Affirming A New Official

Here is one of the best ways of affirming a new official when he has done a good job...  A little positive affirmation goes a long way.

There is not a more daunting position in life than that of a new official.  They are wet behind the ears and basically have no idea what they are doing when we turn them loose on a tournament.  They are wide-eyed about everything in sight and sometimes overreact or go into a shell when they are hit with their first confrontation with a player and/or a parent.  More experienced officials sometimes tend to over-simplify the life of a new official but the stress and strain is more than life-like to that new official.

Here are some things to remember to do with a new official:

*  Offer them encouragement on every hand.
*  Make sure they understand they can ask questions--and no question is too small or insignificant.
*  Watch them closely when you turn them loose and be ready to help if you are need.  Don't be a "helicopter official" and hover over them but be within eyesight if they need help.
*  Don't be overly critical.   They don't know how to deal with every situation and they don't know every rule so give them a break.
*  Be constructive in your criticisms.
*  Be positive in your re-inforcement.  Find something they have done well and focus on that.
*  Don't tell them they are the worst official you have ever seen because that's probably what you were told when you were first beginning.
*  Offer to walk them through different scenarios but don't be overbearing and don't be offended if they don't (or can't) ask for your help.
*  Remember they will actually learn a lot on their own by trial and error.  Just be patient with them.
*  Call and take them to lunch the week after their first tournament.  By then they will have recovered somewhat and will be able to ask intelligent questions--or just need a shoulder to cry on.
*  If you see them sinking, go out and help them.  Noone wants to drown...
*  Offer to let them shadow you if they are really insecure.
*  Find the positives in their experience and major on that.

Remember--everyone loves their head rubbed from time to time...

How Would You Rule When The Players Are Late?

Interesting scenario came up this week at the ITA tournament in Dallas...

Play was suspended on Saturday evening due to rain and was to be continued the next morning.  When play was resumed on Sunday morning and all of the players were called to report for play it was discovered that four of the players were late in reporting.  The four players who were late were also well into the first set of their matches.  What do you do when players report late for their match on Sunday?

Here are some choices:

*  Ignore any penalties and just be glad they came back on Sunday.
*  Penalize them with the same penalties as at the start of a match.
*  Call their Mothers and have them get them to the courts as soon as possible.
*  Rebuke the evil spirit of lateness in the players and then continue play.
*  Give them a big hug and hope they are never late again.
*  Do nothing since the match was already in progress and how would you assess a game penalty when they are in the middle of a game.

HINT:  The referee made the decision that they should be penalized as if it were the beginning of the match.  However, of the 4 players that were late, none of them ever showed up and were subsequently defaulted.

How would you have ruled???

Share Your Thoughts & Comments--We Don't Bite (Even Though We May Bark From Time To Time)

Come on folks--we need your thoughts and comments to make the blog more interesting...

We published the previous post about 3 hours ago and we have already had over 100 hits on that post--but alas, no comments.

Remember, you can always comment anonymously and that request will be honored.  To be honest, I don't of anyone who posts that signs their real name.  Comments are what makes a blog fun and more interesting so PLEASE let us hear from you...

Hope you are all having a great summer!

How Would You Rule? The Non-Existent Warm-Up Opponent

The Clubhouse--the location of the missing warmup partner.

This one came up at a USTA tournament lately...

In a men's USTA tournament doubles match, one of the players on team A refused to warm  up with team B and would not come out of the clubhouse until the 5 minute warm-up was completed.  Team B reluctantly warmed up with one player from team A and then his teammate came out when the warm up was complete.

In the Friend at Court (page 37) the rule says:  A player should provide the opponent a warm-up of five to ten minutes.  If a player declines to warm up the opponent, the player forfeits the right to a wram-up, and the opponent may warm up with another person."

Here are some questions about this scenario:

*  Why did the desk person send the players out when team A was not complete?  In this case, the desk person knew the player from team A would not warm up his opponents since this is regular procedure in a tournament.

*  Why did team B consent to warm up with just one player from the other team?  They should have warmed  up with each other and told the player from team A to find someone to warm him up--or better yet, get his partner to come out.

*  Was this an act of unsportsmanlike conduct?

We'd be interested in hearing your answers...