An open letter to the refs of my daughters' game this afternoon

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

When it comes to refs for youth sports, you're usually getting what you pay for. Often kids b/c they're making about $15 per game (basketball, bit more for baseball, $20-25), with very limited training--if any.

Given this fact, it's always a mystery to me why people get upset about youth league officiating. Realize it's, largely, a problem from the jump.

Makes more sense to get upset with the source, the league itself.

I rarely got upset because it's to be expected. The refs in that league were college kids by and large. To not know that players can move along the baseline after a made basket was mind-numbing.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Stewie

I rarely got upset because it's to be expected. The refs in that league were college kids by and large. To not know that players can move along the baseline after a made basket was mind-numbing.

I hear you, but this just shows the level of training and selection that go into making the decision to hire an official. Here's an example of the screening process:

"We need a ref for Sat., 10:00 AM. You interested?"

"How much?"

"$17, games last only 1 hour."

"I'll be there." The end.

I know, b/c I officiated as a way of working my way through college. Now, I know a little bit about basketball, so any given league I worked for got "lucky." But, it certainly wasn't b/c they looked for qualified people. They just wanted bodies.

[kstater]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

I hear you, but this just shows the level of training and selection that go into making the decision to hire an official. Here's an example of the screening process:

"We need a ref for Sat., 10:00 AM. You interested?"

"How much?"

"$17, games last only 1 hour."

"I'll be there." The end.

I know, b/c I officiated as a way of working my way through college. Now, I know a little bit about basketball, so any given league I worked for got "lucky." But, it certainly wasn't b/c they looked for qualified people. They just wanted bodies.

You're probably the ****er that called a lane violation on me for having 1 foot over the 3 point line on a guy's FT in a rec league game one time.

[Kyle DeLexus]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

When it comes to refs for youth sports, you're usually getting what you pay for. Often kids b/c they're making about $15 per game (basketball, bit more for baseball, $20-25), with very limited training--if any.

Given this fact, it's always a mystery to me why people get upset about youth league officiating. Realize it's, largely, a problem from the jump.

Makes more sense to get upset with the source, the league itself.

Reminds me of our Intramural Championship softball game. We hadn't lost all year, but 2 of our guys couldn't make it to this game so we were down by 1 in the last inning. With 2 outs one of our guys beat out a throw big time but was called for the final out. He went absolutely crazy and just ran at the ump yelling the entire time. He got into his face and more or less disagreed with the call.

The ump not knowing what to do just yelled back "I'M NOT PAID ENOUGH TO MAKE THAT CALL!"

Our entire team bust up laughing and that was the end of it.

[Mile High Mania]

My son plays in an 8 year old league... and the refs call EVERYTHING... it's good, but was surprising in the first game. Some of the kids have done this for 2 seasons, a few were new. It was amazing to sit through the first 2 games as I believe the scores were 10-8 and 8-6 with about 337 whistles blown for various things. The kids were so confused, but the thing I liked was the refs took time with each whistle to quickly explain what happened.

Yesterday was game #6 and while there are still a lot of whistles, the games run smooth and the kids are a hell of a lot smarter now about how to play.

[Saul Good]

An open letter to anyone who bitches about girl's basketball officiating:

Shut the f*** up.
That is all.

[Braincase]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

An open letter to anyone who bitches about girl's basketball officiating:

Shut the f*** up.
That is all.

No. You're probably one of the punks that calls the game.

[jidar]

I'm a youth sports veteran here, have a 15 year old and a 12 year old who play about everything between them.

My experience is that there is nothing on the earth so unreasonable biased, and just plain blind to reality as a sports parent, so I figure these threads are about 95% one-sided horseshit every time.

[Braincase]

Originally Posted by jidar

I'm a youth sports veteran here, have a 15 year old and a 12 year old who play about everything between them.

My experience is that there is nothing on the earth so unreasonable biased, and just plain blind to reality as a sports parent, so I figure these threads are about 95% one-sided horseshit every time.

In our half-time conversation with the refs, we started off pointing no less than three times that they should've called penalties on our kids, twice on the head coach's kid for travelling.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you, we all want our kids to win. I want my kids to win, but not at the expense of a skill set they need to learn to advance.

[jidar]

Originally Posted by Braincase

In our half-time conversation with the refs, we started off pointing no less than three times that they should've called penalties on our kids, twice on the head coach's kid for travelling.

Not that I'm disagreeing with you, we all want our kids to win. I want my kids to win, but not at the expense of a skill set they need to learn to advance.

I hear you, there. Just saying you want to be on guard to make sure you aren't being unreasonable. I catch myself doing it sometimes.

[baitism]

If you are coaching youth sports and are obsessed with winning, losing, and having great referees you are in it for all the wrong reasons.

[Braincase]

Originally Posted by baitism

If you are coaching youth sports and are obsessed with winning, losing, and having great referees you are in it for all the wrong reasons.

Like I said in post 31, advancing the skill set has to come first. If you don't let a player know about their mistakes, they're stagnating, and when they go out for the school teams later, they won't have the skills they need to make the team.

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by baitism

If you are coaching youth sports and are obsessed with winning, losing, and having great referees you are in it for all the wrong reasons.

The problem arises when you teach the kids one thing and that teaching is negated by a ref that doesn't know the rules. I'm all for teaching the kids and having fun, but when my players looked to me, I had no answer but to say, "He missed the call," and it rings hollow. It's confusing to a youngster.

[Braincase]

Originally Posted by jidar

I hear you, there. Just saying you want to be on guard to make sure you aren't being unreasonable. I catch myself doing it sometimes.

I'm not going to make myself out for being a saint in these things. I'm usually good for one T or Unsportsmanlike per season.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by jidar

I hear you, there. Just saying you want to be on guard to make sure you aren't being unreasonable. I catch myself doing it sometimes.

No way, man. These refs wake up every morning and decide to screw over some 12 year old girls' basketball game. It's high time that somebody finally stood up to them. Why don't parents ever freak out and do something about it? It's totally justified.

Yay thread!!!