New Presentations About Becoming An ITA Official

One of the good things about our ITA leadership is that they are on the cutting edge of technology and constantly in search of new and better ways to enlist and train collegiate officials.

Check out these two great presentations--and be sure to use them when you are recruiting a new official!

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/ITACollegeTennis/videos/10154943514839423/

YouTube:   https://youtu.be/6nl8cruw7Kw

A Fitting Culmination To A Hot, Hot Tournament

When you are officiating a tournament you know that the most trouble usually arises on the last match of the day or the last match of the tournament--and that certainly held true for me this past weekend.

As the tournament was concluding at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday, the last match on the court was a 3.0 women's doubles final.  At the end of the first set, Team A came to get me saying that were being cheated out of the match and that there had been at least four hooks in the last game...

Hearing and heeding their pleas for help, I immediately rushed to the court (at the far end of the tennis center) to referee the fiasco.  Once I arrived, you would have thought I had come to a family reunion as everything they said was preceeded with "please" and concluded with "thank you."

Seems that Team A did indeed lose the match but there were no controversial calls while I was on the court--but not to be deprived of any action, the ladies launched into a full verbal tirade after the match was over.

I made a hasty retreat to the tournament desk to say goodbye and get in my car and a place of safety.  As I walked through the parking lot I could still hear them calling the other one "rude" "cheater" "cheap" and a multitude of other descriptive adjectives.

Praise the Lord the tournament is over and the ladies will move on to yet another battleground...

When And Where To Call Footfaults

Seems that one of the best ways to learning is to learn from our mistakes and boy did we hear about a doozie...

Seems that a roving official at an adult tournament was standing in the walkway behind the courts and calling (loudly) footfaults on two courts away.  People on three courts around were stopping play when he would shout out "footfault" so it did prove for some interesting officiating to say the least.

Probably best to teach this official to stick with calling footfaults on the court where he is standing at the net post or in clear view of the court.

It will help solve and confusion and irritated servers...

"Eye In The Sky" New Sights From Officiating Around Texas

One of the things you learn to accept as an official is that people are constantly watching (and evaluating) everything you do in your capacity as an official.  They usually are very supportive but there are those who are constantly working to find something to nail us on...  If you were to own a blog, you would find out very quickly that you get reports and stories about officiating from all over the country and sometimes its fun to share some of the more humorous situations.  Sometimes its good to share the mistakes we make too so they don't happen again...

Thought you might like this one today...

Seems that an official in a large metro area in Texas felt compelled to move beyond officiating into the field of coaching...  During a women's doubles match, one of the players was continually telling her partner to "take it" whenever her opponents would lob over her.  It was quite obvious that her opponents were playing her and she was at a loss about what to do.

Have no fear--the helpful official will come to the rescue!  During a changeover, he told the player, "You need to start taking more of those lobs and quit asking your partner to take them.  You can do this."

Perhaps a bit out of bounds on that one...

ITA Chair Training Begins In September

Have you ever wanted to become an ITA chair official but never quite knew how to make it become a reality?  Well, it can become a reality for you now...  Here is all the information you need.

ITA chair training is done here in Dallas at the Highland Park High School courts and will be offered on numerous different days in the fall.  It will be on-court training and you will be taught and supervised by experienced ITA officials who have numerous years experience in training new officials.  This training is open to anyone who would like to attend and there is no cost for the training.  Here is the basic information about the training:

*  On-court match training is done at Highland Park in their high school dual matches and at SMU in their new tennis complex.

*  Highland Park matches begin at 4 p.m. on the appropriate days and the training usually lasts for 2.5 hours.  It is all on-court chair training.

*  You will be furnished with all the materials you need for chair officiating.  You will need to obtain your own copies of the USTA and ITA rule books which can be purchased or downloaded from the internet.

*  If you do well in the beginning training, you will be invited to participate in advanced training in SMU matches in October and November.

*  You must be USTA certified and ITA certified in order to participate.  Instructions about certification are linked on the right hand side of this page of the blog.

* You will be required to purchase a UIL shirt to do the training at Highland Park.  Contact Randy McDonald about purchase information.  If you move into the next level of training at SMU, you will need to purchase an ITA shirt.

*  You will not be paid for the training but it is an integral step if you wish to do collegiate officiating. Your training will also open the doors to your being employed in the spring and be invited to attend the 2018 Chair Training Academy in May.

*  Dates available for training:
   September 5    September 12    September 15    September 22   September 26
   October 10      October 13

*  Dates available for advanced training at SMU:
   October 6-8   November 10-12

*  If you are interested in attending, contact Randy McDonald at rmtennis@yahoo.com or 214 796 7402.

*  If accepted into the training, all requirements must be met before your first training match.

How Would You Rule?

In an ITA tournament, women's doubles, Team A serves and her partner calls a let on the serve.

Is this legal?