How NOT to Act Towards the Ref….

I readily admit I'm trying to learn how to Referee Volleyball. It is much more difficult than I ever imagined!

But with 20+ years as a High School Basketball Referee I do recognize when a Coach has crossed the line and is trying to embarrass the Referee. A "T" in Basketball and a "Yellow" or "Red” Card in Volleyball.

Image by K.M. Klemencic via Flickr

I was working a JV Boy's match. I was the R1, up on the latter across the court from where the teams sit. First Set. The Home team is clearly better than the Visitors team. The Home team has a 10 point lead when a Visitor player slightly miss handles a ball on what could have been called a "Double Hit" Violation. I ignored it. If I tried to call every Minor Violation by the Visitors, they would never have had any Rally Practice and gained no experience in an actual Match setting.

Yes, yes, I understand the philosophy that if the Ref's does not make a call, the team does not realize they are making mistakes and does not "learn" from those mistakes. A Referee needs to walk that oddly placed line between calling everything and allowing teams to play up to, or down to, their ability.

So I ignored a minor "Double" Violation. The Home Team Coach, a really young fellow in his first JV Head Coach job, stands up and hollers, "that's a DOUBLE!” His team won the point without my having to call the violation.

I looked at him, motioned for him to go back to the bench and called for the next Serve. I had no interest in debating the call philosophy with him.

A few plays later the Home Team wins another point and the Home Team Coach leaps up, walks to the sideline, stretches out his hands as he bends at the waist in an imploring manner and bellows, "are WE not calling DOUBLES tonight!! "

Well, "WE" are not Refereeing. My partner & I are refereeing. The Coaches are not Assistant Referees……

I do not tolerate that sort of hysterics in a Basketball game and I will not in a Volleyball Match, so I pulled out a "Yellow Card", which required the Coach to remain seated the rest of the Match.

A few plays later I spotted the Home Team make a "Double Hit" Violation and called it.

Understandably, the Home Team Coach was not too pleased I called a "Double" on his team when I had not called any on the less skilled Visitor team.

I was also letting him know, "Hey, YOU wanted me to start calling 'Doubles', so I am starting with YOUR team first!" I suppose the unsaid thing from me to the coach was, "Are there any other things you think I am missing, so I can start calling them on YOUR team first?”

It was at this point I saw the Head VARSITY Coach walk toward the JV Coach, motion to me, “I've got this Ref!" And sat down next to the JV Head Coach and start talking to him. That was the last complaint I heard from that JV Coach the rest of the Match……

The Varsity Coach knew I was relatively new and had seen me work matches for the last 2 seasons. She also knew I had sent a letter to her school Principal & Athletic Director last season complementing her sportsmanship in a Match I had refereed (she had thanked me for that letter prior to the JV Match).

She was exceptional in the Varsity Match and I just dropped another Good Sportsmanship letter into the mail to her school.

But I did not send one for the JV Coach………

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A Word About Coach Behavior

Some Coaches can be rather difficult and hard on referees……

By the same token, some Coaches demonstrate exceptionally good sportsmanship and focus on coaching their teams instead of trying to help Referee the game from the sidelines – even when we make the occasional bad call that goes against their team. If they are not sure what or why we made some call (sometimes I'm not sure why I call somethings…) they are respectful in they're asking and once the Ref makes an explanation they move forward, even if the explanation does not make the most sense……

When I work a game with a Coach that does exhibit outstanding sportsmanship I send a letter to the Principal and Athletic Director of that school (several years ago I asked the AIA (Arizona Interscholastic Association) Commissioners of Officials if there was any objection to my doing this and was told it was OK).

And so I do send out a few of those letters each season.

"Stack of Envelopes" by Seth Mason via Flickr

Apparently the Principles & AD’s are showing the letters to the Coaches from whom I get interesting interactions when I see them at another game or circumstance at a later time.

Two nights ago one such Coach stepped into the Hospitality Room at a Tournament I was working, saw me snacking on a Post Game edible and stepped over, stuck out his hand and said, “Thanks for the letter! Sometimes I know I can be hard on you referees, so I appreciate what you said in the letter.“

My response was, "Coach I am always ready to "T" Up poor behavior, I've given a few to you over the years as you know, and I'm just as happy to acknowledge excellent sportsmanship. "

He asked, "Do I get a "Free" holler at you the next game?”

"Nope. The next game is a whole new ball game!”

One Principal spotted me as I entered the gym to work a game and expressed his appreciation for a letter I've sent, saying the letter went in to the permanent file for the Coach and would be a positive reflection on future performance evaluations for that coach.

And finally, one Coach, who has perhaps won as many State Championships as any other active Arizona High School coach today saw me walk into a gym at a Tournament. Her team had just played and she was sitting with her players. I stepped into the gym, saw her and waved hello. She almost leapt up, ran over and said, "Vic, did you send a letter to my Principal?”

I asked if it was about sportsmanship?

She said it was and I said "it was possible…… "

"Vic, I know it was you! My Principal showed it to me and you signed it. “

So I confessed to what she already knew, after which she nearly started to cry saying it was the nicest thing anyone outside of her school or players had ever done for her.

I do not always make the right call. I may not always make the best of calls, but I am quite happy to send out a letter that has a positive impact on coaches that exhibit exceptional sportsmanship. I figure at least I get those "calls" right!

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The DEAF and DUMB Referee Last Nite....

There was a deaf and dumb referee last night.

My partner last night literally was deaf and dumb. He had only about 15% hearing and 15% speech capabilities. And he was on the court refereeing a girls varsity basketball game!!

"Blind Ref" by Nathan Rupert via Flickr

And he did a mighty fine job of it, too! The referee mechanics have to be adjusted a bit since he cannot call out team colors for foul calls or out of bounds plays, etc. And the coaches could not yak at him as he ran up and down the sidelines. (Actually that's a real blessing for him!!)

I explained his situation to the Coaches, Score Keeper and Clock operator before the game started so they were all set to accommodate some unorthodox communications from him for foul reporting and we had no problems there.

Though the most common complaint from fans usually is us Refs are blind rather than our hearing and speech capabilities.

Anytime a coach has a question about a call my partner made, the coach had to holler at me, expresses concern to me and then I had to try to communicate the coaches concern to my partner and he had to try and describe what he saw. It took a little while to accomplish that and pretty soon the coaches just quit asking!! Return next line.  Delete that?

The most interesting thing about it was that I do not think the fans even realized he was deaf and dumb!! And that is a real accomplishment!!

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I Liked the Way You Handled That Parent!

"I liked the way you handled that parent! " So said another parent to me prior to the start of Refereeing my 3rd of 4 girls Freshman Basketball Game of the night in a Summer League. "Freshman" really means just graduated from the 8th grade, so the skill level is not the highest order just yet…

Evidently this particular parent was sitting on the sideline of my 2nd game near another parent that was making an annoying habit of constantly complaining about Ref calls. During a timeout in the 3rd Quarter I was near the sidelines where this annoying parent was sitting and asked, "Is there enough room for me or my partner to sit next to you for the rest the game? "

"Why do you want to do that?" Was the question.

Image by COD Newsroom via Flickr

"Well, you disagree with every call we've made tonight, so I figure either me or my partner needs to sit by you so we can see the same game you're seeing because you must have a better view of it from here then we do on the court! “

The response was, "I just want you to call it both ways! “

(Ironically, we had called MORE fouls on the other team at this point in the game.)

So I said, "Are you biased for the white team? Yes, I think YOU are biased, aren't you? And that's the real problem here! "

The other parent who said, "I like the way you handled that parent " also commented the other parent was really irritating and was about to make a comment when I stepped over. "Good thing you came over and said what you said because I was about to get myself into trouble telling that parent to please just shut up!"

Nice to know some parents do appreciate Referees trying to keep the more obnoxious parents under control……

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She Was Almost Over the Line, Ref!

I was working a Holiday Girl's High School Tournament.

Visiting team is bringing the ball from the Back Court after In-bounding following the Home Team making a basket.

A team is allowed 10 seconds to get the ball over the Mid Court Line. It's a really easy call to make... Count to 10 seconds and if the ball is still on the Back Court side of the line, toot the whistle and give the Violation Mechanic.

Image by Todd Blosser via Flickr

As usual, I made me Visible 10 Second Count. I got to 10 Seconds, allowed another 1/2 seconds or so- just to be sure my count was not too fast- then I sounded my whistle and gave the Ten Second Violation signal.

A Visiting Team parent hollers out in disgust, "Oh, come on Ref!! She was almost over the line!"

It's a moments like this I wonder if that same parent would have the same opinion if I did NOT call a 10 Second Violation on the opposing tram in a similar situation?

Surely that fan would holler out, "Oh, come on Ref!! She was almost over the line!" Don't ya think?

No, I don't think so either......and THAT sort of bias is why fans & coaches do not Referee the games.

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