Game tonight sucked
 

This is the first year of officiating for my son and I. Tonight we had a game and we really sucked....the game got out of control on us and the coachs were irrate. Officiating is something I thought I always wanted to try and tonight made game 4 for me....It was a JV game and I even had a coach call a time out to give me hell and tell me I was horrible....I didnt call a technical because honestly I did let the game get out of control. But looking back on the game they were 2 rough playing teams that had little form but instead ran as hard as they could and would have made better football players and it went that way on both ends of the floor. I learn alot from every game and this game has left me with alot of studying to do.....Has anyone else had a game like this in their career?

I hope your assigner didn't know what he was doing to you by sending you into this game in game 4. You should have a senior partner for your first tough game.

That said, everyone has had a bad game... some worse than others. Don't take it personal. Just live and learn. Remember Gigdgo- "Get in get done get out".

We dont have assigners in this league

I am taking the advice from some on this board and have written down what bothered me most tonight....what mistakes I made and am going to study on them and not make those mistakes next game....life goes on.

I've had more than 1 of those in my career. Yes, I was inexperienced.

I'm sure you learned a lot. Reflect on it and talk about the game with your son. You'll both be better after that one! Also go and watch a premier match-up with some veteran officials working the game. And ask to hear their pre and post game.

Seohio - it's part of the process. I've had a very up and down season so far, with several games I wish I could do over....and then, other games like tonight which were just great. Tonight, I had two great P's and a good game.

Hopefully, the more games you do, the more good games you'll have and the bad ones will be fewer and further between. Learn and move on!

Good luck.

Everyone of us is my guess! Even after 10+ years in the business I still encounter rough, erratic play that is challenging to officiate and keep reasonable control of. The first thing I would do is T the coach when they get out of line, this will reduce your stress considerably. If rough play is allowed, it usually escalates into a football game. Its too bad that both (I'm assuming it was two man) officials were inexperienced. Coaches are quick to notice inexperience and will take a mile of rope if you let them. If there is any way you can work with a veteran hopefully doing a game with them, I would strongly encourage you to. If you can go and watch well polished officials doing varsity games and then join the half time talk and end of game conversations this is very beneficial as well. If you know someone that is a tournament official I would closely watch them work games and copy most of what you see. Hang in there, things get better the more games you do.

I appriciate your comments and I can guarantee that we will never lose control like that again.. We won't let this game beat us..My son and I have talked about this game and we have talked about improvements we are going to make immediatly. And yes I wish we could do this game again.

First...Welcome to this fraternity of officials! You will be rewarded with good feelings of accomplishments as the years go by.

Curious...how many Varsity games have you watched this year?

Probably 8 varsity games watched this year.

That is a good start. Sounds like you and your son want to get better...so you probably will.;)

Thanks

The short answer is YES, and the best solution is another game.

Thats what Im thinking Bainsey

you got the first step right, you recognized that the teams were out of control. now all you got to do is put some air in the whistle and start calling fouls. players will adjust or you will just shoot free throws all night, but either scenario is better than having a fight because you didnt call fouls. also, dont hesitate to t the coach, even if you are not having your best game, you cannot let him walk all over you. stick with it, it gets easier as you gain more experience

Okay, help us out. How did the two of you end up on this game if there's no assignors? Are there veteran officials you can work with? How do you get games?

Realizing that both of you are inexperienced, you really need to work separately, each with a veteran official. Two rookies working a game together is pretty much asking for trouble. It's not fair to the players, coaches or to you.

We all have rough games even years later. I would not worry about it. You will have more that will make you roll your eyes for what just took place. Like others that have stated, it is sometimes better to have a crew member that has some experience to get you in the right mind set or get the train from going off the tracks. Two young guys (officials of course) makes a game very difficult if you do not have the experience to know what to do to get yourself out of a bad situation. Or the experience to know what you are going through sometimes just happens. None of us are perfect and I am sure it was not as bad as you thought. I think you are your son probably need to be evaluated more and work with others from time to time. It would help you get the right perspective.

Peace

You've had some good feedback so far, I want to add that no matter how you feel about your game, you can't let the coach get away with that behavior. That's often a bigger part of keeping control than calling fouls.

The biggest thing, don't be afraid to over blow the whistle. Most officials go through a progression that starts with being afraid to blow the whistle. You think you're too late, but you're not. Don't be afraid of a late whistle.

Same. However you were assigned the game it'll help both you and your son more if you work with a veteran. It doesn't guarantee a smooth night but at least you have someone with you who should know how to either get out of trouble or stop it before it starts.

As was said earlier, don't worry about putting air in the whistle especially if the teams are playing rough. Either they figure it out or you're there for 2½ hours and everyone fouls out. One of my mentors once said, "They're going to get mad if you blow the whistle and they're going to get mad if you don't, so you might as well blow the whistle."

Regarding the coach: you may feel as though you didn't do a good job but that doesn't give him the right to call a TO and rip you about it. His job is to coach his team. If he wants to rip into you let him do it on some coaches' internet forum :)

I try to avoid using this phrase when thinking about my own game. (everybody else using it is enough:D:D) No matter where you are in a game, it is never too late to regain that control. Sometimes when a game gets very rough, it is overwhelming.

"It was so rough and there was so much going on it was hard to sort it all out."


The good news is you don't have to sort it all out. You can "regain control", if you want to put it that way. If a game is that rough, usually you will have no trouble finding a call to make. Don't worry so much about the 3 other things which may have happened before, during, and after the action at hand. Just don't give in and quit on the game.

Also, try to think of at least one positive thing you got out of the game... surely, there is one.

In the journal I'm keeping, I try to record things I thought I did well in addition to the things I feel I should work on or be mindful of for the next game.

I'm sure at some point I'll have the game from h-e-double toothpicks and wonder what I got myself into. But just remember the next game is always a chance to start fresh.

Just a thought.......

Not sure you should be doing games with your son.....

I assign another sport and have two sets of father / sons....

Kept them apart their first two years, to your son you aren't his partner, you
are his father. Trust me, that is not fair to him. Likewise you are out there
trying to protect your son not your partner....Just one man's opinion.

Agreed, not with them both breaking in at the same time. I have called some games with my son, (jr. high and below) but I was officiating before he was born.:D

One Lump Or Two ???
 

"Coach. I may have missed that one, but it doesn't give you the right to yell at me in an unsporting way. Please have a cup of "T" and take your seat."

OK. Don't say the last sentence, just think it as you give him the "T" signal.

I'd love to be able to say this to a coach and actually keep a straight face :D

I officiate a lot of contests with my father each year. I think the experiences have brought us closer together and I consider him one of my best partners. We are simply on the same page for so many things. Of course, we weren't trying to learn the trade together. He already had 30+ years of officiating under his belt.

That said, I agree with the sentiment above. Develop your skills separately for a couple years. I don't think it would hurt to attend each other's games and offer praise/criticism afterwards. But, there's a certain amount of distance you should keep for the first couple years, especially DURING the contests. Let each of you learn from your own mistakes on the court, then post-game (preferably after a post-game with your partners) what went right and what went wrong.

Right here is where you whack the coach. Two wrongs don't make it right.

Everyone has bad games especially when they start out. I'm in my 2nd year, I had a couple of stinkers last year it happens. It's also really easy when working with inexperienced people to lose control of a game.

However, that does not give anyone associated with that the game the right to berate you for that. At the very minimum a good solid "coach I've heard you, that's enough" may work for you, or just call the technical, if you feel that you should have and didn't, you should have. By not reigning them in, you've made it that much worse for you in your future if you should see them again soon or for the next officials that follow you because that coach is going to play them too.

Think about what you could do differently next time but once the ball goes up on the next game, clear your mind, the best medicine for a bad game is to do another.

I've umpired baseball for 20 years, there have been nights I've left the strike zone in the parking lot, it happens, suck it up for that night and get them again tomorrow.

You'll find it easier as you go, it really takes 10-15 games to start feeling even remotely comfortable. Keep at and really don't let others walk on you.

Adam brings up a very good point about blowing the whistle. Don't let things go because you think that you are too late. I still have to work on this and I am in my third year. You are not really late with a whistle ( except in your mind). I certainly remember that in my first year the game seemed very fast. It does get better with experience so hang in there.

I think I would say that the other way around. Father and son thought it would be fun to officiate. As both get more experience they tend to work together less as both officials start to develop their own way of doing things.

Its no different than the father / son relationship. They participate together, develop, then find others (typically in their age range) to learn from, but in the end they still talk and offer support to each other.

Been there man!! The worst thing is kicking yourself after because you feel like you let it get out of control. In reality, if you would have blown your whistle more it may have cleaned up a bit, but it still would have remained ugly. But don't let that stop you from calling fouls. It is much easier to live with yourself if you can say, hey, at least I tried. Just keep improving, as we all know this is not an easy job. Oh, and its been said at this point, but don't let that coach get over on you. How can you expect the kids to respect you if you allow their coach to disrespect you like that?

I have been officiating for over 30 years. I have worked many games with my son but we weren't starting out together. It is always fun. He has moved away but we always get together a couple of times a year to work a varsity game somewhere.

Concerning rough play, you need to take control of the game. Last Friday the teams played extremely well and we called only 12 fouls until the last two minutes when one team fouled often while behind late in the game.

Monday night, same officials, called 50 fouls. The difference was that Monday the teams wanted to reach, not move their feet on defense and push a lot. We call what we see.

No complaints either night. The coaches all knew what was going on.

Keep your chin up--it will get better. Promise.

I thank you for your replys and am taking it all as great advise.
In Ohio if the coach is ejected from the game they have to leave the gym and cannot be a spectator at all....they are not allowed to coach the next 2 games but are allowed to spectate from the bleachers...they cannot be involved in coaching in any way....they must pay 100 bucks to get reinstated and do a online management class..I guess a technical should shut a coach up pretty quick.

Here's a piece of advice. Don't worry about subsequent penalties. They should have nothing to do with how you handle a situation on the court.