Knightcourt

Has everyone forgotton that Station Camp also belongs to this district?

There has got to be a better way to get more consistent "judgement" calls from referees. On any given trip down the floor, there are any number of calls that are not made. There are walks, 3 seconds, illegal picks, and the infamous palming the ball. These are not called every time because refs understand that this would impede the flow of the game. But what about those calls that are not so common? Why does one referee call it while another does not? Why are they called against one team and not another? I am not saying that referees are intentionally biased, but they are seeing something. The state tournament is a place for referees that have consistent judgement about the game. I could care less about seeing a ref with perfect mechanics. I want to see refs with an understanding of the rules of the game. I want to see refs who understand that they are there for those players and the betterment of the game not the other way around. Perhaps we are evaluting the wrong things about referees.

I've said it before and I will say it again, they need to send the best officials to the state each year. If we try to send the best teams then we should also send the best refs. They should be accountable to coaches in some way. We the schools (coaches) pay the officials for each game officiated during the regular season but have no input on evaluation except for a little ranking sheet used before the season. How is it they can be employees of ours yet we have no evaluation process? There has to be a better way!! As far as officials sent to the state tournament, the best should be sent, not those that have just "put in their time". I have been to camps in the summer where officials were being evaluated and they did a better job because they were constantly being evaluated. There has to be a better system somehow. Coaches need to have some kind of evaluation process. After all everyone involved in the game should be working for the betterment of the kids that play this game.

My major question about officials at the State Tournament is "why not send the best officials to the tournament instead of the ones who have 'put in their time'"? Don't we try to send the best teams each year? If we try to send the best teams then we need to send the best officials. Also, the officials are paid by the schools but the schools or coaches have no input or evaluation process available to them during the course of the season. I can understand it being a thankless job, but if the officials knew they were being evaluated each game, I believe they would try and give their best. If they kept getting a "bad" evauluation then the supervisor would get an idea that it is not a personality conflict but the official needs to get better. To me it is just a "good 'ol boy system" that needs to be restructured.

I posted this thread back in the summer. Since school has started, and the season isn't that far away, I was wondering if anyone else had any thoughts? Can coaches have more imput?

I would be interested in seeing what other states do. I guess my question - Is there a better way? I would like as a coach to just have a little more say than one little rating sheet at the beginning of the season. I would like see if there is a better way than the current system that is in place. Anybody have any ideas or feel the same way?

This thread is not intended to bash officials. Its purpose is to discuss ways that could be presented to the TSSAA for the improvement of officials. I just returned with my team from a team camp that included a camp for officials. I noticed that some officials at this camp did a good job unlike my perception in a regular game. I wonder if they were doing better because they were being evaluated, which led me to believe that evaluations encourages them to do their best. We ask players to always give their best everytime they step onto the floor, what about officials? If they knew they were being evaluted everytime they refereed, would they do better? How hard would it be for coaches to fill out a computerized form after every game? I think coaches should have some input, since the officials are actually paid by the schools. They are our employees, yet we can't evaluate or have any voice other than a ranking sheet at the beginning of the year! If an official consistly got a poor rating, then they would know it is not necessarily a personality conflict. I believe coaches should have some kind of input. Would this improve the level of officials, since they are constantly being evaluated? I also would like to see implemented that when a supervisor attends a game and meets with the officials at halftime that a representative from each school be present. I have seen games called completely different after a conference with a supervisor at halftime. Lastly, why can't we send the best officials from each region to the state tournament rather than those that have "put in" their time? We try to send the best teams every year, what is wrong with sending the best officials? The coaches evaluations along with the supervisors could be a way to determine who goes. Anyone got any thoughts on the subject?