Sticky situation

[BlitzkriegBob]

Last year I worked a JV tournament one Saturday morning. I had as a partner a person with whom I had never worked. We were the only two officials for the tournament. During the course of the tournament he exhibited extremely poor judgment IMO with regards to his interaction with the players. I won't get in to what he did since I don't think it matters other than it was inappropriate but far from criminal. Spectators noticed as well and there were at least a couple of comments made during the tournament.

For better or for worse, after much contemplation I decided not to report this official. The tournament was held at a school that was very far from me and he was from that area so I figured I would probably not ever have the misfortune to work with him again. Lo and behold I just received a contract to work another JV tournament in less than three weeks and I believe this same person will be one of the three other officials slated to work. I am not completely sure it is the same person, but when I saw this particular name a dim light bulb came on in my brain.

I am already stressed about the situation. I would prefer not to work with this person again and have considered asking out but I'm not sure that would solve anything. Lots of questions are running through my mind as to how I should handle this but I am open to advice from more experienced officials. I am willing to give him the benefit of another chance, assuming it is the same person. At the same time I would not have a very long leash if he began exhibiting inappropriate behavior.

If you would rather respond to me via private message I welcome that as well.

Thanks in advance,

Bob

[Andy]

Well, in my view, you have two choices:

1. Withdraw from the tournament
2. Work the tournament and, as you said, give him a second chance with a short leash.

I'm not familiar with how "reporting" him would work in your area, or if it would even do any good, so it's hard for me to comment on that. You know your area, you need to make that decision.

Then again, you mentioned that there were four officials including yourself assigned to the tournament - you may not have to work with him at all!

[MCBear]

Bob, you may not like the individual, but you say that you are not sure that it is the same person. So, I would work the tournament and watch him to see if he acts the way that the individual did in last year's tournament. If it is the same person and he acts the same way as last year, write a letter to the assigner detailing what you saw and heard that was inappropriate. If you want to cut him off during the day, you might ask him if he has read the NFHS Officials Code of Ethics in the back of the rules book. If he hasn't, suggest that he read the third point - "Officials shall uphold the honor and integrity of the profession in all interaction with student-athletes, coaches, athletic directors, school administrators, colleagues, and the public." Our job is to serve and protect (each other and the kids and adults whom we see). Anything less is totally unacceptable.

[refnrev]

BB,
I assume that you meant that your partner was too friendly in dealing with the players. There is a line between having a good repore with the players and reminding them to have fun and enjoy the game and being too friendly. A good repore is great but the other is a slippery slope to stay far away from. The fact that spectators notice is a bad thing, too. I would not want to work with a partner with boundary issues with players, either, just as I have one official that I cannot stand to work with because of his comments to partners about players that I find offensive and inappropriate. There are too many games out there to work with a person you have serious reservations about, and if I were in your shoes I would not want to be linked to someone about whom I have such reservations. Good luck and let us know what you decide. RR