Summer Camp Games
 

Just a topic I bring up every now and then, always looking for other opinions on it.

When reffing ball games at the local summer camps, I seem to be partnered with a number of different types of officials:

1) The newbie.
a) Clueless newbie
b) Decent newbie
2) The official who doesn't care
3) Good partner who works

1a is sometimes hard to work with, and makes few calls, but does generally give it an honest effort, even if they are pretty much ineffective at keeping any control over the game.

1b is generally a good partner, because they know what they are doing, make an occasional mistake (IMHO, of course, but sometimes it is pretty obvious), but they hustle enough to make a good impression and work as a good partner.

2 is very difficult to work with. These guys are there to get their $10-$15 a game, and not put any effort into it whatsoever. They walk the entire time, putting them in poor positions most of the time. They rarely make calls even when contact has a definite effect on the play or a violation is blatant (2 and a half steps or more on shots or passes, etc, stepped on the sideline with their entire foot, etc). They sometimes make the comment "they expect me to do a good job when they're only paying me $10 a game? come on!".

3 is a good partner to have but the most rare. These guys do a good job officiating, and keep the game under control. In most cases, they're willing to switch at a minimum occasionally (as opposed to being glued to the same 20 foot long, 3 foot wide strip of floor for the entire game), and try to take the ball out of bounds reasonably where it is supposed to come back in (rather than always going to the spot next to the lane on their side because it requires them moving the least).

I had a game where I had the same partner for the past 2 days on a series of games, but he was replaced halfway through the first half with an official who called very little to nothing at all. I feel the one coach had a legitimate gripe when he complained that he was getting nothing called under his basket, because my partner refused to switch, and called maybe 1-2 fouls for the 3/4 of the game he was there. I forced a switch halfway through the second half, and that made the coach happy, but it was very frustrating to me to have an official who didn't want to work for the money he was getting paid, or to give the kids a good game, or for whatever reason. Why sign up to do these camps if you're not willing to give a decent effort. It is embarrassing to me to run down the court, and find that I have almost passed my partner, because in the time it took me to run half the court, he moved 3-4 steps. And I am not in the best of shape myself!

I know some people will respond "How can I be expected to give my best effort when 1) I have to do 8 games in a row, and 2) I'm only getting $$$ for the game". Why sign up to do it if you're not going to try to improve yourself, or at least give the kids a good effort as an official - they can play the games without officials and do just fine, if your presence on the court isn't even a step above that.

I have always felt I should give my best, or a decent effort at the least, if I am going to sign up for any games. I know this isn't a perfect world, but why should we shortchange the kids and the coaches by doing a poor job?

edited for political correctness.

Just feeling touchy since I went to only one camp this summer, and got excellent reviews, and comments from evals. It's not just guys who can be great partners!

edited to irritate those touchy, feely, PC types :D

David,
What do you want us to say? Is anyone really going to disagree?
Can you fix this situation? Do you have the power to prevent the #2 folks from working games? I doubt it or you wouldn't be in the described situation.

The way I see it you have three choices:

1. You can just show up and deal with these people while doing the best job you can.

2. You can tell your assignor that you won't work with so and so and hope he honors that request or that you will only work with x,y, and z if you are afraid of the unknown.

3. Lastly you can choose not to work the games at all if the partners are not known to you beforehand and to your liking.

Fourth choice....go to a higher level camp. You usually won't find newbies and people there that don't care. You'll be working with people that <b>want</b> to be there.

I really don't have a problem with working with newbies. Everyone has to learn somewhere.

I guess my real problem is with the people who sign up, and then don't even bother to do the job they signed up for. I guess you get this in every part of life, but why would you sign up for a job when you just plan to complain about the pay and then not do the job. This is a hobby for us - you should do it because you enjoy it.

At first, I thought the original post was about games at camps for officials...but then read it and it looks like it refers to summer league games.

A few thoughts...

1) The organization I call for during the summer only uses officials with a couple of years experience (unless it is an emergency). You still get someone who doesn't care and someone who has repeated their first year a few times (aint learned nothing...if you know what I mean) but the odds are smaller. Maybe you need to be more selective.

2) Even when working with a "bad partner" you can find things to improve your game...and it happens during the regular season as well. I always remind myself that I am the only one that can impact my feelings and has any control over how I handle my responsiblities. Make sure there is at least one official on the floor giving it their all. Do your best...get in...get done...get out.

3) If you know your partner is passing on an OOB call on his/her line or on contact that obviously impacts the shot attempt...who is watching your area? :D

I think JR said it best. If you need to go to a higher level camp and you will not have to worry about working with new officials or guys that really do not care. I mean the kind of camp where people pay $300 and more. You are not going to see very many people that just do not care. You are going to see people that primarily there to get hired and get better. These officials are not going to screw around and just about everyone can officiate to some degree.

Peace

I would rather work with a newbie whether they are recent or clueless becuase they want to learn. Working with a partner who does not care drives me nuts. If you are not willing to hustle at least a little bit then don't take the games. These teams have paid good money for these summer leagues and they expect effort from the refs.

I wholeheartedly agree!