several years? The team with the coach who taught her players to adjust to the refs (they ended up being second in the state last year). So you're up there with the quality coaches when you use this explanation to your players, and they'll be up with the top players when they learn how to make that adjustment.