Any zebras out there? or used to be....

[Tom]

The last couple of years, I've been transitioning out of high school coaching wrestling and shooting aka marksmanship.  My time to move on.  I've been getting into the officiating on the shooting end. 

This year, I'll get into wrestling as a ref. after encouragement from other ref's.  that I've known on the league and state association level.  Any thoughts from those that have participated as ref's.  My personality and experience as factors are contributing to the decision.

[charlie b]

Depends on your temperment.  I was a ref at one time and hated it.  Too much conflict and too many angry parents.

[Tom]

What sport? 

[ArizonaPaul]

I used to ref basketball and soccer, was also a softball umpire for many years.  You will only hear the horror stories about officiating because that is what sells and what people like to laugh about.  In all sports half of the fans/coaches are going to hate you, yell at you, question your manhood, and test your limits.  If you can handle that go for it. If that behavior could push you over the edge better to stay home.  When starting out it is important to note that all coaches, players, and parents know who the 'NEW' officials are, regardless of background/experience, and that makes you an easy target.  All that said, it is a good way to stay active in sports and give something back to the community.

[charlie b]

I was in baseball.  Ump or field, neither was good for me.  As a catcher I tended to bond with the umps.  I knew how hard their job was from sitting behind the plate.  So, I thought I'd do it as a kind of service for the kids.  Not.

You have to have that ability to have a spitting mad person yelling in your face and just ignore them, time after time after time.  I could do that, it just got old and made it not worth the trouble.  Some people enjoy the 'conflict' and being the person in power, I did not.

[Tom]

Calling a wrestling match is way different than a baseball, basketball or football game.  Pretty evident when someone loses.

[ArizonaPaul]

Some people enjoy the 'conflict' and being the person in power, I did not.

Charlie B these are the people who should never be allowed on a field of play.  Nobody comes to see an official and my best experiences were the ones when I was invisible.

[charlie b]

I wish I could have been invisible.  Football and baseball refs have too many quick judgement calls to make to be 'invisible'.  Yeah, there were some games where no close calls were needed, but, few and far between.

[oldbike54]

 Yep , coached little league baseball and girls softball just enough to get a window into how some folks reacted to any call they felt unfair . The kids were fine , was the "adults" that acted poorly . Witnessed a mother in her early thirties refer to an ump's ancestry in a most unflattering way . Sad part , the poor ump was about 18 years old and working a summer job for the city . He just stood there as the woman yelled from a distance of about sin inches . She had to be restrained by a couple of other coaches , and as they basically drug her away she continued screaming epithets at the young ump . Even the other parents and players from both teams seemed to be unsettled by this behavior , although none seemed all that shocked .

 Dusty

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Her little snookems must have gone out on a called strike.

[oldbike54]

  Her little snookems must have gone out on a called strike.

 Close , he got called out at home plate . He was obviously out , by about 10 feet , even her husband agreed . Guessing the tension at home that evening was incredible Jim . These were 7 and 8 year old boys , with a girl or two mixed in . Her son , and a couple of the other players were in tears . She was one of our parents , the league decided to ban her from attending any more games if memory serves.

 Dusty

[Kiwi_Roy]

   , the league decided to ban her from attending any more games if memory serves.

 Dusty

The poor kid probably banned her as well.

[oldbike54]

The poor kid probably banned her as well.

 Rumor was she slept in the back yard until she repented   

 Little girl's softball could also bring out some interesting parental behavior . We sponsored a beginner's team for a couple of years , and because of when the games were played work conflicted with me attending most of the games . I did however coach the girls two hours a week or so right after school let out . Would take a break and show up to help out , as the only person we could coax into helping coach had , by self admission , no athletic skills or knowledge of
softball . That was OK , because of the ten girls that showed up for most practices and games , maybe two  had any real interest in the game , the others were there because their parents were forcing them .
 Anyway , at one of the games I managed to attend , our left fielder , let's call her Mary . decided that a bug crawling around in her vicinity was more interesting than the game being played out before her . We are watching this little scenario play out , urging at least a minimum of focus on her part , to no avail .  Wonder of wonders , a girl on the opposing team hits a ball in the air to left field , not far from where Mary is sitting on the ground observing the bug . The ball lands , rolls past Mary , all W/O registering with her , not even a glance . Now , her mother is watching this unfold from the left field side , and sprints onto the field , gathers up the ball , and unleashes a pretty impressive rocket towards home plate , scaring our catcher so bad she takes refuge behind the umpire . The ball rattles around against the backstop , comes to a stop , still no one picks it up. By now , the few gathered parents have overcome the initial shock of what just transpired and begin to laugh , even the mother with the cannon for an arm recognizes the absurdity of it all and begins apologizing and laughing all at the same time . Anyway , there were a couple of runners on at the time , and the umpire , after some consideration , awarded the hitter a home run . No one seemed to object , and later at the restaurant a couple of the parents came in and said it was by far the most entertaining game ever 

 Dusty

[trippah]

HI - good luck.  I officiated youth soccer for several years.  My opinion is that you will get far more crap from the stands than the field.  On the field, I would walk beside a troublemaker and tell him/her quietly that I knew the rules, and if "You" want to play, play within them.  Usually the kids catch on quickly and the game goes easy.  Parents on the other hand, I never hesitated to blow a whistle and stop play, and then stare at the coach of the team whose parents were going overboard.  After a few minutes of this, I would announce to the coach (loud enough for all to hear) that his team stood to forfeit the game if the behavior continued. (I never had to address the stands directly).  That usually got the desired result pretty quickly.  Then a little blowing off of steam can be tolerated.

[Darren Williams]

I have called Baseball, Football, basketball, and volleyball in kid and adult leagues, including high school games.  Took a couple "sports officiating" and "sports theory" classes in college.  I debated a bit if to say anything or post at all, but here goes...

Remember that people take their sports seriously, and so should the officials.
Games are about the players, not the fans, coaches or officials.
When you blow a call, and it will happen, forget about it and go on doing the best you can. And it's OK to admit it later.
Being hard of hearing is not bad thing.
It's not the officials job to be an announcer or analyst.
Remember that rules are mostly written to keep someone from taking unfair advantage, especially when you get into a position where you and your partners aren't sure of how to rule on them.
The games don't happen without officials, so thanks for doing the job. Sometimes it will suck, but mostly it feels good to call good game.

[webmost]

Sixteen years as a high school football official. My position was head linesman -- the cat on the sideline getting his ass chewed by the visiting coach. JV games on Thursdays; Varsity games Fridays; yoot leagues Saturdays == six or eight games a week. If you love sports, this is the best view in the stadium. Earnest young men laying it all on the line for one another six feet away from you. Home of the brave. Crucible of character. Never know where you'll see that special play epitomizing manhood.

Nasty parent made an intemperate remark? Buck up, buttercup. Intense coaches, passionate parents, that's exactly what makes a good league. Let them do their work; you do yours; those yoots will be better for both.

Coach, I highly recommend you get into it.

[Tom]

One thing about officiating wrestling and judo which I'm not doing, is that they're martial arts.  I've never seen parents trying to interject themselves in to a call.  Coaches that get too "enthusiastic" can be tossed from the meet.  Parents that are in the same boat can affect the scoring against their team. 

[Darren Williams]

I don't recall ever calling a game where I didn't have the authority to toss a coach or spectator.  Never did but thought about it several times.  Goes back to the be "hard of hearing" bit that can let situations take care of themselves.

If a coach or spectator is really going off, I found talking with the players, not about what the people loosing control are screaming about, had an effect where the players would almost get on my side. Mainly because I tried to let them know I was there doing my best so they could have a fair and fun game.  Mostly worked.

[Tom]

I don't care about the sidelines.  It's when they come down to the mat or in the zone of play.  The coaches know the boundaries of the their involvement and where the general public's starts.

I agree about having a thick skin.  Most times it's parents that are ignorant of the rules.

[webmost]

Quote from: Tom on Today at 12:47:48 PM

  Most times it's parents that are ignorant of the rules.

There's a math formula for this:

A = (I * R)^d

where
A = Accuracy of a call
I = Ignorance of the rules
R = Rooting interest
d = Distance from the play

Accuracy equals ignorance times interest to the power of distance

This formula explains why the irate parent at the far corner of the bleachers on the opposite side hollers "How could you not call that!"

We never threw any parents out. Tho I have heard of it happening once. I always figured if parents weren't passionate, then none of this would work. They're sposed to care, and it's human to go overboard. We did throw a couple coaches out. They're sposed to know better. But only for serious matters. One time, for example, on a super hot day we sent a player off for the rest of the game when he turned beet red and collapsed ... coach changed his shirt at halftime and sent him back in! Tossed that coach. But the other times was cause our Referee was a martinet. After a few more tosses by that ref, our association tossed him. I dunno about other associations of officials, but the ones I ran into, members were sincere in their desire to do the best job they could.

Jump in and help, Coach.

[Tom]

Under the newer rules.  Any concussion the player sits out.  Anyone that is not part of the team cannot approach the mat.  A rule change for this year, the coaches in the corner have to be seated during active mat time.  We'll  see how that goes.