Crew disharmony

[Two Call]

How do you deal with a crew member who second-guesses you all of the time? Is that something the crew chief should handle? Should it be handled one on one? Do you just sluff it off? The guy who keeps doing to me is wrecking my confidence and I find myself starting to hesitate rather than just reacting to what I see.

[MJT]

I would discuss it with my crew chief first and see what he thinks is the best way to go about it. The two of you need to talk, whether in the presence of others or not.

[FootballRef05]

You need to talk it out. Constructive feedback is one thing, second guessing is another.

One other thing; do not feel you need to react immediately to anything you see. Process it and make a decision then react. Nothing in the rule book or officials manu. says you have to react and make a decision before you know what to call. tossing the flag or blowing the whistle fast does not make you a good official, having confidence and the ability to process what you see and make the correct calls makes you a good official. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying to take a minute to make a call, but feeling you need to react instantly is unnecessary.

[RonRef]

Originally Posted by Two Call

How do you deal with a crew member who second-guesses you all of the time? Is that something the crew chief should handle? Should it be handled one on one? Do you just sluff it off? The guy who keeps doing to me is wrecking my confidence and I find myself starting to hesitate rather than just reacting to what I see.

This is a high school football crew...yes? I would confont him personally in front of the whole crew!

[my3sons]

I had that same problem this past weekend. I knew going into the game that this particular official would have something to say on just about every play. I believe one way of handling an official like this is to get him aside privately and tell him that you apprieciate him trying to help you be a better official (grin) but that he should save his comments for half time or better yet after the game. Then he should pick out one or two things that he would like to discuss. If that doesn't work then just tell him to shutup and concern himself with his area of the field. By the way the first part of this advise didn't work for this particular official and I had to finally tell him to take care of his side of the field and I would take care of mine. After that he left me alone.

[RonRef]

Originally Posted by my3sons

I had that same problem this past weekend. I knew going into the game that this particular official would have something to say on just about every play. I believe one way of handling an official like this is to get him aside privately and tell him that you apprieciate him trying to help you be a better official (grin) but that he should save his comments for half time or better yet after the game. Then he should pick out one or two things that he would like to discuss. If that doesn't work then just tell him to shutup and concern himself with his area of the field. By the way the first part of this advise didn't work for this particular official and I had to finally tell him to take care of his side of the field and I would take care of mine. After that he left me alone.

If an official can tell you everything you are doing wrong or right on every play who is watching his area? Tell him to take a hike!

[Rich]

Crew disharmony has led me to replace 2/5 of my varsity crew this season. I'm the only person working the same position (referee), 2 guys are new to the crew, and 2 moved into new positions.

Now I don't have to worry about other people and can concentrate on my officiating. And I feel we've had the best games (only 3 weeks in) I've had in years.