A philosophy question?

[jeffpea]

As a veteran working with a "rookie", I think you have to give them the room to make judgements, make calls, and make mistakes. If there is a rule issue or enforcement problem, then by all means make sure the appropriate thing is done and explain it later to the rookie when you have a chance.

In these situations, they should be talking to each other at every chance they get (TO's, end of quaters, etc.). You can teach the rookie a lot by asking questions: what did you see?, if you had that play again - would you call the same thing? what did you think of my call?, what would happen if? where would be the best position to see that play?. And above all, the rookie needs to hear "good call", "good job", "you're doing great"!

[iref4him]

As a veteran official, if i have agame with a new official we will pregame. I will pregame on the floor, during time outs. I try to talk to them and let them work their game. I try to give them confidence. Ask them to rmemeber calls so we can discuss them at any breaks.

A veteran official did this to me, I started to feel at ease as the game went on. He also went to both coaches and told them "Leave him alone tonight, If you have a probelm talk to me. If you get in his face I will 'T' you up." Both coaches listened to the veteran official and let me alone and I worked the game.

I have done the same thing since then as a veteran official. It has been effective.

[Smitty]

Originally Posted by iref4him

As a veteran official, if i have agame with a new official we will pregame. I will pregame on the floor, during time outs. I try to talk to them and let them work their game. I try to give them confidence. Ask them to rmemeber calls so we can discuss them at any breaks.

A veteran official did this to me, I started to feel at ease as the game went on. He also went to both coaches and told them "Leave him alone tonight, If you have a probelm talk to me. If you get in his face I will 'T' you up." Both coaches listened to the veteran official and let me alone and I worked the game.

I have done the same thing since then as a veteran official. It has been effective.

How is this "letting them work their game"? Seems like a contradiction to me.

[Nevadaref]

It's called protecting your inexperienced partner.

As I alluded to earlier, you start someone slowly and ease them into it. If you want someone to face the full-blown thing right from the get go, why not start them with the NCAA Championship game instead of a MS or HS freshman game? It doesn't make sense to hit them with everything at once.

To do that is to set someone up to fail. You want these people to have success, so that they will stick around and become a productive official down the road.

Nothing is worse than having a terrible experience when you first start something. It makes you want to quit that activity.

[Smitty]

So when is it ok to "let" the coaches communicate with a new ref? And who gets to decide that? I think dealing with coaches is as much a part of the game as calling fouls. You have to start somewhere. And if you go into this job without realizing that dealing with hostile coaches is going to happen, you haven't really prepared yourself for the job. I would not ever tell a coach to not talk to a partner who happens to be new. I would keep my eyes and ears open, however, and help out my partner if I felt he/she was in over their head. But telling a coach that a ref is off limits to communication - I think that's throwing around too much authority.

[Nevadaref]

He didn't tell the coaches not to speak to his partner at all or not to communicate with him. Do you really think that he meant that they couldn't request a time-out from him?

He instructed them not to harass him and to allow him to just call the game. If there was a heated situation or a problem, the senior official was the guy that they needed to go to. Otherwise, I'm sure that they could interact with his partner. You misunderstood.

[Dan_ref]

Originally Posted by iref4him

He also went to both coaches and told them "Leave him alone tonight, If you have a probelm talk to me. If you get in his face I will 'T' you up." Both coaches listened to the veteran official and let me alone and I worked the game.

I would never do this. You might as well tell the coaches your partner's going to f*** something up before the night's over. In fact this is about as close to selling out your partner as it gets.

Support the new guy, let him deal with his own calls and the coaches, come to his rescue if he really needs it. But don't turn him in before the game even starts.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by iref4him

As a veteran official, if i have agame with a new official we will pregame. I will pregame on the floor, during time outs. I try to talk to them and let them work their game. I try to give them confidence. Ask them to rmemeber calls so we can discuss them at any breaks.

A veteran official did this to me, I started to feel at ease as the game went on. He also went to both coaches and told them "Leave him alone tonight, If you have a probelm talk to me. If you get in his face I will 'T' you up." Both coaches listened to the veteran official and let me alone and I worked the game.

I have done the same thing since then as a veteran official. It has been effective.

That is a terrible idea if you ask me. Now you just put the bull eye on the rookie throughout the game. Not all new basketball officials are new to the game or do not have an understanding of what they are getting into. Doing this will also make a coach think the newer official is not as skilled (which might not be true). I would never do this. If you’re afraid of a younger official quitting, then you need to train them properly and they will be steps ahead at the beginning.

Peace

[rainmaker]

I've been "handled" that way by a veteran ref, when I was working a game where I had no business being, and it worked out great. I've also had a vet say that to a coach when it was a disaster for me. So I'm not sure what's best.

I will tell you what the guy did, who did it right, because I asked him later what he said. He said, "Coach, I think she's a great ref, and I've worked with her before, so I know. I know you're not going to see it at first, because she's inexperienced and doesn't project confidence. But if you watch the game closely, you'll see that she's consistent, she knows the rules, and she's working her tail off for you. It's really important to give the newbies a break in situations like this, becuase that's how they get better. Although in her case, getting better just means believing that she's as good as she really is."

Needless to say, I was flattered, especially since I knew he was a really good ref, and I figured if he thought I was good, I must be. But also, he covered for me, and sort of made excuses for me, but without belittling me. After the game, both coaches came to me and said "I really didn't think you could handle it but you did a great job." One even called my assignor and told him.

So in that case it was good, but I'm not sure it's a general practice that's healthy.