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Behind d Whistle - Feb 10 2007
Into the refereeing world
Discussions amongst certain referees, from different sports, who officiate at the top local level, will certainly reach a point where ultimately reference is made to the new blood entering the referee world.
Usually one is quick to point that certain young referees come forward for advice, mostly for some tips in order to move up the local ranks. Speaking on my part, with my limited experience of the ten or so years, I urge them to seek as much feedback as possible on their refereeing performances due to the fact that this same feedback can give a referee the perfect indication whether he is progressing in the right direction or not.
One must always realize that feedback entails a number of requisites. Firstly (and most importantly) one should be ready to accept criticism. If not, then it makes no sense (and a pure waste of time) to obtain feedback.
Additionally one should forget pride and be ready to ask and accept feedback from anyone, even those who may be in lower referee classes. I am not joking here. I have to admit that even today, I occasionally stop to speak with a junior referee and bang, he comes up (consciously or not) with a phrase or observation that enlightens me either in my task on the field of play or vis-à-vis general referee training.
One of the mottos I try to envisage in my mind (and hopefully also to others) is that nobody is great and ‘almighty’, especially on a small island like ours. Of course one (a referee, athlete, coach, administrator, etc.) should be respected for his achievements and capabilities but one should not expect to be untouchable. In this regard, I honestly believe that being humble eventually reaps very good dividends.
Self-assessment (used quite well locally in a particular sports sector and hopefully should be used in the same, or better, manner in all sport sectors) is also a great way to assess your own track. A game diary might result in a positive ‘tool’ to help young referees assess their performance, always if carried out and done honestly.
As many experienced and knowledgeable referees state around the world, one must always remember that any road to success (whatever this may be to a particular referee) will always contain some pain or source of disappointment along the way.
In these natural situations, a referee should do his very best and try to keep focus on his goals and once a particular goal is reached, the referee should reward himself as this might result in a great means to move further to wider or more extensive goals.
On a positive note, I would like to concur with what other officiating theorists say that if you set and reach the right goals, the harder you work toward these goals, the sweeter would be your taste of success. Are not these the joys of refereeing?
Remembering these moments should be the key to make us move forward and aim for higher possible goals. I am a stern believer in attitude being a very important in-built psychological characteristic of winners.
In this regard, if any young referee comes forward for advice, I would try to make him aware that he must take care of his total attitude, both on and off the court, especially in delicate moments when the referee is being made the scapegoat.
There is nothing more unpleasant than the whining of pathetic losers (sorry, but I could not help not using such a term) who refuse to take responsibility but, rather, blame others for their failures. During some hotly contested game (in whatever sport), the refereeing can easily become a paramount issue.
I honestly believe that in many cases this occurs not because of any lack of skill or qualifications on the part of the referee/s (most probably a top level game will have the best referees of the moment) nor does this result from an increase in the number of "tough calls" the referees have to make (there are always difficult judgments to make in a game). Sadly, refereeing becomes frequently the principle element because of a clear lack of team character. It is no secret that one of the characteristics of athletic competition is that it is so human.
Referees are human too and, therefore, they can make mistakes. It is also human for a player/coach to perceive the calls going against him as unfair. However that is the point at which one then chooses what kind of human he is to be. Those who realize that the referees’ calls even out and that it is wise to focus on doing your best as a player/coach during the minutes of play, definitely end up realising an overall higher human potential and performace than do those who opt (sadly) to whine continuously and easily commence to play the victim.
Certain people state that referees have the toughest job in sports and all they get is anguish over the job they do. Although I do not completely agree to this statement, my conclusion today is that a great number of referees I know are hard working, honest and take their work seriously. The very best want one thing above anything else, to get it right every time.
vassallobernard |
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, Feb 20 2007, 10:19 AM EST
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