Upcoming Chair Training Opportunities

Have you ever wanted to be a chair official at a collegiate match?  Lots of people (and officials) say they want to do it but don't know how to get involved and get the training necessary to do chair work.  The best training program is offered right here in the state of Texas and is open to anyone who would like to participate.  The only requirement is that you be both USTA and ITA certified.  Here are the training opportunities that are available in 2018:

INTERCOLLEGIATE CHAIR ACADEMY

Plano, Texas

May 13-15, 2018

This chair academy is the premier chair training academy in the country and is open to anyone.  The academy is held in conjunction with the national men's junior college tournament and is a great stepping stone to doing collegiate work anywhere in America.  Participants receive on-court training by highly qualified instructors as well as individualized instruction in chair techniques.  Participation is limited but there are still a few openings available if you are interested. 

INDIVIDUALIZED CHAIR TRAINING

Plano, Texas
June-November, 2018

Chair training on an individual basis is offered in the late summer and fall seasons in Plano.  The training involves chair work at high-level high school dual matches as well as summer circuit ITA events and fall tournaments at SMU.

Training begins on July 7-9, 2018 with a collegiate tournament at UT Dallas as well as an ITA tournament at UTA on July 14-17, 2018.  The continued training in August through October is at Highland Park High School and features the top high school tennis programs in Texas.    

The culmination of the fall training is participation in collegiate tournaments at SMU on October 5-7th and November 2-4, 2018.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED in these chair training opportunities, contact Randy McDonald at 214 796 7402 or rmtennis@yahoo.com as soon as possible.

Sometimes You Just Have To Make Do With What You Have...

There are times during a busy tennis season that you just have to "make do with what you have."

In an ITA dual match on Saturday in which there were 6 women's singles matches and 6 men's singles matches there were only 11 sets of singles sticks.  Thanks to the resourcefulness (and the consent of both coaches and players) they were able to make do with the box that the sticks came in.

There is much to be said for resourcefulness...

Can It Actually Get More Exciting In The ITA?

Just when you think you have heard it all and seen it all--something comes up that boggles your mind and imagination.  If it gets any more exciting in the ITA, I'm not sure anyone will be able to stand it...

Check out these two events that happened in the past couple of days:

MIND BOGGLING EVENT ONE

Male player A had served his first serve but was intentionally taking too long before serving his second serve.  The official gave him a "time violation warning" but then gave him a first serve because it took so long between the first and second serves.

Try to figure that one out but I imagine there will be a lot of players who miss their first serves that will be looking for their time violation warning...

MIND BOGGLING EVENT TWO

In a men's DI dual match, player A was overruled by the official.  After much protesting by Player A's coach, the official changed his mind and rescinded the overrule.  Then after much more protesting by Player B's coach, he rescinded his previous decision and went back to the original overrule.  

Absolutely mind-boggling!

How Would You Rule? This Is A Good One!

We frequently get questions about "How would you rule?" in different scenarios and circumstances but this one is one of the best...

SCENARIO

In a women's USTA match/tournament with no trainers on site, one of the ladies (who also was an experienced USTA official) asked for an Medical Time Out.  The newly certified rover asked if there was anyone there to treat her--she said no.  The rover then told her she had 3 minutes to treat herself and started his stopwatch.  She said she wanted time to "self-evalute" her issue and the rover told her that extra time for self-evaluation is not allowed and showed her FAC Table 13 (page 98).  She followed his ruling without involving the head referee.

Did the rover make the correct ruling?  Have you ever heard of time for "self-evaluation"?

One official said you get 15 minutes for a medical time out so that means she gets 12 minutes to self-evaluate and three to treat...  Interesting!

Side note:  Table 13 under "who may treat" states "any person whom the player selects".  In this case would it be alright for her to ask a friend to come out of the stands to treat her?  However, there would be no evaluation time unless the friend is a qualified medical person.  

How would you rule???

"Home Cooking"--Do You Code It Or Tolerate It?

Have you ever had someone look you in the eye and call you a cheater?  There probably aren't many more insults that can garner such explosive emotions in human beings.  But what do you do when a coach or player looks you in the eye and accuses you of "home cooking"?

In essence, the term "home cooking" means that you are cheating for the home team--and that also means they are accusing you of cheating and calling you a cheat...

On page 36 of the ITA rulebook it states:

1.  Unsportsmanlike conduct is punished under ITA point penalty system.  Inappropriate conduct includes but is not limited to:
   a.  Visible or audible obscenity or profanity;
   b.  Racket abuse;
   c.  Ball abuse;
   d.  Verbal or physical abuse of an  Official or player;

Since the rules clearly state that it is a code violation for verbal abuse of an official the question now becomes, "is accusing an official of home cooking (or cheating) rightfully considered verbal abuse?"

Many officials are extremely cautious when it comes to issuing a coach's warning or giving a coach a code violation--and so it should be.  However, where do we draw the line on that behavior?

One of the things an official learns about himself and his/her referee learns about the official is how much do you tolerate and where do you draw the line on how much you are going to put up with.  Knowing this is a wise decision but perhaps we need to rethink how much we tolerate if an official is being verbally berated by a player or coach.

Personally, I would code a player for that accusation and give a coach's warning if the coach is serious with this accusation.  Noone appreciates or should tolerate being called a cheater and that is exactly what this is.

One thing to remember--coaches learn the tolerance level of officials just like we learn the behavior of coaches.  I think most wise officials give a coach as much leeway as possible because we fully understand the stress they are under--but there is a line that should not be crossed--and that line is to call someone a cheater in plain English or using a slang term.

What do you think???

Just Exactly What Does A Coordinator Do?

When I was the pastor of a large church we would frequently have big church suppers--and everyone kind of showed up expecting everything to be in order and in place for them to have a great time.  No thought was given to who is planning everything, setting up chairs, scheduling the food, and planning for the clean-up.  They just expect things to happen the right way...

And the same holds true for tennis fans, coaches, players, and officials other than the coordinator because it is the coordinator who does all the enlistment, scheduling, planning, and implementation of everything that goes into a great tennis match.  Once the action starts and the players and coaches are in full swing, the coordinator still has much work to do.  Here are some insights into what all a coordinator does...

*  Enlist the right officials for the right match.  Some matches are obviously much more intense than others and require a higher level of proficiency on the part of the officials.  A wise coordinator knows his pool of officials well so he/she can make the right decisions.  If at all possible, spend time with them on a social basis--its a great observation and learning location.

*  Study the behavior of the officials both on and off the court.  You have to know how they will react under pressure (like having a coach or player screaming at them) so do your homework and know them well.  Ignorance is not bliss in this setting...

*  Study the coaches and know them well.  The ITA world is not a huge world so anyone with a lick of sense knows they need to know their coaches.  Watch them under pressure so you are not taken by surprise in any situation.

*  Study the players and know them very well.  Most coordinators only have one or two schools so this is easy to do.  In my case, I schedule officials for six universities so its a little more difficult.  Watch them warm-up and watch them during team activities and meetings.  It will tell you a great deal about how they will react on the court.

*  Since most collegiate male players are Alpha males, you need to learn how to deal with that type of personality.  There is much written on the subject so it might behoove you to read it.

*  Communicate with the coaches.  A coordinator who just rushes in and starts giving orders is doomed to failure.  Most coaches are fine people and we can all learn from their wisdom and experience.  Ask them before the match if they have a player who might need a more experienced chair official and it will pay dividends in the end.

Remember that a well-oiled, functioning team of officials is the goal of every wise coordinator.  An official may have all the knowledge in the world but have no idea of being part of a team--therefore, you should pass them over.  Go for the team players--it will pay off for you in the end. 

Above all else--be supportive of your team.  Remember--you hired them and they depend on you for your support.  Coaches and players respect a coordinator who chooses and utilizes good officials and good officials will also respect a wise coordinator.