Coach Asks

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

I prefer, "It wasn't my area, coach."

There's a better way of saying the exact same thing:

"I was watching XXXXX," replacing the XXXXX with exactly what you were watching at that particular time.

Or even saying, "I was looking elsewhere" sounds marginally better than saying "it's not my area."

Or even saying, "I didn't see it, but I'll keep an eye out for it."

Coaches DO NOT CARE about areas or primaries or such.

Last night, working GV, a girl ended up with a bloody nose while jostling with a girl off-ball. I was on-ball, which means (in the lovely 2-person system) that my partner had to (essentially) pick up 8 other players. I figured he didn't see it. The coach, on the next dead ball, gave me a sub for his daughter (why is it always the coach's daughter?) and told me about #42 giving a shot to his players. I listened, asked a clarifying question, and told him I would keep an eye on it. The coach was satisfied, we went back to work, and the girl came back in with her nose plugged up on the next dead ball.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by RichMSN

There's a better way of saying the exact same thing:

"I was watching XXXXX," replacing the XXXXX with exactly what you were watching at that particular time.

Or even saying, "I was looking elsewhere" sounds marginally better than saying "it's not my area."

Or even saying, "I didn't see it, but I'll keep an eye out for it."

Coaches DO NOT CARE about areas or primaries or such.

This is all true, but they are going to accept that answer from me. Honestly I think we worry too much about how they are going to react to the truth. If I was not looking there I see no reason to lie. If I saw the play and did not judge the action to be a foul, then I will say so. If my partner had a better look on a play (or it was in their primary) I will tell them that.

When coaches or players are asking you to watch for something, it usually means "bail me out from myself." Often when a player thinks their being held they want to give that as the excuse for not making an attempt to get away. When a coach insists you look for something, they are saying "please help my team out because I need the call."

I tend to play the same game with them and say something or ignore them. When I usually say something like, "Well I did not see it that way" and I explain why, those comments tend to stop. I do not tell them how their job, they have no business telling me how to do my job.

Peace