For the past two years I have personally gone out to the "Slams" junior championships in Plano, Texas to enjoy some junior tennis--and also to observe some of our Texas chair officials in action--but I certainly wasn't prepared for what I found... Both years I witnessed more cheating by players and parents than I ever could have imagined. On nearly every court, I would see players consistently call close balls out and then get indignant when they were questioned. On matches without a chair official the problem was even worse...
To further deepen the crisis was the behavior of parents. I would watch parents (both Moms and Dads alike) consistently make verbal calls for their children, have "secret" hand signals, and just outright coach their child with no inibitions whatsoever. One year I even talked to one of the head officials and he told me they had 20 "sportsmanship awards" to give out and they couldn't even find one player they thought was deserving...
Even more disturbing than the cheating and coaching was the tendency of players to openly accuse their opponents of cheating and to create a confrontational scene on courts all over the tennis center. The players were quick to run and get an official to come to their court "because they were being cheated" and then verbally attack their opponents without inhibitions. I watched an official overseeing 4 courts finally just give up in frustration because players were complaining on every court...
In today's blog post I won't even begin to share thoughts about how we can fix this problem. I think everyone involved in tennis can recognize the issue and now we'd love to hear your thoughts on how to remedy the issue. Let us hear from you in the comments...
I believe this stems from a results-fixated attitude. The emphasis is no longer process-oriented.
ReplyDelete“Win at all costs” supersedes development - driven by unrealistic expectations for the player. Juniors feel that pressure and in turn act out.
How do we curtail this cascade?
Got this from a friend: (1) Require every entry to be an honest Christian (2) Have a more strict policy toward overrules that includes banning kids from playing tournaments at some point.
ReplyDeleteThis is a problem in all sports not just tennis. Adopt ITA rules regarding overrules, appeals to officials (none), bathroom breaks, injury timeouts, service lets, etc. The ITA rules have evolved due to coaches and players abusing the previous rules. Most importantly banish parents to the parking lot:)
Delete1) HIre enough officials. With one official roving 12 courts, it's hard to catch cheaters who will be watching to see where you are. With 2 or more officials at a site, we can communicate with each other and all of us be alert to a situation. With a team approach you can have eyes on a court from all directions, and often it's the off-court official who catches them. I recently sat down to eat lunch but positioned my chair to watch a player. Sure enough, I caught him hooking eggregiously. I still had good site of the court and the ball, and I coded him.
ReplyDelete2) More training, enforcement, and publicizing of the suspension point system. Officials are rarely told anything about this and I suspect it is not consistently enforced. Code violations during a match are supposed to be assessed 2 suspension points each ... is this really happening? You can assess suspension points after a match is concluded, and off court for unsportsmanlike conduct where code violations don't apply.
3) Coaching is an "always penalize" code violation. In my experience, we go out of our way as officials to warn but rarely code. If it's a clear case of coaching with either signals or verbally, we should code without hesitation.
4) In big tournaments like the Slams, officials and the referee should step up the communication to each other, as well as to the players. The referee should speak to the players at the beginning of each day, stressing good sportsmanship and reviewing the previous day if there were problems. The referee should tell all officials on the team when they need to watch certain players.
5) Cheaters like to engage in scoring disputes, too. Force players to call the score as soon as this issue pops up, and then enforce what you said with code violations as needed (it's a code violation if they fail to follow your instructions). If any player is involved in multiple scoring disputes, call it to the attention of the referee and be on alert.
6) Make sure players are not callling the other player a cheater in the hearing of the other player or of fans. That in itself is a code violation.
Follow ITA guidelines regarding overrules, appeals to officials, bathroom breaks, injury timeouts, and service lets. All of the ITA rules evolved due to cheating by collegiate players.
ReplyDeleteComment from David Feinberg:
ReplyDeleteMy suggestions for improving the situation:
Require referees to file all code violations with the USTA - There must be real consequences
for cheating. Many referees do not report all code violations to the USTA because it can be
perceived as a hassle. The referee must collect all the information, document it thoroughly, and
be prepared to defend it if the parents file a rebuttal. In some cases, parents even file complaints
against the officials who reported the violations. The strongest deterrent to cheating is for
referees and tournament directors to report code violations to the USTA so that suspension points
can be issued. Consistent reporting is essential to protect fairness, integrity, and sportsmanship in
junior tennis
Enforce the USTA Texas sectional rule stating that the third overrule results in a code
violation.
Use strong roving techniques to be proactive. Identify potentially problematic matches early
and increase supervision—both on-court and off-court. Officials may make overrules from off
the court if they have a direct observation of the court.
Reward and highlight good behavior from players and parents. In one Level 4 tournament, a
father even defaulted his own son because he felt the boy was behaving poorly and did not
deserve to continue competing.