Young Officials
 

Hi all,

I should first say I am only in my third year officating. So when I talk about young officials I am I guess including myself to a certain extent. New young officials are needed badly. (at least in our geographical region) I am the son of a former basketball coach and long time official. So it was easy for me to get games and I had paid attention as a kid when my dad was officiating. I got to see how he and other officials handled situations. Therefore when I started I knew what to expect and had a jump on judgement and the "art" of officiating.

As I work with other young officials I see them struggle terribly with the "art" of officiating. I am not talking about knowledge of rules, mechanics, or the things you learn from manuals. I am talking about the "art" of selling calls, communicating with an angry coach, player etc.

The other night for example it was my turn to work the pre-lim game with the crew I am on and we're working in some new officials. I am familar with many of the coaches and their personalities and I knew one them was a coach who "nips" all game. Typically it isn't that bad, but he can be brutal to new officials. Anyway the guy i was working with made a backcourt violation call that most likely was wrong. Of course coach freaks out (even though the game was a 20+ spread) and made an example of the kid. I could tell the kid was going to "tank" after the getting butt chewed. So on the next dead ball I gave him a "wink" and said "good call that coach doesn't know what he's talking about". Even though I knew probably was the wrong call...I just gave him my backing and I discussed the play after the game when the time was right.

Anyway I was wondering what you guys have for new officials when they make mistakes. Because if they don't get good advice...they probably won't stick with officiating too long.

Next time you're heading into this sitch, before the game tell the new ref what to expect from the coach, and encourage him to whack the coach if necessary (which it was in this case). THAT's a good confidence booster.

If he doesn't do it, you should. Never acceptable behavior from a coach, especially when it's tantamount to bullying the "new" kid.

As a "newer" official I appreciate the senior officials that do it "right". The ones who go over pre-games, look the part, and teach and mentor the rookies, etc. They are calm and helpful - not aloof and condescending, they are patient and instructive, don't roll their eyes or talk behind your back. They talk to you at timeouts and give constructive criticism and points to think about. As you say, "the art officiating" must be learned and experienced....and not all will get it. I have several senior refs I look up to and who mentor me. I hope after many years of experience I eventually turn out like one of the good ones.

I'm in my third year and still appreciate a good senior official who is encouraging and not condescending. A couple weeks ago was involved in a 3-man subvarsity doubleheader with a senior official on the R. His manner was calm, decisive and encouraging to us less-experienced guys. He admitted when he blew a call and when we screwed up, he didn't chew us a new one, just calmly stated what it was and how we can do it better. I have great respect for him. There's been others, such as JV officials watching us freshman officials that totally lacked any tact when offering their "criticism". Being human, all I remember is their attitude rather than their advice.

I still consider myself a young guy. I'm working in my 7th season now and have been pretty successful, but I never, ever forget what its like in your first couple seasons. I nearly wanted to quit several times. I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a good teacher, I get frustrated when someone doesn't "get it" as quickly as I did. But, I always try to encourage them with things they do right, and work in some "good job..buts" in there. One of my biggest pet peeves with veterans is they forget, the JV and 9th grade games ARE the Varsity games to new people. Don't cut corners with them, do the correct mechanics and teach them the RIGHT way.

CLH

Some people are so busy learning the tricks of the trade, that they never learn the trade. -- Vernon Law

I think one of the biggest things an official can do is find a mentor. You need to find someone that works a level or two above what you currently work and use them as a sounding board and someone that can walk you through a lot of situations. Other than that, attend camps regularly, talk to veteran officials and most of all have fun. After all this is an activity that you should enjoy first and foremost. If it is not fun than you have to question why you are doing it.

Peace

The senior official should take care of that coach in that situation, and tell his partner who kicked a call to focus on making the right calls. It is not terribly difficult for an experienced "R" with credibility to immediately stop a coach like that (including the T if necessary), while making sure the new guy doesn't lose confidence. The best ones take care of the coach without the others being very aware of it. However, after the game, feedback needs to be provided to make sure that he new guys learn from their mistakes (judgment and game awareness/management) and don't repeat them.

Better yet: Hopefully you will pass what you got on to the guys that follow you.

One thing I think a young official should realize in this "friendlier" age is this: you can't necessarily ask for advice and give all the conditions with which that advice is given. This is similar to a "Yeah but" official at camp - if you want to constantly contradict what someone is saying to you, or in this case give the parameters for delivery, the person might simply choose to not say anything.
I had to realize a long time ago that the people who often gave me some of the hardest to swallow advice were the ones to cared the most. The people who sugar-coated things did so without sincerity.
Sure, a good word will make my chest swell temporarily, but the cold hard truth will help me get better. I always ask those who are more experienced than me to give me feedback without holding back. I also learned to ask all officials if they noticed anything in your game. This will open dialogue up with younger officials that may end up helping them more than me.

I don't think it's a newer officials judgment in many cases, it's a newer persons ability to quickly process what they've seen, or didn't see, and make a split second decision to take action or not. I can sit in the stands and call one heck of a game, however, it's different when ten 16-17 year old kids are flying around the court and you have potentially five different calls you can make every single trip down the floor.

I agree with Dan. When a new a guy or new face is on the floor the coach will begin to go directly to that official asking for calls and try to influence the officials judgment. I'm fairly new to officiating but have moved up the ladder pretty quick. I'm 22 yrs old and in 5th season of high school ball and my 3rd season of doing NCAA D3 and Junior College mens working in 5 conferences. The hardest thing for that i experienced was dealing with coaches. I know my judgment is good, but when coaches see a young face out there as young as there players, they will question you. I knew I was right on my calls and yes some I could have passed on as we all have those, but it was hard for me to deal with a loud college coach in my ear. They have more knowledge of the game than high school coaches from my experience so I have to give them a more definitive answer. That was hard for me since some of all of these coaches are old enough to be dad and some cases my grandfather. Some even had kids that were and are as old as me. It's not so much judgment it's more communication.

When I see new officials work i tell them to get into the book and use the book terminology when dealing with coaches. If you know terminology, I feel it shows the coach you have an understanding and know the rules of the game and how they are applied in situations. Even at the high school level terminology will make a young official credible. Most high school coaches from my experience don't have an understanding of the rules like we do. If we use terminology, the coach will most likely agree because he or she doesn't understand. Some might understand what your saying, but i believe if we know the terminology and apply properly when communicating it makes a young official credible as well it builds the confidence of the official.
I practice talking to coaches and using the terminology in the mirror. Seems crazy but it works. This is my opinion. I hope it helps.

Tommy

Younger officials need to learn early that they are not required to respond to a coach - that coaches will try and intimidate them. When that happens officials can become flustered and "terminology" can fail them even if they know proper terminology and had the call right in the first place. You can take a lot of "talk" in your ear - but when you start conversing with a coach things can go down the tubes and escalate pretty quickly.

I agree with this...sometimes not responding is best. You hear them but you may be focused on the action... if it persists to the point of a dead ball and you are confronted...then you might respond.

I've found that after a few plays have happened and they are still barking...I might ask them what they have/what the problem is? ...they'll tell me...I'll say "Which # are we talking about?"....they might say the number or they might not actually know or forgot (which makes things easier). The easy difuser is "OK...I'll keep an eye on it down there/coach..." and walk away. Rather than just saying "I have nothing there...." or something like that...

I've found dealing with coaches is a lot like being in sales...You have to allow your prospect/client/coach feel like they are in control when you have conversation...Stating "OK...I'll keep an eye on it coach" acknowledges that you have heard their specific issue. Doesn't mean it's happening and it doesn't mean it's not happening but at least he feels like he got to have his say and he at least feels like you are watching.

Now the second conversation might be A LOT different if you are still missing/not callling it for whatever reason... :D

Great advice from Rainmaker.

I agree that you need to support your crew but telling him that a call was a good call when you do not believe it is lying. Is he going to make the same call the next game, because of what you said? You might have gotten him in to more trouble down the line.

Coach, By Rule......."
 

From TRef1: "When I see new officials work I tell them to get into the book and use the book terminology when dealing with coaches."

I agree. One of the best, and most experienced officials on our board, also a member of the training committee, tells young officials, that during the few times that they talk to coaches, to start off the statement with "Coach, by rule.....", and give a short answer.