Considering The Cost of Being A Referee

Everyone always wants to be in leadership or maybe a little higher up in the pecking order of things--and that holds true in tennis. Everyone always wants to be the referee but sometimes when you are one, you find out there are lot of things that go with the position.

In addition to having to make crucial decisions, here are some financial factors to consider:

$40 Annual USTA membership.

$75 Fee for eye exam (required)

$250 Meals and mileage to attend Texas Section workshop for referees in Austin (required)

$200 Cost of personal time to attend worshop (7 hours driving and 3 hours class time)

$565 Total cost for one year of being a referee excluding equipment.

Just a little food for thought if you are considering moving up the corporate ladder...

Poll Question of the Day

Be sure to check out today's poll question and give us your opinions...

There's nothing that stirs up debate more than our annual (required) officials schools. There are all kinds of options on the table so be sure to give us your input so we can pass it on to the powers that be.

Hope you are all having a great week!

BTW, there was no clear cut favorite in the coach's poll. That must mean that we like them all!

New Addition To The Blog

Be sure to check out the changes to our blog site!

Look on the right side and you can see links to different sites that are important for officials. Of course, there are links to all major tennis programs in Texas for your reading enjoyment.

We have also added a "poll section" where we will be posting various poll questions and you can vote. It should be a lot of fun...

Hope you like the changes!!!

A Monday Morning Surprise!

Wow! I woke up early this morning and much to my surprise--I had a Texas Section Officials Newsletter in my mailbox.

I thought the newsletter was very well done and covered most of the things that are important to all of us. I'm glad we have made progress on adding additional schools and training--and our committee is to be commended for taking these positive steps.

Still no remedy for the tournament directors/referee workshop that is required in Austin but maybe we'll see something done about that before the year 2015...

Also, no steps taken to rid us of the infamous Secret Ad Hoc Committee meetings held before each official Texas Section Officials Committee Meeting. Maybe if the committee members can ever get a straight answer about the secretive committee they will see that it stops--as it should.

Once again, good newsletter and very well done!!

Federer Gets Fined! What Are Your Thoughts?

It seems that fines are the order of the day at the US Open in 2009. Serena Williams tops the list with a $10,000 fine but Roger Federer was fined for using an audible obscenity in his confrontation with chair umpire, Jake Garner.

Seems that Jake allowed del Potro an inordinate amount of time to request a review and Federer confronted Garner. At that point, Garner motioned Federer to be quiet and Federer responded with an obscenity and informed him that he would talk when he wanted to. The obscenity was "shit".

I am just wondering about your feelings on this issue...

Like Father, Like Son--Only Better!

Our very own and illustrious,

MYRON KRUEGER

His awesome young son,

MITCH KRUEGER

One of the highlights of a father's life is when his son can beat him in tennis--and that day certainly has come for MYRON AND MITCH KRUEGER. After an illustrious and sometimes notorious career at Texas A&M, Myron set out to raise a champion--and he has suceeded!

Here are some of Mitch's accomplishments:

Mitch started playing tennis at 4 and is currently 15 years old. He trains at T BAR M Racquet Club in Dallas and is coached by Dave Licker. He attends school at Spring Creek Academy in Plano . He also trains periodically at the National Training Center at Chris Evert Academy in Boca Raton , FL.

Ranking History:

· 2006 #1 USTA Boy’s 12 Singles

· 2008 #4 USTA Boy’s 14 Singles

· 2009 #22 USTA Boy’s 16 Singles

· 2009 #565 ITF Junior World Ranking (May 2009) – Still climbing that ladder

Other Key Achievements:

· He was one of four nationally ranked juniors selected to star in the tennis documentary “50,000 Balls.” The documentary follows players who are preparing for the 2006 12’s National Hard Courts in Arkansas and is a behinds-the-scene look at the subculture of US junior tennis in its earliest stages. The documentary won numerous awards at film festivals and debuted on ESPN in June 2009.

· He was a finalist in Sports Illustrated’s 2008 Kid of the Year. He was the only tennis player out of the top-ten nominees.

· Selected by the USTA to travel with the US Men’s Davis Cup team to Madrid, Spain in their match against Spain in September 2008.

· He was awarded the 2008 Prince Plugged In All-American player of the year

· One of three players selected by the USTA in the summer of 2009 to train on red clay with Spanish national coaches at the Spanish National Training Center in Barcelona

· Received a wild card entry into the 2009 US Open Juniors

Angel Martinez: We're Proud of You!

ANGEL MARTINEZ

Grapevine HS Tennis Coach

GHS Tennis Coach Angel Martinez has been named one of two 2009 Starfish National Coaches of the Year by the United States Tennis Association. The award honors coaches who implement a "no-cut" policy for their high school tennis team. Martinez, who has a total of 25 years' experience as a tennis coach, has been at Grapevine for 10 years and has seen his teams win four district championships.

“Angel Martinez is being recognized at the national level for those things we’ve known for a long time at Grapevine High School,” said Dr. Jerry Hollingsworth, Grapevine High School principal. “Coach Martinez is a great tennis coach because his singular focus is on kids. He is truly passionate about the important work of shaping young lives. We couldn’t be more proud of this most deserved award.” In 2006, Martinez was named the United States Professional Tennis Association High School Coach of the Year for the Texas division, and he has earned the District 5-5A Tennis Coach of the Year award five times.

The USTA received 3744 applications from which twenty-two finalists were selected and two coaches are then selected as Starfish National Coaches of the Year. Martinez was one of two nominees from Texas. As a 2009 USTA Starfish National Coach of the Year, Martinez will be provided accommodations to attend and speak at the U.S. Open which begins on August 31, as well as at the National Tennis Teachers Conference in New York, held in conjunction with the U.S. Open. In addition, he will be one of the teaching Pros at the Arthur Ashe Day for Kids on August 29, celebrating the opening of the U.S. Open.

Officials Committee Meeting: What Was Done--and What Was Not Done.

This past Saturday our Texas Section Officials Committee met in Austin and accomplished some good and admirable things. They are to be commended for these steps:

* There will be at least three additional schools taught around the state in addition to the schools taught in January and February. This will enable officials to find a time and a date that works for them and not just one specific weekend in one specific location.

* The website will be updated with the assistance of Myron Krueger. There will be links to rules, tests, and hopefully the minutes to committee meetings. Hopefully this will include updating the newsletter on the website.

These are great steps and improved communication and opportunities will always lead to better officiating in Texas! However, here are some points that were not addressed:

* The existence of the secret Ad Hoc Committee meeting held before each official committee meeting. The meeting was held again this year. There is no problem with having this ad hoc committee meeting but if it is held, it should not be done in secret and minutes must be taken and those minutes should be shared at the general committee meeting. To violate these procedures is to violate Roberts Rules of Order. Sadly, these have seldom been followed...

* No steps were taken to correct the requirement of the referee or tournament director to attend a workshop in Austin before their tournament can be sanctioned. This material is already covered in the referee portion of the officials school and doesn't need to be repeated for a certified referee. If the tournament director is required to attend a workshop then workshops should be offered throughout the state and not just one Sunday morning in Austin...

Kudos to our Officials Committee members for their fine work. You are much appreciated around the state for your efforts "above and beyond the call of duty."

Serena, Serena...

Quote from Serena Williams: "I am going to take this _____ ball and shove it down your _____ throat and kill you."

What a night it was last night at the US Open. Our very own Serena Williams received a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct (abusing an official) and consequently lost her match with Kim Clijsters.

Here are a few observations from last night's fiasco:

* Kudos to the tournament officials for actually giving her a point penalty for her abusive behavior. It should have been an immediate default when Serena threatened to kill the lineswoman but at least they did something! Perhaps watching players break rackets all week long with no penalties may have made us a little dubious...

* Even worse than the on-court incident was Serena's post match interview. She actually would not tell the reporters what she had said and then added that she didn't feel that she owed the lineswoman an apology. Then to top it all off in the commentary by Lindsey Davenport, Lindsey said, "I'm so impressed with how Serena has handled all of this." What a load of bunk...

These are just a few of my observations. What are yours???

You can see it all right here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyq77Te87a0

9/11/2001

Lest we ever forget...

Officials Committee Meeting: Lots of Questions And Hopefully Some Solutions

Our Texas Section Officials Committee will be meeting this coming Saturday (September 12), and we hope there will be much progress made in this crucial meeting. There are some serious questions that need answers and some needs that should be addressed at this meeting. Here are the major questions and points of concern:

EXISTENCE OF A SECRET AD HOC COMMITTEE

It has been the policy of our Sectional Chairman to have a secret Ad Hoc Committee Meeting before the regular Officials Committee meetings in which all major decisions and policies are decided. No item would ever be placed on the agenda that has not been discussed and decided in this Ad Hoc Committee. This policy is simply not acceptable since the Officials Committee is the right group to make these crucial decisions (schools, instructors, and policies). Committee members should ask whether or not this Ad Committee still exists and if so, why.

OFFICIALS SCHOOLS

The Texas Section currently sponsors all the officials schools in Texas during the months of January and February (with the exception of San Antonio which is held in March). This policy means that there are no other opportunities during the other 10 months of the year for an official to attend a required school. If an official is unable to attend the specific school in his/her city, then they have to spend inordinate amounts of money to go to another school.

There is no logical reason for this policy to be continued. The budget monies are there (the officials in Texas rarely ever spend their budget allotment), the instructors are all over the state, and officials need additional opportunities to be certified. To begin with they could at least offer additional schools in key locations throughout the state during the summer and fall months to see the viability of the option.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT FOR TEXAS REFEREES & TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS

The current policy of the Texas Section is that the referee and/or the tournament director of all sanctioned tournaments MUST attend a workshop in Austin on a Sunday morning during the fall. We find this policy to be totally unacceptable and a requirement that defies logic.

In every REFEREE's school in Texas there is an entire section devoted specifically to Texas Section rules and regulations. This school is taught by a certified instructor and is offered in locations throughout the state so its begs the question as to why this requirement is being added to Texas referees.

If this requirement is valid, then workshops should be taught all over the state instead of just in Austin. This is a huge financial burden for officials and tournament directors that simply does not need to be...

Hopefully our Officials Committee will make some changes.

TEXAS SECTION COMMUNICATIONS

The level of communication between our leadership and officials in Texas is sadly lacking and nearly non-existent. The only level of communication we currently have is from the local presidents of associations if there is one--and none if there is no association.

As of today, the last communication from our Sectional Chairman on the Texas Section website for officials was December, 2008. The last newsletter was the Summer of 2008.

Come on folks, surely we can do better than this... There are plenty of very capable and willing people on the committee. Let's let them do their job.

These are just a few specific questions that should be answered on Saturday. Let's hope that they are and that we begin to see some credible steps being taken for officials in Texas.

How Do I Get ITA Training???

One of the most frequently asked questions that we receive is, "How do I get ITA training?" This is a legitimate question and one I hope I can answer for you...

First, we all need to understand that ITA officiating is really a creation all its own. Its not the same as USTA tournaments and certainly isn't the same a pro level tournaments. As an ITA official, you have coaches and players right there on the court with you and many times are placed in a high-charged and adversarily atmosphere--so you need to know your stuff!

Here are your options for training:

1. Contact your local ITA coordinator (see the previous blog post) and arrange for them to train you. I know all of the coordinators personally and can attest to their qualifications and willingness to train you.

2. Ask your coordinator to submit your name to the Chair Academy in Plano in May, or the Live Fire Workshop at Baylor in September. These are the two highest quality training opportunities in the nation but it is by invitation only and you can only be recommended by your local coordinator.

Here are some things to remember when you are looking for ITA training:

* You must know the ITA rules backwards and forwards. There is no substitute for this quality and trust me, the coordinator will know the truth...

* You must have a teachable spirit. If you don't, you won't be invited to receive training.

* You must be willing to rove as well as do chairs. The quickest way to lose your invitation for training is to say that you only do chairs.

* You must be willing to do matches without pay at the first. We have all done this so just grin and bear it. It will pay huge dividends in the future.

* Make yourself as available as possible. When I am training, I often ask people to observe or walk with me through high intensity matches before we put them in a chair. I'm always looking for those who are available and ready to go.

* Email or call your coordinator and let them know you are interested in training. We aren't magicians and don't know you are looking if you don't tell us.

EVERY location in Texas and Oklahoma needs more quality, trained ITA officials so I hope you will come and join us. Give your coordinator a call this week...

Head Over Heels Over ITA Scheduling

This is the time of year when everyone is busy submitting their availabilities for ITA matches in the spring--and hoping they get what they want! Its an awesome time but also an intimidating time for a new official hoping to break into the ITA ranks. Here are some hints:

* If you would like to work a specific school, email the coordinator and ask to be considered.
* BE SURE you are currently ITA certified or will be before the spring season.
* Have a good working knowledge of the ITA rules and hopefully have some collegiate experience.
* Attend all the training opportunities that you can; i.e. the Chair Academy in Plano and the Live Fire training in Waco.
* Be happy with whatever assignments you receive and remember that it takes a while to rise up in the ranks. Experience will come with time.

In order to help in your search, here are the coordinators for some key ITA locations:

Baylor University (Chuck Scott)
Big 12 (Cheryl Jones)
Oklahoma State University (Jim Lawson)
Rice University (Ginny James)
Southern Methodist University (Randy McDonald)
Texas A&M University (Sara Lammerts)
Texas A&M at Corpus Christi (Ralph Martin)
Texas Christian University (Myron Krueger)
Texas Tech University (Trevor Edgemon)
Tulsa University (Paul Jordan)
University of Arkansas (Mike Standrod)
University of Houston (Ginny James)
University of North Texas (Randy McDonald)
University of Oklahoma (Jim Lawson)
University of Texas (men) (Vickie Wright)
University of Texas (women) (Sue Trautmann)
University of Texas at Arlington (Randy McDonald)
University of Texas at Dallas (Randy McDonald)
University of Texas at Tyler (Millard Countryman)

If you would like to contact any of these coordinators, please email me at rmtennis@yahoo.com and I will gladly send you their contact information.

SPECIAL QUESTION: What do you do if you are inexperienced and would like to receive additional training in ITA matches?

ANSWER: All of the coordinators listed above would be glad to give you additional training. Feel free to contact any one of them to ask for their procedures and policies.