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Accountability for officials


Knightcourt
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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?

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The officials are probably not real happy to start with about their pay. Metro schools cannot pay any more because we are busy shelling out money for security. We can't pay the officials any more than we already do. The better officials are going to Juco and NAIA games to make more money. On any given night we could have a tremendous officiating crew. Then again, on any given night we could have the bottom of the officiating barrel. Knightcourt, you are right. We pay the bills but without any guarantee of services rendered. If we complain, it's just sour grapes on our part. The worst thing that happens to an official is they just don't call your games again (except for tourney time). When that happens they spread the word in the officiating circles so that the other officials are "ready" for that team or coach. I think we need to have some kind of checks and balances for officiating.

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I agree. I know of states that have evaluations from the coaches after every game and it seems to work pretty well. With this kind of system if an official constantly gets low ratings something can be done. I think TSSAA should impliment so sort of evaluation system.

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Coaches are evaluated by anyone who wants to pay $4. What other profession puts their work on display 30 + times a year in front of hundreds/thousands? About the officials...I don't have the answer but evaluations after a game would not interest me. Some questions: How many of you want to worry about filling out a survey after a game, win or lose? How fair would the evaluation be to an official after a close loss? Evaluating them is a must but when/how often should it be done? How many teams do you play that use refs from a different association? One idea I have is every district has a "team" of officials that are used all year for your district games. Not the same guy or same crew every game but a group of 2-3 from say 7. You would be much more familiar with them and they with you but that would create problems with what group your district got. Just a thought. Until we DO something the poor officiating will not go away.

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I understand that the officials do not get paid a lot of money and I do sympathize. However, they did take the officiating job to supplement their other income and should therefore give it some priority. It seems that we are concerned that the occasional problem with the refs has become problematic among a larger group. I sometimes feel that the refs may have a personal agenda(not against a coach or team, but work the next day or trouble at home)that may interfere with the calls they make in a game. I agree that some form of evaluation needs to take place. It does not even have to be a primary component of a ref's evaluation as long as I do have a voice. I may not like filling out an evaluation after every game, but if it leads to more accountability and better officiating, I am all for it

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Moe, I think if coaches took it seriously and put some distance between the end of the game and the evaluation, it could be good. I'm not a coach, but I know when I watch something on tape, I'm a lot more objective about it than when I watch it live. It also gives you a chance to look closer to see if there's a good reason the official missed a call, and you're also more likely to notice the good calls. I think many times supervisors focus too much on mechanics and not enough on actually calling the game.

 

On a related point, the problem of officials not being very accountable isn't just a HS problem. I work in college athletics, and there was one game we had this past season where the conference's supervisor of officials apologized to us for how bad our refs were ƒ€” BEFORE the game.

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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?

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Guest nthezone

I really dont think that coaches are going to want to deal with filling out papers on their officals for the night after a game. Officals have one of the toughest jobs ever, if you have ever refed a game, you will know what I mean. A ref walks into the gym and a %100 of the people are your friends, by the time you leave you only have %50 of the people on your side.....the winning team. And occasionally someone from the losing team will still think you did a pretty good job. In my opinion, I dont think a referee makes a bad call on purpose. There will obviously be times that a ref is going to miss a call....simply because no one is perfect. Officiating supervisors see each referee at least once a year doing a game, and most of the time its alot more than once. I've been to a TSSAA officals meeting and yes, the supervisors do a good job of telling the refs the correct ways of making signals and the complaints they have received about each ref. But as far as coaches filling out anything about an official, I think the majority of the coaches, officals, and supervisors will disagree with it.

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Posted by nthezone:

I really dont think that coaches are going to want to deal with filling out papers on their officals for the night after a game.

 

That's why I'm specifically saying to wait a day or two before filing the evaluation.

 

Posted by nthezone:

Officals have one of the toughest jobs ever, if you have ever refed a game, you will know what I mean. A ref walks into the gym and a %100 of the people are your friends, by the time you leave you only have %50 of the people on your side.....the winning team.

 

Not necessarily. My teams have lost and I thought the refs were good, and my teams have won and I thought the refs were terrible. Officiating is not for everyone. I've called some little kids games, I stink at it, I realize it, and that's why I'm not pursuing it. If you're going to officiate, you better be prepared to deal with all that entails.

 

Posted by nthezone:

In my opinion, I dont think a referee makes a bad call on purpose. There will obviously be times that a ref is going to miss a call....simply because no one is perfect.

 

I think most of us understand that. We're not asking for perfection, we're asking for consistency. There's a difference. I understand you're going to miss some calls. I don't understand a nothing handcheck being called 50 feet from the basket, by the official under the opposite basket, where control of the ball is affected while somebody getting shoved out of bounds on a rebound isn't a foul.

 

Posted by nthezone:

Officiating supervisors see each referee at least once a year doing a game, and most of the time its alot more than once. I've been to a TSSAA officals meeting and yes, the supervisors do a good job of telling the refs the correct ways of making signals and the complaints they have received about each ref.

 

That's part of the problem! They focus too much on making the right signal and keeping shirts tucked in and keeping spandex undershorts the right color (saw one of the Memphis officiating supervisors pull Ingle Martin's uniform shorts up one time to show his coach that Martin was wearing the wrong color shorts underneath his jersey). I'm all for that stuff, but it should be secondary. You should work on that *AFTER* you learn what is and is not a foul, what is and is not a shooting foul, what is and is not a charge.

 

My team lost a game last year because the refs apparently didn't know that there is no continuation in high school ball. If you get fouled on the drive and you make a layup after the foul, it's on the floor. If you get fouled on a pump fake, come down, and go back up and make the shot, it's a floor foul. There were three very obvious mis-calls on that rule, and in the end, it cost us a game. I wouldn't want to win that way either. There's another official I know of in Memphis who calls a charge every time the player with the ball collides with a defensive player...it doesn't matter whether the defensive player was set or if he undercut the guy in the air...it was a charge. That kind of stuff needs to be corrected, and you're more likely to get it corrected using some sort of a feedback system.

 

Posted by nthezone:

But as far as coaches filling out anything about an official, I think the majority of the coaches, officals, and supervisors will disagree with it.

 

I think, if instituted properly, it could be a good system. The officials would probably learn more from their mistakes than they do now, and the supervisors would have a better idea what the problems are and how seriously the coaches see them as problems.

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Let me begin by saying that there are some very good officials out there but as in anything, there are some that give the the profession a terrible name. I agree that there has to be a better system to hold the officials accountable. I don't want someone who's going to call in favor of my team or against my team. I want it to be fair and unbiased. I don't like to see any team or kid cheated out of a win because of poor officiating. We pay our money to watch a game but we expect the coach to do his best and the kids to do theirs. Why should we expect anything less from the person holding the whistle.

 

I'm really tired of hearing about their pay scale. Not many of us feel that we're paid enough in our jobs and I'm sure we'd all like to see a little more in the pay envelope each week. The fact is they chose to be a referee and they probably knew the pay scale before they decided to do the job. I'm paying $5.00 at the gate now and I don't want to contribute anymore of my hard earned money towards their paycheck.

 

The bottom line is the officials have a job to do and they need to do it to the best of their ability. As in any job, if their best ability is substandard, they need to be gone.

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