uh oh, ITA's got something to say. Who wrote that novel???

Without adding to the entourage of people complaining about the ref's i do wish to voice my opinion regarding the 'system' in which ABL ref's are selected.

As a Junior ref, i umpired Friday nights, all ages, div one games. I also umpired a few ABL trial matches. I then asked what the process was to become an ABL ref and was told that you must umpire seniors (div 2-5) for at least 18 months before being considered.

I had better things to do with my time, and didn't look to take my umpiring any further.

My issue is not so much that 'i coulda been' but how many other young refs are being disgruntled, turned away, held back by a system which doesn't allow for progression.

Unfortunately i dont have a solution, but i think this has been a cause of decreasing umpiring standards over the past little while.

The other issue i have, is the amount of abuse umpires cop. And for that i'd like to blame the umpire-in-charge. I encourage any UIC's to reply, however at the stadiums i play and coach at, they are around far too little.

I would like to see a system where any umpiring query is directed through them. This would allow for alot of pressure to be taken off the umpires, and also allow for any constructive critiscm to be passed down through a senior umpiure...in a more effective manner. This would allow umpires to develop their game, and not become so defensive.

I don't know the precise role of the UIC's, but i feel they should be on the court (sideline) watching all games, and ready to answer any questions (specific umpiring questions, not 'why didn't you call that hack') from coaches, spectators, and after games players.

That's my two cents.

Dear Peter Maravich,


All the UICs are doing the best they can out of the situation at their particular stadium.

"I don't know the precise role of the UIC's, but i feel they should be on the court (sideline) watching all games, and ready to answer any questions (specific umpiring questions, not 'why didn't you call that hack') from coaches, spectators, and after games players."

Very well in theory. However, due to some stadiums running 3 courts, the UIC can't be in 3 places at one time. Thus, the UIC may not be able to see everything that happens on every court.

Also, due to a lack of referees (whether numbers have dropped, or they have prior commitments, or are only able to referee the early games), some (if not most) UICs are now required to referee games to avoid having solos (or, in extreme cases, so that there's AT LEAST one referee on the game).

Thus, when someone is looking for the UIC, they may actually be reffing at the time. The choice HAS to be made: be UIC and don't ref, or have solos???

Tough decision!

Matt

Perhaps i was thinking a few steps ahead of myself. Of course we'd like to avoid solo's, and if that means having the UIC do a few games, then i guess that is what needs to be done.

Take the hypothetical of having sufficient umpires for a nights games.

Do you not think it would be better for umpires development that UIC were (if not on sideline) accessable to other parties?

Dont you think that umpires could develop better if they were receiving constructive critism from a senior umpire, whom they respect, or just get bagged on the court by parents and coach who often dont know what they are talking about?

And similarly, would the coaches, parents, players be more receptive of information and clarification coming from a UIC then from the junior umpire who is learning the rules him/herself, let alone the communication skills?

Finally, you failed to give your comments on the ABL system, any thoughts, or do you concur?

(Don't view this as UIC bashing, i understand they work hard and do a great job, i just think more/different roles could be taken.)

"Pistol Pete",

Perfect world: Yep, sure thing! UICs should be out there (Right on the money!) And I am....If I don't have to ref!

I do go out and talk to refs and watch them, giving them feedback!

As with the ABL system, I cannot comment as I only do Friday night umpiring due to my university commitments and also the fact that I am still just getting over my injury!
Thus, as I do not know the full story as to the ABL system, I cannot (nor should I) comment on it.

I don't want to get into a slinging match, but some refs are their own worst enemies by letting things get out of control.
There are many games where the ref lets things go for a while and they may warn a team 3 times, then finally have enough and 'lose it' by calling every little misdemeanour and totally frustrating everybody.
Use control early, Tech the coach or team mouthing off or whingeing (they will learn), then umpire consistently.
Same for the ref who wants to "talk" or is that argue, with a player or coach. After enough 'bait' is let out, the player or coach responds, only to be hit with a tech foul. This does not generate respect.
Some refs actually speak to a player at the break and explain a call. This is fine, but keep it short and a lot more respect will be held between both parties.
You can't have a game without refs, but the best ones are those you don't notice.

As a junior coach trying to limit abuse of umpires in my team I would actually like to see umpires hand out Techs much more often than they do now, be it to parents, players or coaches as in accordance with the above post. Allowing one player abuse a ref "because he is a little bit emotional" and allowing others to watch this abuse occur just enforces in player's minds that this type of behavior is acceptable. The above posts are spot on and it's about time umpires are instructed to hand out the techs a bit more frequently at junior level.

At the U20 men final at the State Champs an umpire gave a tech for swearing. Not swearing at anyone, but a player cursing himself for a mistake. If techs can be handed out this freely (which seemed excessive) surely Techs can be applied by umpires over all levels for directed abuse.

couldn't agree with you more DC!

Perhaps the Zero tolerance policy needs to be enforced!

Players and coaches need to know that the only person who, under the rules of basketball, is allowed to talk to an umpire is the on-court captain. Even then, i think, it must be during a break of play. Can anyone clarify this?

the problem with refereeing abl in this state, is most ref's are too afraid to clamp down too hard on player and coach behaviour, because of the simple fact the some ref's can end up doing the same mens/womens team's 2 or 3 times in a month. and if a referee does tech foul a player or coach they tend to have long memories!!!!
if you referee abl in one of the eastern states or state league in wa you quite often only ref certain teams once or twice over a WHOLE season and the discipline factor from most coaches is a lot tougher over in the eastern states.
most times here (and i'm not singling out any teams in particular) a coach will not discipline his player for arguing with a ref but take his side thus making out task of tech fouling someone that more difficult.
why should we try to discipline players if the coach will not discipline his player and in the back of your mind your thinking "well shit i've got these guys in 2 weeks and they might hold a grudge against me"
i still think there is time for coaches and players to take the lead and not make our job that much more harder than what it is.

I support the thought behind Peter Maravich's suggestion. Clearly coaches need an avenue to comment on a ref's performance in a constructive way. Many moons ago when I played amateur football the coach and capitan of each side provides a rating and brief comment on the umpires performance on the back of the official scorecard. The discpline of forcing feedback in writing took alot of the emotion out of the process and I believe provided essential feedback (both positive and negative).

anon - 37511

"players in the afl rarely argue"

that is the most incorrect statement i have ever heard. After every whistle, you see the AFL players give a spray to the umps.

Apart from that statement, your right, it shouldn't be part of the umpires duties to control players or coaches.

Peter,

Here is your answer on why you didn't get to ABA level.

How did you expect to go from Friday night league, to ABA, without having to referee any senior basketball leading up to it? Who do you think you are/were to just jump into the league? Noone I know has jumped straight into ABA without refereeing reserves first. I used to have to referee div 3s and 4s as I was playing reserves at the time I started refereeing in the ABA.

If you refereed reserves regularly and at a high standard, I'm sure you could have got into ABL in 3-6 months. 18 months is a little over the top, but if you aren't good enough, having that time frame could have been what you needed to get up to standard. Senior basktball is no where near the same as junior basketball. Just because you can possibly handle an u18 or u20s game, doesn't mean you can handle these semi-professional players (sometime professionals) on the floor. You would have to be kidding yourself if you had, or still have this attitude.

Makes sense Nathan

Nathan

thank you for your response.

Perhaps you missed my point of emphasis. I certainly didn't and dont think i was good enough to go straight to ABL, but i had done ABL scratch matches (pre-season), and didn't think i was 18 months away. After hearing the 'must ref seniors 2-5 for 18 months' i gave up reffing. The point i was trying to make was, how many other young refs get turned away after being told this???

I certainly wasn't having a whinge about not reffing ABL level, just questioning the system of getting there, possibly, detering or holding back some ref's.