Long Day Of Officiating

When I first started officiated youth basketball around 1993, I dedicated myself to it.  I would leave my Friday evenings and Saturday's open just so I could officiate.  Whether the gym was near or far, I made the trek out there.

As time as moved on, I realized I didn't want to spend my whole day officiating.  It's tiring.  It can be stressful.  Simply put,  sometimes officiating is something that should be done in moderation.   So for much of the past five years or so, I've cut back and work a few games here and there.  I look at it as a chance to catch up with people around the league, get a little exercise and get paid for it.

Today was a major exception.  Due to a major shortage of officials, I signed up for SEVEN games spread over two gyms.  I'm too tired to write a ton but some highlights and lowlights on the day.

• The first two games of the day (4th grade / 5th grade) were barn burners.  The 4th grade game ended up with one team winning at the buzzer 11-10.  The 5th Grade game had a final score of 24-22.  It was a fun / intense way to begin a game.  
• At the first gym, I was officiating solo.   It was fine for the 4th grade game but the 5th grade / 6th grade games I had were challenges to work due to the teams pressing.  I made it through but it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do. 
• During the fourth grade game, an interesting situation occurred.  The wining team actually had TWO players with the game uniform numbers.  I was not aware of this when the game started but heard the coach mention to someone.  As the third quarter started, I issued a technical the protest of the coach.  The coach said "The school issued the uniforms like this and the other teams they had played in the weeks prior were ok with the jersey situation".  I politely disagreed with the coach and strongly suggested he take up the issue with the school.   The coach actually disagreed with me on this. 
• After working my first three games, it was time to get some food.  The area I was in had good food but parking was difficult.   After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided to try and park at a nearby gym where an adult basketball tournament was going on.  I was going to be working the tournament tomorrow but wanted to take a look at the games happening.  PLUS, I knew they had some food there for players, coaches and officials.  I was fortunate to find a parking space near the gym.  I managed to watch a game, talk to a few folks, have a "pre-game" with one of the officials tomorrow (he was working today as well), and of course get some food. 
• After getting my food, I went off to officiate my second set of games.  Parking around this gym was a pain.  I looked around for some 20 minutes before settling on a stop 2 blocks (including one hill) away. This second set of games had higher caliber of teams but there wasn't anything too eventful. 
• The one exception was from a 5th grade team.  The visiting team was losing.  In the fourth quarter, a home team player set a pretty bad screen.  Both my partner and I had the foul called.  However, the assistant coach of the visiting team was complaining about the foul being flagrant or intentional.  It was just a BAD SCREEN.  I had to tell the assistant to calm down as I understood they were losing and maybe frustrated.   After the game, the assistant coach told me he was offended that I had mentioned they were losing.  He told me he was going to report me to the league for my comments (sure, go on ahead).  
• On the flip side, a parent of the home team also talked to me and my partner after the game.  The parent mentioned that a coach of the visiting team had made some comment to his son.  The coach had said something about the son being a "dirty player" or something.  I was a little shocked but not entirely surprised given the assistant coach's attitude toward me earlier.    I informed the home team parent that I would mention the incident to the league. 

All in all, it was a long day but a good day.  The weirdness aside, the games were competitive for the most part and the coaches were generally ok.

Encouraging Players As An Official

I've officiated sports for nearly 20 years.  As I have piled on the years, I noticed that I run into a ton of former youth and/or high school players who recognize me.  Not only do they recognize me, they remember parts of games where I officiated and something happened.  It's actually a good feeling when people remember you as an official.  

I mention this because a couple of years ago, I ran into a current high school basketball player who recognized me from her youth days.  I was officiating some of her club team basketball games and so she said hi.  Turns out she was playing varsity for her high school as well.  As I worked a few JV games at her high school the past two seasons,  we would always say hi.

As I had not officiated high school this season, I had not run into her at all.  However, I decided to stop by her team's state playoff game tonight.  It was an opportunity to watch a good game and say hi to the the young lady.  Her team ended up winning and will have a long commute to their semi-final game.

Unfortunately, the young lady did not play in the game.  However, we did chat after the game a bit.  When I asker her how her season had been going,  she expressed disappointment that she hasn't played much this season after starting last season.   While I never played high school basketball myself, I encouraged her to stay positive and enjoy the experience.   After all, playing for your school only comes once a lifetime.

Though the young lady only knows me as an official, she probably didn't realize I was also a coach for a long time.   It was great that she was willing to share her feelings about her season and I was thankful for an opportunity to give her some positive encouragement.   It's not part of my regular job description as an official but just like I encourage friends when they are down (and vice versa),  I just did what I thought was needed.

Back in the Breach again / Why some parents should stick to just being spectators

In October, I decided to take a leave of absence from officiating high school basketball and other leagues there were assigned by my high school association.  It was a good choice as I got time to do some things myself and try a few other things along the way.   However, I had intended to keep officiating youth basketball a little bit.  However, due to various things, I ended up officiating any basketball until about 3 weeks ago.  I ended up with a 4 to 5 month break.

The break was good for me and I feel I am quite sharp as I work my youth games.  The confidence is there and my demeanor / attitude is very much business like.  I don't take a lot of stuff from coaches or players and have issued a technical every week that I have been back.

Speaking of technicals, I had to issue a technical to a player (slamming the ball on the ground after a fould was called on him) and a double technical / ejection to the player's coach (let's call them the Blue team).   Thanks to all of this, the Blue team ended up losing the game.

Some time in the 3rd quarter, I had called a foul on a Blue player.  The Blue player proceeded to slam the basketball on the floor.  I issued the technical foul and those two fouls were the Blue player's 3rd and 4th personal fouls.  The Blue coach was disagreeable to the technical saying I should have given the player a warning since his team only had 5 players.  I told him a warning was only courtesy and not necessary.

The game went on and like any other game between two equal teams, neither could pull away.  Both teams exchanged baskets into the 4th quarter.   The Blue team looked to have control but White tied the game at 18-18 with about 25 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The Blue team had a final chance.  The kid I had given the technical earlier tried to drive and elbowed the defensive player out of the way.  That was an easy player control foul call for me to make.  The White team called timeout to setup a final play with about 18 seconds left.

The Blue team coach was not happy and probably stared me down the entire timeout.  To be honest,  I didn't care and did not pay attention to him at all throughout the timeout.  It was business as usual for me.

As the White team proceeded to get on the court, the Blue team coach refused to put his team on the floor.  I asked him several times but he refused saying I owed him 30 seconds (it's 20 seconds now coach....hahaha) as his player fouled out.  I told him the delay didn't apply as he had no subs.

The Blue coach finally put his team on the floor.   As I prepared to get the game going again, I sensed the Blue team coach would have more to say so I decided to hold the ball and wait for him.  As I expected, the coach became unhinged.

He yelled at me that this was the first the whole season he had seen a player control foul.  He didn't believe I would call it on the kid with 4 fouls.  I gave him the first technical and warned him that I didn't need to hear anymore.  He continued on and I handed out the second technical and ejected him.   The game should have been over as the league has a three technical foul rule but I forgot about the initial technical to the player.

In any case, a couple of the Blue team parents took over coaching duties.  Given the tense situation, I warned them that any further misconduct would result in a forfeit.   They weren't really in the mood to listen and were pretty rude.  I understand their attitude and wanting to defend their team and coach but in this case, they were completely wrong.

Regardless, the White team made one free throw and they won the game 19-18.  One of the parents who took over as coach made a snipe remark as he left.  I just ignored them as my partner and I took refuge away from the court.

This coach and parents were about the worst I have seen in recent years.  I submitted a report to our league and there will probably be some action taken.  Parents and coaches are sometime so focused on their own team that they don't realize how their actions go.  These same people also don't know that I'm a veteran official and been around longer that they realize.  I also know their athletic director as well.

These folks really should just stick to being spectators.  That will make things a lot  more peaceful.