A Day In The Life Of A Coach, Player, or Spectator

In the past few weeks I have gone from Norman, Oklahoma to Austin, Texas and then out to Lubbock, Texas and then back down to College Station, Texas--and I've heard all kinds of fun and interesting tennis stories--and some that cause me a little fear and trembling.

All of the matches that I have witnessed personally have been either collegiate or UIL and they have all been good ones!  I've seen some of the best players in the nation, some of the finest parents in the land, and some of the most fantastic coaches that tennis has to offer.  I always try to listen to coaches, spectators, and players to get an idea of how we are doing with our officiating and sometimes the results are great and sometimes they aren't...

Here are some of the things I've heard from coaches:

*  Why aren't you officials more consistent in what you do?
*  Why do all officials hate Russians?
*  Why can't you see the far sideline as well as I can?
*  Who in the world hired you?
*  Can I get another official?
*  Why are you making my players hug and sing Kumbaya after the match is over?

Then the players lend their hand with these comments:

*  Are you the very worst official in America?
*  I could officiate better than you if I was blind.
*  Why do you hate me?
*  Its right under your nose.  Why can't you get it right?

And then the spectators say this:

*  These new collegiate rules are ruining tennis.
*  Everyone my son plays cheats.
*  An official cheated us out of our last dual match.
*  How much money do you guys get paid?

I love hearing from the masses and then I realize that there are a lot of things we do that make them think we might be crazy at worst and not know our rules at best.  Here are some of the events from the past month:

*  An official in west Texas told the collegiate player that he could only change rackets during the set break.
*  A collegiate official heard one player call the other player a "faggot" and did nothing.  The official said he didn't know if he should code it or not and that he didn't want to offend anyone.
*  An official told a collegiate male player that he could take a bathroom break but it would only be 30 seconds long.  Even a collegiate guy can't go that fast.
*  One official told a collegiate coach that noone could cheer during a point and the other said any spectator could cheer anytime they wanted to.   Guess someone needs to go back and read the conference rules or at least work a match where all of you are on the same page.
*  A chair official on court #1 gave a code violation to a player on court #2 because the official on court #2 didn't see it happen after the match was completed.  Not sure how that code would have been announced.
*  In a UIL mixed doubles finals match, the official told the players that the server could serve to whomever he wanted to serve to.  Astounding...
*  When four of us officials were eating at a restaurant last night, two fans came up and said, "What have you done to our collegiate matches?  Noone seems to know who can cheer, when they can cheer, and where they can stand to do whatever they want to do."
*  A guy came up to us at the same restaurant and asked, "How much money do you guys make?"  I told him $1,500 per match plus expenses.  Then I gave him Bruce Sampley's number to call...

Here are some suggestions to help our situation:

*  Study the rules and know them well.
*  Understand that the ITA rules give very explicit and complete instructions on how to deal with unruly players, coaches, and fans.  Learn to use them wisely.
*  Realize that some conferences have their own specific rules and it is your responsibility to know them and know them well.  A confused official makes for an angry coach and player.
*  Use some common sense out there.