I have taught the new (1st and 2nd year) officials class in our local association for the last 3-4 years. I am always looking for ways to improve what we do. We try to go over the basics of officiating including proper uniform, communication with school, pre-game with partner, pre-game duties (on the floor), mechanics, floor coverage, philosophy, misconceptions and rules. This is done over 5-6 sessions.

Any suggestions? Do you think we are missing anything?

Professionalism and.......
 

Conflict resolution.

Professionalism to deal with all the other aspects of officiating that have little to do with the actual game. Conflict Resolution to of course deal with conflict resolution. The Illinois High School Association has these two things as required topics in camps that are giving across the state. They even have the information on the website. Check it out under the Official's Department.

Peace


www.ihsa.org

people skills and using the T
 

I think it's important to teach
that it's better to use good people skills
and be fair and consistent than it is to be
Mr. Know all the Rules.
I also think that officials should view themsleves as service providers and NOT dictators.
I also suggest to teach when and how to call a T.

Sorry if this is something you already include
in your philosophy.

Good topic.
 

You cannot say that. The officiating brass around here will try to stone you to death.

Peace

I am stoned more often that I like to admit.

Stripes,

I think all the things mentioned are great things to teach officials... but it's important for us to remember that one of the many reasons that officiating can be frustrating for a newbie is that they get overwhelmed if you give them too much at once.

One of my first J.V. games ever, the varsity ref gave me a list of about 15 things at halftime to work on...I think I remembered maybe one of them for the second half. Total overload.

I'm not trying to "stone" Bossref or Rut, but stick with the very basics at first. They will be struggling with knowing where to be on the floor, learning signals and understanding the rules that they <i>thought</i> they knew from their playing days. Once they kind of catch a clue as the season goes on, then bring up some more things for them to add to their skill set.

IMHO, I think you are on the right track for a 5 or 6 session training program with the things you mentioned.

Z

Officiating skills are not a secret.
 

Z,

There is nothing in officiating that a young official cannot learn either right off the bat or pick up in a short period of time. Telling them all aspect of officiating is only going to educate and inspire them into what this "officiating thing" is all about. I personally think this is why we lose officials. Rules are only a foundation, your professionalism and conflict resolution skill and people skills are going to far out way knowing the ins and outs of Rule 2-10. Because when you have to use Rule 2-10, you have to explain to an angry coach what Rule 2-10 is and how Rule 2-10 is going to be applied or not applied. If you are yelling and screaming while "quoting" rules, your explaination might never be believed if you do not have some conflict resolution skills or people skills to get you thru that situation. And you better sure tell young officials how to deal with assignors and deal with other officials, they might not get another chance to make a first impression.

It is not like we are talking about toddlers, we are talking about adults that have skills and experiences that far way out what happens on a court or field. Give younger officials some credit.

Peace

Re: Officiating skills are not a secret.
 

Nothing? Really? Nothing?!?! To quote John McEnroe, "You cannot be serious!"

If a young official can learn everything in officiating right away -- or in a short period of time -- why don't we all have D1 schedules right now? That is, quite frankly Rut, one of the most ludicrous statements I've read in a long time.

Chuck

I have also taught the rookie class for a number of years...aside from the mechanics and floor positioning, we (the leaders) always take 15-20 min. per session and cover one or two of the rule sections, just to make sure that everyone coming from our assoc. has the same understanding of the rules interps sent down from the state...we have found that this has helped our younger officials immensely...

Knowledge is power.
 

When you set your expectations low, you achieve exactly what you expect. When you set your expectations high, you might achieve much more than you ever expected. You give younger officials knowledge, they might actually pick up on it. You say, "we cannot tell you this because you are a rookie," do not be surprised if they fall short or make mistakes after mistake, after mistake. Officiating is way much more that rules, it always has been, it always will be.

Peace

Have you tried a mentoring program? By having a veteran offical your newer officals can watch, go to when they have questions, someone they can get feedback from.

Of course the hardest part of doing this is finding enough
veteran officals who will take the time and have the people skills to do this.

Re: Knowledge is power.
 

Rut, I agree wholeheartedly with this. Set high expectations. Expect them to know the rules, have them shoot for the highest level of professionalism, etc. But your previous statement was that there is literally "nothing" that they cannot pick up in a short period of time. That's blatently false. For that statement to be true, you would have to have a reasonable expectation that a new official could learn everything there is to know about officiating right away or "in a short period of time". You cannot possibly have that expectation. And you if you say that you can, then you are simply lying to yourself.

Chuck

<i>There is nothing in officiating that a young official cannot learn either right off the bat or pick up in a short period of time.
</i>

Not true. The reason we start new officials on low level games is that they have much to learn and it takes quite a while.

<i>Telling them all aspect of officiating is only going to educate and inspire them into what this "officiating thing" is all about. </i>

Actually, telling them "everything" up front overwhelms them and makes them feel helpless. Note the "deer in the headlights" look when you give a new referee a laundry list of things he needs to work on. Ask him to repeat back to you what you just told him and see if he remembers more than a couple. :-)

<i>Personally think this is why we lose officials.
</i>

Actually, there have been a couple articles in officiating magazines lately on why we lose officials, and your reason was not on the list.

<i>Rules are only a foundation
</i>

So true. I think you just made my point for me.

<i>your professionalism and conflict resolution skill and
people skills are going to far out way knowing the ins and outs of Rule 2-10. Because when you have to use Rule 2-10, you have to explain to an angry coach what Rule 2-10 is and how Rule 2-10 is going to be applied or not applied. If you are yelling and screaming while "quoting" rules, your explaination might never be believed if you do not have some conflict resolution skills or people skills to get you thru that situation.
</i>

This thread isn't about rule 2.10. It's about what to teach new officials. I wouldn't imagine we'd worry about rule 2.10 for new officials either. And I've never seen a young ref yelling and screaming or quoting rules. I've seen some veteran refs that "just don't get it" do that on a rare occasion though.

<i> And you better sure tell young officials how to deal with assignors and deal with other officials, they might not get another chance to make a first impression.
</i>

If they don't know how to deal with other people by the time they are adults, we can't "re-learn" them because their mommies and daddies failed.

<i>It is not like we are talking about toddlers, we are talking about adults that have skills and experiences that far way out what happens on a court or field. Give younger officials some credit.
</i>

I think you mean "outweigh" although I do think that your points are "way out." :-) Like anything else new, KISS is the best policy for beginning refs. Keep it simple stupid. And no, I'm not calling you stupid.

Z

Re: Re: Knowledge is power.
 

Just because you do not buy into the same things I buy into, does not mean it is a lie or that it is wrong. You just to not hold the same value that I do. There are guys that are in the NBA and NCAA and have not officiated more than 6 years.

Chuck, I respect your opinion, but your opinion is not the only one around. Also, learning and understanding and perfecting is another story. You should never hold back information to younger officials just because they do not have experience. If there is anything that is crazy or out there, that is it. But that is just my opinion.

Peace

Re: Re: Re: Knowledge is power.
 

Here is the statement that is currently under discussion: There is nothing in officiating that a young official cannot learn either right off the bat or pick up in a short period of time.

You are correct that my disagreement with you is not what makes your statement false. Your statement is, nevertheless, indisputably, utterly, completely, wholly, entirely, totally, certainly, undeniably false. And if you truly believe it to be true, then you are lying to yourself.

I respect your opinions, too, Jeff; and my opinion is rarely the only one around. But we're not talking about opinion here. We're talking about the fact of whether or not a person with no officiating experience can learn literally everything there is to know about officiating in a short period of time. And the fact is that he or she cannot. I know this for a fact b/c I can find at least one official who has been officiating for 10 years or more and has not learned everything there is to know about officiating. . . that would be me.

"He, who will not reason, is a bigot; he, who cannot, is a fool; and he, who dares not, is a slave."
-William Drummond, Scottish writer (1585-1649).

Chuck

[Edited by ChuckElias on Oct 6th, 2002 at 02:52 PM]

Just an opinion.
 

If you go to an new job and they require you to training classes, they usually do not hold anything back. They tell you all the policies, practices and expectations. Some people will pick up on them, others will be slower. Some will be naturals at their job, probably from other experiences, some will not have a clue for some time.



My comments about rule 2-10 or only to illustrate that when a rule mess up happens or any rule is applied, you have to not only apply it, but know what to say and how to difuse a possible bombshell. Everytime I call things like BI or GT or sometimes even an backcourt violation, you have to explain them at some point. How you deal with that is very important to your success as an official.


This is a fundamental disagreement that you and I will always have. I think this is not true at all. I think when you spend all that time trying to treat them rules and language that they have never seen, would be more overwhelming. It is much easier to teach people concepts and skills that they might already use in every day life. A teacher or a cop might understand concepts of "conflict resolution." A manager of a major retail chain, might understand "how to manage a game" better than someone that is not in management. A lawyer might understand how to read a rulebook at first. Or better yet, maybe someone that has officiated other sports. Not all rookies to basketball are first time officials. As a matter of fact, some of the best officials I have ever met and associated with, are officials in other sports.

There are long time veterans that are overwelmed by what officiating is all about. Not all people are going to be good officials regardless of what you tell them to do or not. Rules are the foundation, but the foundation does not make the house. It might help keep it up when the wind and the fire comes, but it is not going to save the house.

If I was the only one that thought this way, the state in which I live would teach rules and not mechanics, positioning, conflict resolution, and professionalism just to name a few. And when I went to all Officiating Associations I belong to, all would spend the entire time talking and going over rules. Rules study should be more about what you do on your own time or what you learn from you individual games. I have always learned more about the rules after unuusual situations happen or seeing plays or talking to other officials about their plays. And for me Rule 2-10 was not something I could completely grasp until it happen to me 3 times this past year (once in the summer, twice in the regular season). Officiating is also about dealing with the scorers' table and dealing with game management. Why not share that with people that are new? :D

Peace

Rut,

I agree that all the things you mention are important to learn. It's just that I have seen many new refs get overwhelmed and I think it's important to keep it simple and basic at first. I have seen many new refs get buried by TMI (too much info), but I have yet to have a young ref tell me that he/she isn't getting enough info and feels as if they're being held back. If that hasn't been your experience, so be it.

Z

I respect your opinion (as I always do) and still disagree. I see where you are coming from and why you feel the way you do, I just disagree. All officials will not learn at the same rate and all officials will not perfect the same skills at the same pace. But holding them back from information is not going to help them in my opinion.

I stated this before, officiating is one of the few things were are expected to be perfect on from day one. Give young officials the tools to be as perfect as they can be. But then again, I understand you point and I think Stripes has to consider what works or what kind of training that an official will go thru in his area.

Peace

In any endeavor, you feed the student as fast as they can absorb the information. If you flood then with everything, they will likely get overwhelmed and either give up or will not do well. If you feed them too slowly, they will get bored and develop bad habits.

All sources that I can remember say to give someone 3 things at a time to work on. When one of the items is resolved, remove it from the list and add a new one. It may be that it only takes 1 game to resolve an item, but it might take 20 games. Depends on the person.

The point, in summary, is that the feedback needs to be applied at a rate appropriate for the individual..and each are different.

This is a class correct?
 

I do not understand what you are going to not tell them? I mean you have to tell them something or give them some idea what this going to be expected of them. It is not like the coaches and fans are not going to expect these things. And many officials are going to expect certain things from them. Are you not going to tell them how to handle irrate coaches? Are you not going to tell them how to be professional? Are you not going to tell them how to deal with the table? What are you not going to tell them that is essential to their jobs?

I understand that you might give them 3 things to work on, but if you are giving a class, you tell them everything that officiating is going to involve. What is the point of giving them a class and only telling them what the uniform is and how to hold their hand up during a foul? Understand when I say "everything," I mean everything that they are expected to do regardless of level. I guess you can send them out with part information and get their head handed to them when they do not do something, not because they were not good at it, they did not understand what they could do. Officiating is as much about people skills as it is knowing the rules and mechanics.

Just an opinion.

Peace

New Officials' Stuff
 

On both this board and the "other" board, I have seen posts similar to "The Fifteen Most Frequently Misunderstood Rules" of basketball. Why not spend an evening discussing these with your new officials?