Recently I had to take a test that is regulated by the NFHS (National Federation of State High School Associations). The OSAA (Oregon State Athletic Association) and our association mandate it to be completed on time. It is comprised of one hundred true or false questions that are very wordy and sometimes misleading. To be certified as an official within the associations mentioned earlier, you must score at least an eighty. To become a playoff or state tournament official, you must score at least ninety. I am only in my third year of officiating, last year I studied long and hard and only scored an eighty-one. This year, I did not study at all and I scored an eighty-nine! I guess a year worth of experiences can teach you more than a book can.
Still, doing well on a test does not translate into doing well on the court. I do not know too many people my age that could handle the high-pressure situations as I have over the past couple of years. But then again, how many twenty-nine year olds do you know that have twenty years of experience within one avenue or facet? Think hard because I doubt you can name more than five to ten people you know, if that. I am extremely confidant in what I can do on a basketball court and I love the game. Loving it and learning from it and applying it are what basketball is about for life and me. Not many people get to love their jobs; I am one of the lucky few.
Soon, I will be writing a piece for REFEREE magazine on Goal Setting, which is a major part of my life in officiating. Without goals, you just would not make it anywhere, which goes for life in general. My new goal is to communicate more effectively with players and coaches. I will use an example from a tournament I did on the weekend in a nearby town.
The visiting team was up by over ten points and they were running up the score. There was less than two minutes remaining and the play was occurring to the left of me, as I was the trailing official. My partner was to the right of the play and I had the angle to call a kid whacking the shooters arm while he was in the act of shooting. It was an obvious foul and I was within five or six feet of the play to make the call. The visiting team’s coach went ballistic, jumping up and down and creating a scene. I told him to calm down and that I was not going to tolerate any more antics like those that he had just displayed. After the game had ended, I again approached him and asked him to be more conscious of his reactions and how they teach the grade five boys to disrespect officials. Of course, the coach just would not listen because he was right and I was wrong.
In the championship game, I had wiped the slate clear and started anew in my mind for this same coach. I feel, new game, new frame of mind and all else is done and over with. The coach had the audacity to accuse me indirectly through my partner that the game was over with before it had even started. But please, let us consider the fact his team was out hustled, out played, and at a disadvantage height wise. They were simply blown away in the final by a superior team and none of my calls, nor my partners, were consequence to their undoing.
Where in a test are you going to find the answer to that kind of situation? I just ignored the coach and his garbage and called a great game, it was too bad the fellow had to be an emotionally unstable loser for his boys to model themselves after. After all, when a coach or player cannot find enough respect for you they obviously do not have any for themselves. You will not find that in a test or rule book either.
No comments:
Post a Comment