need to vent
 

i know im relatively new to officating (5 yrs.) but it seems lately that i have more calls being made in my area and it is starting to annoy me...im working hard to develope my offball skills and appling adv/disadv, displacement so i pass on some calls...im working as hard to make sure that im not calling outside of my primary...how can i approach my partner to let them know that they need to allow me to call my game and still be respectful of their judgment?

I am assuming you mean calls being made by other officials or your partner?

What level are you working?

Peace

my partner...bjv

First I would talk about this in pregame and at the half. My response is generally if you (as my partner) see something in my area and I don't call it, I probably didn't see it. Working 2 person in JV games leaves several areas where you need to work together. I also talk about both of us with a call on the same play. In that case I would either defer to the primary official or talk it out quickly if I had something before my partner.

It all comes down to communication. If that doesn't work, find new partners.

I think the best time to address this is in pregame. Talk about coverage areas. Talk about trusting your partners and crew integrity. Talk about a couple specific instances where you felt that a partner called out of their area and compromised crew integrity. There are some officials who will never learn to trust their partners. In that case, just do as Mick says. "Get in, get done, get out."

The question I have is how many big time veterans do are you actually working with? If you are working JV games that usually mean you are working with other officials on a similar level. So they likely do not know what they are doing either (relative terms). I think you have to understand for the most part you are not working with the cream of the crop of the officiating community.

Address things like this in pre-game. If someone makes a call in your area that you clearly do not agree with, ask your partner a simple question "What did you see?" That is all you can do. After that it is the ability of the official to understand what calling your area means and what should be passed on when your partner is on top of a play. You cannot make them call the game the way you want to. You just have to try to let them know of your expectations and that is it.

Peace

Ive tried to talk in pre-game about "holding the whistle and making eye contact" when a call is outside the primary. This gives you a chance to say to your partner later, "Did you look at me before you blew that? I had a pretty good look and I don't thing the contact warranted a call". They can then get defensive if they want, but they know what to work on. Also, if you do this for them -- see a call in their primary, hold your whistle, and then make eye contact -- they see how it can work. This also gives them permission to make those calls if they feel 100% certain you're missing something, which of course is what you want!

You have to figure out how to tell your partners they did something wrong but make them feel good about it. When you figure that out, let me know. In the meantime, you may want to note the guys that do that and don't accept games with them. If you know going in that you are working with an official that calls all over. Teese and joke with them about it before the game. Are you going to call in my area all day today like you did the last time? Just checking so I know how hard I need to work. This sends the message and everytime they do it, give them that look and smile.

Last, a wise man once said; don't try to change someone that doesn't want to change, only work with those that do.

Peace

Just to generate some discussion:

What if your partner is weak...do you still totally trust him? If you say yes, then is the "crew integrity" better because you trusted your partner...or is it better for the "crew integrity" to get it right, even though you had to call in your partner's area?

I agree with what you have stated z...just asking hypothetically.;)

This is often a guarantee of major problems. I'd use this technique with extreme caution. Especially if it's someone you don't know well, you have no idea whether this is a "gentle reminder" or a stab directly to the heart. I think it's better to speak to the issue more directly by saying, "I noticed the last time we worked together that you took a couple of calls out of my area. Is that something we need to discuss?" It's even better if you approach the issue idrectly after the game where it happens by asking, "What did you see on such and such a call?" or "Did you think I didn't have an angle on that block call?" When you give the person a chance to be right, it makes it possible for them to acknowledge when they're wrong.

I agree. My advise is geared more towards the hard core that we know will never change.

That's always a tough one. Like others, I think it is certainly something you need to pregame. Beyond that, have you tried talking to them about it at the half? When it happens to me I'll just ask, "What did you see on that play?" and then talk to them about what you saw.