What high school coaches want

[JetMetFan]

Coaches don't want strangers officiating a big game.
Coaches want sectional officials to have worked one of their games during the season.

True. It's a control issue.

There is a better way to ref than just blow the whistle.

There is but we also can't talk to players/coaches all game long. It creates more of a distraction for us.

The more you talk the better ref you are.

There are guys I know where the opposite is true. The more they talk, the more trouble they get themselves - and their partner(s) - into.

If a coach is out of control, talk to him. If you made a mistake, admit it and move on.

Part two, okay. Part one, not so much. Trying to talk to anyone when they're out of control has a tendency not to end well.

[BillyMac]

Written by Tim Sloan, Bettendorf, Iowa
Released on MyReferee
Copyright© Referee Enterprises, Inc.

In basketball, consistency is a term that few can define but almost everyone can recognize and appreciate in a crew. Provided that a referee doesn't make the game dangerous or take the competitiveness out of it, the good coaches and teams will adjust to what the zebras give them. In fact, you can often pick those coaches' voices out from the mob behind you. Instead of asking, "How could you call that a foul?" they're reminding you, "If you're going to call it at that end. ..."

Consistency for basketball officials really exists on four levels and it's important for their upward mobility to succeed on all four of them.

Self-consistency. Most have heard the debate about whether a foul in the first quarter should necessarily be a foul in the fourth quarter or vice versa. Generically, a foul is a foul. But if you divide them up as safety, advantage-disadvantage and game control fouls, there are many successful officials who preach flexibility on the latter. They feel that you can change the mood of a game for the worse by being too rigid or too loose at the wrong times. Maybe so, but you still have to maintain a level of predictability during a game. If you're like most, trying to deliberately change your standard for calling a foul during a game is like trying to write with your other hand. It's clumsy, frustrating and not very pretty. Changing your standard depends too much on your current mindset. So, it's reasonable to believe that self-consistency over the course of a game breaks down as a result of other factors. Some of the principal ones are fatigue, attitude toward the game and comfort.

Fatigue is an easy one. An official whose heart isn't getting enough blood to the legs isn't getting enough to the brain either. Attention to keys and concentration dwindle as the game wears on and so do the responses. There is no real substitute for being in condition to handle the game. Attitude toward the game changes when the official forgets what I consider to be the golden rule: "You're paid to be here so it doesn't matter what you think of the experience." Call the game and don't cheat them with "good enough." Comfort doesn't refer to the fit of your compression shorts. It means how you're reacting to your surroundings: Do you feel safe? Are people or surroundings distracting you? There are people who can sleep soundly in an orchestra pit and there are referees who can cheerfully blank out the most hostile of environments and keep on doing their jobs. They don't let the fear of a lynching change how they call a game. Learn to deal with stress or learn to manage the issues that threaten you. The great officials can do that.

The bottom line is that the participants need to be able to trust you if you want to keep getting called back. And having the physical and emotional tools to call it consistently is paramount.

Consistency within the crew. Mechanically, I think it's far easier for referees who have never met to work together in a three-person crew than two. That's because they can focus on a more confined area and have to rely less intuitively on their partners to watch their backs for them. There's less of a need for a "system." That goes for crews who have worked together for years, too. Unfortunately, the flip side of that "independence" is the same partners might have more trouble staying "in sync" with one another during a game. If they're paying less attention to what their comrades are doing, they're probably not calling exactly what the others are calling either. You want everyone calling it the same way.

Crewmembers have to establish a reputation for working to the same standard in the same situations throughout the game. Unless you can find identical triplets somewhere, it inevitably means that even the best officials have to exercise some give-and-take in their judgments to leverage their success as a crew.

Consistency from crew to crew. One of the most underestimated factors in a crew's potential for success this week is what the coaches had to put up with last week. If the officials come in and put on a completely different show than the last gang did, one crew's going to get it in the neck. Somebody in authority has to be communicating with crews and telling them how their products differ - good or bad. It's even more critical that those crews listen and adjust. A great way to get booted out of a conference is to shrug off how you differ from other crews and say, "Take it or leave it." They'll leave it.

Perhaps the right word isn't consistency but capability. In manufacturing, a consistent process is one that always gives the same result but that result isn't necessarily the one you want. A capable process is one that consistently gives the desired results. Assigners want officials who reward their confidence in them by turning in capable performances night after night.

Fortunately, capability is a quality you can develop if you're willing to work at it. And it certainly pays off when you do.

Source: Arbiter

[JRutledge]

Whether we agree or not is really not relevant to what we do. Coaches might say these things but they often come with conditions.

Sure they want us to protect the shooter, but the minute we call something "cheap" in their opinion then we are not doing our job. Honestly, who cares what coaches want. If we are doing our job, our job is to work the game not worry or be consumed with their wants. Coaches often do not even read POEs or rules changes and we can be 100 right on what we are asked to do and they are totally unaware of what our job is or what we have been asked to do by people that are in charge of officiating.

Peace

[Pantherdreams]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

I attended a clinic at the beginning of the season (October) and they had a coaches panel. Here are my notes verbatim of what coaches want from officials.

Coaches want an experienced crew, or at least one experienced guy.
Coaches don't want strangers officiating a big game.
Coaches want sectional officials to have worked one of their games during the season.
Coaches think sectional games are played and officiated differently.
There is a better way to ref than just blow the whistle.
Crews are better for post-season games (currently the assignments are random).
The more you talk the better ref you are.
Gotta protect the shooter.
Be aware of previous games that may have been officiated differently, the goal is consistency between games/officials.
Gotta like kids.
The game is about adjustment. Officials need to anticipate and stay ahead of the curve.
If a coach is out of control, talk to him. If you made a mistake, admit it and move on.
Make sure to give equal opportunity to talk to officials.
Consistency is the key -- watch back-to-back calls.
Be on time to the game and get your contracts in on time.
Consistency in calls can be dependent on rotations and mechanics.
Coaches want officials to have good positioning.

Which of these do you guys agree/disagree with?

Most of this is reasonable stuff. As we are all stakeholders in a game that we want to see grow and develop, at least having dialogue and respecting each others concerns is important.

In terms of direct feedback. Coaches want experienced crews but crews also only get experienced by refs gaining experience when they don't have any. At some point you've got to have a new guy/gal or two cutting teeth. You may know it, coaches may know it, but they too have to respect that fact and not try to exploit or overreact in those situations.

In terms of sectional games being played differently/reffed differently in our neck of the woods that is true. Once you get the playoffs only officials of a certain rating can do games, where as through the year its covered regionally by a wider variety of ability. You get the to the final and suddenly you've got more savy guys with a better eye for violations and much more likely to try to interpret adv/dis to have better game flow. It becomes much different then a reguarl season game particulary for the road teams.

I agree the shooter has to be protected because they are airborn and don't have hands free to protect or balance themselves. I think the problem becomes when you define protect the shooter. Not letting a kid wander the streets after dark helps to protect, but so does bubble wrapping them and never letting them out of the house. The problem becomes the interpretted or expected level of protection.

I can understand close plays that both go against one side being frustrating for coaches, but if we are consistently applying the rules the same way even a similar situation you can get different results. I think this is much more of a concern in two man games where there are bigger coverage areas and the consistency between two officials can be a problem. More often you might get the guy at one end letting a play go and then the other guy feeling they have to call it at the other to get it under control.

Like kids is probably an overstatement though it would be nice. THe professional expectation should probably be that you need to be able to empathize or relate with kids. If a kid who's brain is not wired the same as an adults and doesn't repsond to stimulus the same way seems to be unreasonable to us as adults that is pretty normal. The fact that they struggle to adapt to officials or changes in the game or from game to game should be expected, not poo-poo'd or seen as a reason for us to get frustrated with them.

[Bad Zebra]

Here's what I read:

Coaches want an experienced crew, or at least one experienced guy. I want somebody I've seen before..preferably one I can work.
Coaches don't want strangers officiating a big game. See above.
Coaches want sectional officials to have worked one of their games during the season. ...and again.
Coaches think sectional games are played and officiated differently. Uh, yeah. Hopefully better on both accounts...it is the playoffs.
There is a better way to ref than just blow the whistle. You should have to take some crap from us...we pay you.
Crews are better for post-season games (currently the assignments are random). See above.
The more you talk the better ref you are. The more you talk TO US the better ref you are.
Gotta protect the shooter. When my guy is shooting.
Be aware of previous games that may have been officiated differently, the goal is consistency between games/officials. Don't call travels on me if the last guy didn't. Doesn't matter if my player is traveling or not.
Gotta like kids. You should be willing to take some crap from one or two knuckleheads I have on my team.
The game is about adjustment. Officials need to anticipate and stay ahead of the curve. If it's against me, you obviously were in poor position to make that call.
If a coach is out of control, talk to him. You need to take a lot of $h1T before whacking me.
If you made a mistake, admit it and move on. You get ONE pass here, then I'm scratching you.
Make sure to give equal opportunity to talk to officials. I want to abuse ALL three of you equally. Please rotate so I can chew on you too
Consistency is the key -- watch back-to-back calls. Unless BOTH go against me.
Be on time to the game and get your contracts in on time. Yet snafus in getting YOU paid are out of my control.
Consistency in calls can be dependent on rotations and mechanics. If the foul count is uneven, your rotations and mechanics are the cause.
Coaches want officials to have good positioning. You need to be near me when you make a call so I can make sure you understand why that was a bad call.

Which of these do you guys agree/disagree with?

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by Bad Zebra

Here's what I read:

Coaches want an experienced crew, or at least one experienced guy. I want somebody I've seen before..preferably one I can work.
Coaches don't want strangers officiating a big game. See above.
Coaches want sectional officials to have worked one of their games during the season. ...and again.
Coaches think sectional games are played and officiated differently. Uh, yeah. Hopefully better on both accounts...it is the playoffs.
There is a better way to ref than just blow the whistle. You should have to take some crap from us...we pay you.
Crews are better for post-season games (currently the assignments are random). See above.
The more you talk the better ref you are. The more you talk TO US the better ref you are.
Gotta protect the shooter. When my guy is shooting.
Be aware of previous games that may have been officiated differently, the goal is consistency between games/officials. Don't call travels on me if the last guy didn't. Doesn't matter if my player is traveling or not.
Gotta like kids. You should be willing to take some crap from one or two knuckleheads I have on my team.
The game is about adjustment. Officials need to anticipate and stay ahead of the curve. If it's against me, you obviously were in poor position to make that call.
If a coach is out of control, talk to him. You need to take a lot of $h1T before whacking me.
If you made a mistake, admit it and move on. You get ONE pass here, then I'm scratching you.
Make sure to give equal opportunity to talk to officials. I want to abuse ALL three of you equally. Please rotate so I can chew on you too
Consistency is the key -- watch back-to-back calls. Unless BOTH go against me.
Be on time to the game and get your contracts in on time. Yet snafus in getting YOU paid are out of my control.
Consistency in calls can be dependent on rotations and mechanics. If the foul count is uneven, your rotations and mechanics are the cause.
Coaches want officials to have good positioning. You need to be near me when you make a call so I can make sure you understand why that was a bad call.

THIS response to the original inquiry is both precious and accurate.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

...
If a coach is out of control, talk to him. If you made a mistake, admit it and move on.
...?

Really, talk to him? Why?

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

Be aware of previous games that may have been officiated differently, the goal is consistency between games/officials.

I just noticed this one. How can I know how the previous game was officiated? And, it may have been a train wreck from start to finish so the last thing anybody wants is to be consistent with that.

[OKREF]

Originally Posted by just another ref

I just noticed this one. How can I know how the previous game was officiated? And, it may have been a train wreck from start to finish so the last thing anybody wants is to be consistent with that.

Happens all the time. If we hold a coach accountable and the guys in the games before us don't, who is the bad guy? Coach say they didn't call that last week. We are the bad guys.

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by just another ref

I just noticed this one. How can I know how the previous game was officiated? And, it may have been a train wreck from start to finish so the last thing anybody wants is to be consistent with that.

This presents a problem most commonly in this scenerio:

Tuesday night game features a crew of three avid ball-watchers. Off-ball fouls abound and are not called--no one sees them. Leads, focused on the dribblers out top, have no clue whether the defenders on the drives had LGP, so they default to "blocks", doing those funky "fists-to-the-hips-spasmotic-chicken-dances" to sell them, regardless the charges that took place. Coaches realize what they have, so they just resort to coaching through it. Then . . .

Friday night game features a crew diligent to observe PCA principles and make their calls/no calls accordingly. Like situations on one end lead to similar calls on the other end. Illegal off-ball antics yield deserving penalties. Coaches, realizing they have a completely different set of expectations before them, wonder aloud, "What is it with these guys? Why can't these crews be more consistent from game to game?"

And I don't blame 'em. But it ain't the Friday crew's fault.

As the observer of the Tuesday game who is now on the crew of the Friday game, I can't help the frustration the coaches are gonna feel. And regarding this I truly do sympathize. But it's not going to change our Friday crew's diligence. It will, however, remind me all-the-more that all the assigning pool of officials as a group got a lot more work to do.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

Coaches want sectional officials to have worked one of their games during the season.

Coaches "vote" officials into our state tournament, and usually do a very good job selecting high quality officials.

We have a few local geographic area IAABO boards ("little corners") here in Connecticut. During the regular season, the local board will cover all home games, for all high schools, in that local geographic area.

Once we get to the state tournament, games are not officiated by where the game site is, but by which local board officiated the two highs schools involved during the regular season.

If a high school from local region "A" is playing a high school from local region "B", then neither region "A" officials, nor region "B" officials, will be officiating that game. Instead the state will assign officials from local region "C", or from local region "D".

If a high school from local region "A" is playing a high school that is also from local region "A", then the game will, most likely, especially in the early rounds of the tournament, be officiated by local region "A" officials.

It does away with the possibility of a team being "homered" (remember, sometimes perception, and reality, can be blurred, especially in the minds of coaches, players, and fans). We occasionally get some "homer" criticism during regular season games played across local regional geographic boundaries. We've actually had a few coaches want to bring their own officials with them when they cross these geographic boundaries to play regular season games. Of course they wouldn't actually allow the officials to ride on their team bus. Or would they?

[rockyroad]

What Coaches want is for our calls to go in their favor. Every time a whistle blows, they want it to benefit them. The rest of that list is just various different ways of saying that same thing.

[zebraman]

Coaches want an experienced crew, or at least one experienced guy.
Coaches don't want strangers officiating a big game.
Coaches want sectional officials to have worked one of their games during the season.

A lot of coaches are paranoid and unfamiliarity drives them crazy. At state tournaments, I have had coaches who have seen me a few times say, "thank goodness you're on this game." That "love" generally lasts until my first call that they don't like.

Coaches think sectional games are played and officiated differently.

Well.... they have a lot of intensity (especially loser-out games) and have more talent than the teams that didn't make it that far..... so they often have a different feel to them. I don't feel like they are officiated any differently than they are when we have a high-intensity, high-talent game during the regular season.

There is a better way to ref than just blow the whistle.

Pretty vague.

Crews are better for post-season games (currently the assignments are random).

In our state, the higher rated games work the playoffs so, in theory, that would be true.

The more you talk the better ref you are.

Too general. Communication skills help, but some coaches want too much of our time and they will end up getting shut down.

Gotta protect the shooter.

Wow, brilliant.

Be aware of previous games that may have been officiated differently, the goal is consistency between games/officials.

As others have said, I didn't see your game on Tuesday. We'll try to ref tonight's game appropriately.

Gotta like kids.

I like kids and I like basketball. However, if your kids get out of line, they will get put back in line. I am expected to control the game, not make buddies with teenagers.

The game is about adjustment. Officials need to anticipate and stay ahead of the curve.

Vague. If you mean we should have continuous training, most good officials that I know do that with camps and rules discussion etc.

If a coach is out of control, talk to him.

If he is out of control, he is going to get dealt with and it isn't going to involve a nice little talking to.

If you made a mistake, admit it and move on.

I usually don't know I missed a call until I see the video tape. If you think I missed a call, ask with respect and I'll respond.... then we both move on.

Make sure to give equal opportunity to talk to officials.

I try to be consistent with both coaches, but I do not spend much time talking to coaches. Only on a limited number of reasonable questions or when unusual situations need explanation.

Consistency is the key -- watch back-to-back calls.

Identical plays should have identical calls. But if we have a charge on one end, we might have a block at the other end. They might not be identical.

Be on time to the game and get your contracts in on time.

Obviously.

Consistency in calls can be dependent on rotations and mechanics.

Most coaches don't know enough about officiating to put any detail to that general statement.

Coaches want officials to have good positioning.

You want the call to go your way. If it doesn't you might use positioning as an excuse.... but again, most of you don't generally know what the correct positioning is.

When is it my turn to make a list of what I expect out of coaches?

Originally Posted by zebraman

When is it my turn to make a list of what I expect out of coaches?

Right now! Make a list and post it here.

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by seanwestref

Right now! Make a list and post it here.

Here's a start:

Treat me and my crew with respect.


Ask reasonable questions at reasonable times.


When I answer your question, it's all I have for you and we need to move on.


Understand that you can't have a question on every single play that doesn't go your way (choose your spots).


"That's a travel" or "that's a foul" aren't questions and are distracting. If we hear many of those, expect it to be shut down.


Stay in your coaches box.


Control your assistants and bench players. We shouldn't have to.


Don't do obvious gestures or anything else that brings negative attention to the crew or incites the crowd.


Help me with your frustrated player when I bring his behavior to your attention before he goes sideways. Don't tell me it's "my problem" and then act surprised when he gets in trouble later.


It's OK to smile and crack a good one-liner now and then. We enjoy it.


Coach hard and have fun.