Gender & Division Diverse View of Coaches

In my original posting about ITA coaches I only listed the men's programs--lest I be considered gender and program biased, I am adding some of our fine women's coaches as well as some Division III and Junior College coaches.

They are all a fine lot indeed...

Marty Berryman

Collin College (Plano, Texas)

Sally Brown
Howard Payne University

Jeff Hammond

Texas Christian University

Bobby Kleinecke
Texas A&M University

Sujay Lama

University of North Texas

Younes Liman

University of Texas at Arlington

Lauren Meisner

Southern Methodist University

John Peterson

Tyler Junior College

Joey Scrivano

Baylor University

Oliver Trittenwein
University of Texas at San Antonio

Shane Williford

Hardin-Simmons University

Brian Whitt

University of Texas at Dallas

Coaches--Friend, Foe, or Necessary Part of Life?

One of the greatest attributes and necessities in an ITA match is the collegiate coach--and we all have opinions and feelings about each of them--just as they do about us... Personally, I think our officials in Texas and the Big 12 are the finest in the country and certainly appreciate all they bring to the game of tennis and to our lives as officials.

Each of us can share a multitude of stories about encounters and experiences with different coaches--and they range from hilarious to amazing. We would welcome some of your favorite stories about our coaches!

Listed below are some of the coaches in Texas the Big 12. OU is currently without a coach so we would also welcome your comments about the identity of their next coach...

Once again, thanks to all our coaches for the fine job they do and for the role they play in our officiating lives.

Diego Benitez

Univeristy of Texas at Arlington

Dave Borelli
Texas Christian University

Michael Center

University of Texas

Steve Denton

Texas A&M University

Matt Knoll

Baylor University

Carl Neufeld

Southern Methodist University

James Wadley

Oklahoma State University

University of Oklahoma

???????

Gender Biased or Just Plain Sexist?

Sonia Sotomayor

Supreme Court Nominee

Interesting quote from Sonia Sotomayor: "I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life."

Hopefully the "gender police" or the "diversity patrol" won't read that. It would disqualify her from being on the Executive Committee (hopefully).

What's even scarier is her statement that the Supreme Court is where you "make policy." But then we shouldn't be too surprised in the Texas Section since policy is made by a very small and select ad hoc committee rather than the Texas Section Officials Committee.

Just a little food for thought...

The Joys And Pitfalls of Evaluating

One of the most feared, dreaded, and necessary events in the life of an official is EVALUATION TIME. This is the time in which a seasoned and trained official observes a newer official to evaluate and give advice for his/her improvement. Its not all bad and is a requirement if you ever want to advance in pro tennis or go to the US Open.

Evaluations are not a requirement to do grass roots tennis or ITA tennis but evaluations do take a more subtle form at these levels. All officials are evaluated by their referees and correctly so. At this level, if you fail your evaluations you probably won't be working any longer.

I did notice that Bruce Avery and Joe Buys were busy evaluating officials at the NCAA tournament. Bruce and Joe are two of the finest evaluators we have so I'm sure the officials got some great input.

Now, we would like to hear your evaluations of the NCAA officials. I know that many of you were there so I think it would be good to see how we would evaluate those from around the country.

Here are some things I noted at the NCAA tournament:

1. The chair officials looked very sharp and were very astute in their chair basics.
2. The chair officials seemed to be very quick with their overrules.
3. The chair officials were extremely slow in posting the scores on the electronic scoreboards. Nearly without exception, they would mark their cards, say the score, and then finally update the electronic scoreboard.
4. The NCAA officials seemed to spend an inordinate time worrying about crowd behavior and standing and staring menacingly into the crowds. I thought this was interesting when I observed nary an incident in the crowds while I was at the tournament.
5. The NCAA officials seemed to walk out to the chairs too often and seemingly to ask if they needed a drink of water or for a social visit. I saw no chair official encounter any problem that would necessitate a visit from the referee.
6. The NCAA officials seemed to delight in walking pompously through the crowds and whispering to other officials as if they held some state secret. This kind of behavior surely doesn't foster trust among the crowd people.

These are just a few observations I had. We would love to hear your evaluations...

And Then There Were None...

The Baylor women's doubles team lost in the semi-finals yesterday so there are no Big 12 representatives in today's finals.

Hope you enjoy them anyway...

Congratulations to all of the individual Big 12 players and SMU doubles team for their fine showing this year and to the UT, Baylor, and A&M teams for making the team tournament. We are proud of you!

And Then There Was One

After the quarter final round at the NCAA's today there is only ONE Big 12 representative left in the tournament--and that is the Baylor women's doubles team of Borsanyi and Broosova.

Good luck tomorrow ladies! We hope you bring an NCAA Doubles Championship trophy home to Waco...

Big 12 & SMU Players Still Winning At The NCAA's

The honor of the Big 12 Conference is still being upheld at the NCAA Championships--but just barely. Conor Pollock (Texas A&M) is still in the singles and doubles (with Austin Kraijecek) and Carvalho and Rojmar (Texas Tech) are still alive in the men's doubles.

There are no Big 12 women left in the singles draw but Borsanyi and Broosova (Baylor University) are still competing in the doubles.

Good luck to all our Big 12 representatives!

The Mustangs of SMU (and Conference USA) are not to be outdone with the ladies doubles team of Lesniak and Malyarschikova still winning in the doubles draw. Congratulations to the Lady Mustangs on a job well done!

Could There Be An Anti-Baylor Bias At The NCAA's?

There is no doubt in any valid tennis player's mind that Baylor University plays the finest tennis in the Big 12 and some of the finest in the entire nation. For those of us who officiate, we usually find the Baylor players to be fine young men and women and the coaches some of the best. The only complaint we tend to hear is that the Baylor crowd (and one young man in particular) are over the edge but that too is up for debate.

Since Baylor is without a doubt one of the premier ITA programs in America do you think it is possible that there is an anti-Baylor bias being shown in the NCAA this year? Consider the following:

* Baylor men were in the top 10 yet were sent to Tulsa for their regional instead of hosting in Waco. Don't get sidetracked with this ridiculous argument about travel for the #4 team in the regional because that is disproved on every hand.

* The NCAA officials regularly watch for the Baylor boy, Kendall, when he comes into the tennis facility in College Station. Seems that when Kendall wears regular clothes and cheers (just as long and loudly) for UCLA, nothing is done but the moment that he dons a Baylor shirt, he is escorted out of the facility by the security guards. I personally overheard one of the top NCAA officials bragging to a set of officials how he had seen to it that Kendall was quickly removed from the facility. An official bragging about removing someone kind of negates the reason for his removal--and I would have serious reservations about those reasons. Those of us who serve as referees in the Big 12 deal with Kendall on a regular basis and seem to have no problems controlling his behavior.

* One of the NCAA officials publicly chastised the Baylor women's team for cheering too loudly when they were at midcourt for the deciding match in their dual. I'm not sure its possible for a women's team to cheer too loudly--and especially after watching the Duke and Georgia women cheer in their semi-final match.

* An assistant coach for a Big 12 university recently led a cheer (in his coaching uniform) during their match with Baylor in which they chanted to "send the Nazis back to Germany." This event is so incredulous that it is nearly beyond belief but it is indeed a fact and did happen--with no punitive actions being taken against the school and/or coach.

These are just a few events that cause us to wonder... Not saying that there is an anti-Baylor bias but there is food for thought.

And The Wheels Came Off At The NCAA's

"And the wheels came falling off" is an age old expression and one that came true yesterday for the Big 12 players at the NCAA tennis tournament.

All of Baylor's players (men and women) lost in the first round as well as all two of A&M's men players. As of today (5-22-09), Conor Pollock is still in the main draw--and we wish him luck!

Such is a day in the life of the NCAA tournament but a sad one indeed for the Big 12 representatives.

To Cheer Or Not To Cheer--That Is The Question...

"To cheer or not to cheer" seems to be one of the prevading questions in ITA tennis these days. Its a question that we wrestle with during the school year and then this year it has become quite an issue at the national tournaments.

At the Men's Junior College National Tournament in Plano this past week, the teams and fans were encouraged to yell and support their team as loudly as they wanted. As referee, I felt that it was a wise decision and one that would increase the excitement and interest in our tournament--and it proved to do exactly that! On the last night of our tournament we had four doubles teams playing at the same time (with a chair official on each court) and the fans were louder than I have ever heard but very respectful of the opposing teams and fans. When we were through, one coach said to me, "this is the most fun I have ever had in a college tournament."

If we choose to stifle the excitement what we will basically do is tear the heart right out of collegiate tennis. It is time that we all wake up to the fact that college kids and fans are there to have a good time and support their team with all their hearts--and we as officials are not self-appointed guardians of "silence." The last thing I would like to see in collegiate tennis is a Wimbledon-like atmosphere. (If we do, you can be sure that the young people will stay at home.)

One of the arguments used for stifling crowds is that they will get out of control. Crowd control is the responsibility of the home institution and every university I have ever seen does a great job in monitoring their crowds. I have been to collegiate campuses throughout America and I have never yet seen a crowd so out of control that a wise security team can't handle them.

It does seem strange to me that the crowds are regularly being stifled at the NCAA tournament this week in College Station--but when the tournament is held at the University of Georgia there is virtually no crowd control and people come from everywhere to "bark" at the players and nothing is done.

My simple idea is this: let them cheer as loudly and as long as they want.

2009 NCAA Team Tournament

Congratulations to the University of Texas Men's Tennis team for going all the way to the semi-finals. They lost a hard fought match to USC but the entire team and coaching staff can be proud of a job well done.

Baylor University had both a men's and a women's team in the quarter finals this year. Congratulations to both teams and their coaches.

The Aggies' men's tennis team made it to the NCAA tournament this year but fell to the #2 seeded Mississippi team. Congrats to the Ags on a great year.

The Big 12 Conference can certainly be proud of their representatives this year.

2009 National Men's Junior College Tennis Tournament

The 2009 Men's National Junior College Tournament concluded today and it was a rousing success. In spite of a lot of rain delays, there was a lot of great tennis played and a lot of good officiating dispensed...

To get the week started there was a time of bonding and preparation for our own Myron Krueger (Ft. Worth) and Sara Lammerts (College Station).


A group of weather weary officials prepare to load up for a trip to North Park Mall.

Target was another location on our agenda...

Crew Chief, Lee Ann Bain (Austin), gets some advice from Myron Krueger (Ft. Worth), Gary Tolbert (Dallas), and Vickie Wright (Austin.)

Tournament referee, Randy McDonald (Plano), gets modeling advice from Lee Ann Bain (Austin.)

Roz Tuerk (Commerce) gets things kicked off after a rain delay.

Cathy Kennan (Grapevine) gets a little hug before her singles final.

Kevin Holmes (Mesquite) prepares to officiate the men's final match.

Kevin Holmes in action with his men's final participants.

Gary Tolbert (DeSoto) studiously prepares for his chair match.

As usual, Myron, Vickie, and Tom are found around the food table!

Vickie Wright (Austin) finally springs into action for her singles final.

Tom Wright (Austin) faithfully awaits the arrival of his players.

2009 Chair Academy

The 2009 Chair Academy is now history--and it was one of the best we have ever had! Shown above is a group picture of this year's participants.

What a crew of instructors! Pictured above is Bruce Avery, Brookie Green, Marc Archuleta, Cheryl Jones, and Joe Buys. Thanks guys for doing such a great job...

A special shot of Brookie Green and Cheryl Jones modeling Brookie's new red shoes!

The infamous trio of Brookie Green, Marc Archuleta, and Cheryl Jones.

Scott Humphrey and Roger Mills from Austin led a great contingent of our new officials.

Definitions

Since we live in a society filled with lawsuits and many rabid accusations, I would like your input on what certain terms actually mean. Sometimes a formal definition is not the same as reality and I would sure welcome a discussion on these topics. These are very specific to the tennis world so let's be specific in our definitions. I will try to publish all comments I receive in regard to these definitions:

GENDER DIVERSE
GENDER NEUTRAL

Perhaps if we better understand these terms we can better function in our tennis officiating world with all our new guidelines.

Understanding The Nature of A Blog

BLOG: A frequently updated personal journal chronicling links, events, and opinions at a web site intended for public viewing.

Since we now live in a new age of communication one of our greatest tools is the BLOG. As we move along this road of advancing technology, we need to keep some simple guidelines in mind...

* A blog belongs to the owner and he/she is free to express any opinion they desire. Whether you agree or disagree is your choice and you can expand upon that premise by choosing to read or not read the blog.

* There is a huge difference between the blog post and comments. The author of the blog does not write the comments and is free to publish whichever comments they choose to publish. In our case, we do not publish comments that are obscene or personal attacks.

* A blog is a great communication tool and should be used by all contemporary organizations. Noone should be afraid of a blog--they don't bite!

* A blog normally posts the opinions of the author. No need to get upset about it, that's the basic nature of a blog. Most blog authors know how to write and the boundaries of their writings. There are some totally crazy blogs out there on the internet but we will avoid them at all costs.

* Sometimes a blog author will post something to stimulate conversation. They may or may not be his personal views but are published to read different viewpoints. No need to hyperventilate here, just enjoy the discussion.

* Our blog is intended specifically for tennis officials and we try to publish posts that are of interest or deal with issues confronting officials. From time to time, we might deviate with a little political humor but I try to keep it at a minimum.

Hopefully these guidelines will help people understand what a blog is all about. Seems that lately I have been accused of things that are very untrue. When questioned about these accusations, I find that people are equating me with comments that are posted on my blog. Trust me, if it comes from me it will be in my blog posting. I am not afraid to stand up for what I have written...

I have found over the years that if a blog questions people or policies that are in authority, sometimes there is a negative reaction. That's fine with me. If you can't stand the heat, don't stay in the kitchen!

Overall, having a blog is one of the greatest joys in my life. I meet people everywhere who read the blog. They may or may not agree but at least we're all talking and enjoying something together.

Since you are here and reading this, welcome aboard for the journey... It should be a good one!

2009 Men's National Junior College Tournament Begins on May 11th

The 2009 Men's National Junior College Tennis Tournament begins on Monday, May 11, in Plano, Texas. The event is hosted by Collin College and features the top junior college players from throughout America. This year's team favorite is Laredo Junior College from Laredo, Texas.

A special highlight of the tournament is that they also host the 2009 Chair Academy. The trainees will be chairing ITA collegiate matches on Monday and Tuesday of the tournament so it is a great opportunity for on the job training.

More pictures and stories will be forthcoming as we get closer to the beginning of the tournament.

The Joys & Perplexing Nature of the NCAA

The greatest joy I experience in my tennis life is officiating ITA/NCAA tennis matches--but in all my years of working with them I have yet to fully understand the NCAA and how they do things. And this year further heightens my amazement and frustration...

I have yet to understand how they can send Baylor to Tulsa and Mississippi to LSU while Texas and Texas A&M are hosting. Sounds way too political to me! They love to say they don't want some of the teams to travel too far but they are sending teams to Austin and College Station that are traveling thousands of miles.

About the time I think I can vaguely understand this process, I start thinking about the officiating crew they will have at the NCAA championships in College Station. There are no Texas officials invited to work and the ones they do have come with very little (and sometimes none) ITA chair experience.

Go figure that one out...

Peaceful tranquility.

Things are rather peaceful around the tennis officiating world these days. The ITA season is nearly done and the summer schedule is about to begin so be prepared with the parents who take their kids to tons of tournaments.

We still have the Men's Junior College Nationals in Plano on May 11-15, and then the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Tournament ahead of us so there is still a lot of good college tennis. Since the NCAA's are being held in College Station, hopefully many of you will be able to attend. It is doubtful that any Texas officials will get to work the NCAA's since that is a very "closed membership group."

There are a few ripples still in our officiating pond. Seems that there is some jockeying for officials for the NCAA regionals since Texas has three regionals within 100 miles of each other. Hopefully, all coordinators will be nice and not try to steal someone else's members... Preachers do it all the time but it doesn't make it right.

Another disturbing little ripple surfaced recently when a friend of mine was told that a grievance had been filed against him and was being studied by the Texas Section Grievance Committee. My friend knew nothing of this and it came as a complete surprise. If all of this is true, then it is not right nor the proper procedure to follow.

If someone ( either player, parent, tournament, or official) has a grievance filed against them and it makes it to the Grievance Committee then that person should IMMEDIATELY receive a copy of the grievance and be allowed to respond to the said grievance. I have already been through this process during this past year and it was extremely difficult to get the Texas Section Chairman, Bruce Sampley, to even let me see a copy of the grievance. He only did so after my sending letters to the National Chair of Officials and threatening a lawsuit.

Folks, these things ought not to be this way... An official should have the right to know all facts of a grievance (immediately if not sooner) and then be allowed to respond to them quickly. It would stop a lot of endless and needless speculation about grievances.