Just a reminder that we are moving into the last 3 weeks of the high school basketball season; teams, coaches, fans and officials can get irritable. With officials dealing with coaches, I suggest the following (BTW- it should be part of a standard pre-game discussion): 1. Answer any respectful question with a quick, respectful reply. 2. Have some canned responses prepared. "Coach - your player created all the contact." "Coach - Sorry, I didn't see it that way." 3. Ignore comments or statements such as "you are missing a good game", unless they become repetitive or the coach is loud enough to show you up. Then deal with it. 4. Give an official verbal warning as you see fit. A coach should not have a comment on every single call. 5. If a player is creating havoc on the floor, ensure you inform the coach. So when you deal with it, the coach won't be surprised. 6. Assess a technical foul if necessary; an official warning is not mandatory. 7. If a technical foul is assessed, ensure the non-calling official gets you pointed in the right direction and reminds the coach to sit the remainder of the contest. 8. One official should rarely call 2 technicals on a head coach. If the coach is that bad, he/she should get a direct technical foul from each official. 9. Bring your "A" game to every event. Expect the unusual. Work hard the entire game and blow your whistle right to the end. 10. Let's finish the season strong! We will review this topic again at the meeting this coming Sunday, Feb 4th, 9AM at the MetroWest B&G Club. |
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