Gems from Camps this week

[rainmaker]

How you say it IS the most important part. That includes the timing. Here's how I've said what Larks said and made it work. This was a female ref at a girls game, I'm not sure it would work for a male ref at a girls game, or a female ref at a boys game. I had one player who was questioning every call, arguing about everything, pointing out the little violations on the otehr team. I waited until the gym was just the right amount of quiet and the ball was dead, and her comment was particularly noticeable. After she was done, I said, "If you want, I'll trade you shirts and you can ref, but you're coach will not be happy to have ME on his team!!" Just a little tongue in cheek. Everyone laughs, and no more complaints. I've used it a couple of times since, and it works pretty well, as long as it's a sort of joke and the player doesn't feel belittled.