A philosophy question?
 

Now I understand that in an altruistic way of thinking that "we" as officials try to get it "right" when ever possible. However I attended a few junior high games last night to watch some of our new officials work. Keep in mind each new official was paired with a more experienced official. During one of the games a pure rookie was working their first live game. This official had worked a couple of scrimmages and had attended our mechanics clinic. The senior official tossed the ball and for the first three-to-four minutes not much happened and not much was called. Then with about two minutes left in the first the rookie had a block/charge situation, which there is no doubt in my mind he got right with a block call. The offending team's coach didn't like the call, and the rookie didn't have great confidence in the call. The senior official got a "little" heat from the coach and at first, took it well. However in the middle of the second after a couple of missed calls and few more unconfident calls by the rookie, the senior officials started calling the whole game. Right before halftime the rookie had a foul call and the veteran over ruled the rookie with a walk call that "happened before the foul". After that the rookie shipped it in and just let the veteran call everything except for out of bounds. Now along with being bad mechanics, I worry that a lot of us senior officials would rather call everything than let a new "b" earn their stripes. As long as no one is getting hurt and rookie is working as hard as they can I don't have a problem looking "bad" while new officials get comfortable and develop a feel for the game. So what if it’s a poorly officiating game, as long as it’s bad both ways. Now without critizing the veteran in this situation, does any body have any thoughts?

We have this same sort of problem in my area. To often there some officials out there that believe they are better then the other official/officials that they are working with.

The situation you bring up is touchy. You want to make sure the game gets officiated fairly but you also want the rookie to be involved and find some level comfort. I don't think I could let a whole game go on the basis that the rookie needs to learn. If there is a call that needs to be gotten then I may step in and get it but then on the next dead ball explain why that needs to be called. I would NEVER, NEVER over rule the new official. If I had information contrary to what he was calling I would simply give it to him and let him make the decision. This would help keep this person involved and not feel like he's out of the game.

A good veteran would do everything in his/her power to insure that the new person was in the game and stays in the game. They would go out of their way to insure that the new official wouldn't feel like he/she doesn't belong.

You still have to officiate the game. You just can't let the game go on the basis that its bad on both ends. If you have to make calls that he should be getting, use those calls as a learning tool by explaining why. Use every dead ball to communicate with the new official. Tell him.her when they have made a good call. reinforce those calls. If you know and they know that it was a bad call get them by it. Get to the next play. This is also part of the learning curve.

If we can't teach rookies @ this level then we don't need to be the teachers. Veterans are the ones who should be able to handle the coach, help the new person get better, while managing the game.

Let me start by saying I am not in the "get the call right at all costs" camp. I believe when I work with other officials, my job is to work the game and do my job. I am part of a team and when I start doing everyone's job the team will suffer. I will help my partner when we have some dual area stuff. But I do not feel I should take over the game because I am the veteran. The only way a young official is going to learn is to go through the hardships of getting plays wrong and learning from this. I know I have made my share of mistakes and have become a better official because I was not coddled by my partners.

Peace

The role of the senior official is to help the rookie learn to swim. This cannot be done by holding his head above water all the time. It can only be accomplished by serving as his life-preserver when necessary.


And when you teach someone to swim, you put them in the shallow end of the pool. You don't throw them in the middle of the ocean.

Let me add that hopefully there are enough veterans out there that can help new/newer officials to come up. Part of that is developing a good mentor/men-tee relationship. If you can work games with this person then do so. When I came up I had a really good mentor. He worked a lot of games with me @ the lower level & AAU games. He was there early on to help handle coaches, tough plays, and taught me how to manage the ball game. New officials have to learn through their own experience's, which is the absolute best teacher. However on the same token maybe we can help them not make some of the same mistakes we did.

If we are the veteran then we need to help our partners to be the best official they can be on that game. If they stay comfortable then the better of a game they will call.

Very well said!!!!

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"!

Newby's
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.