Sometimes Mother just has too many puppies to watch at one time.
Then sometimes she just does the best she can and hopes that they all follow.
From time to time some Texas Section committee or person in authority takes it upon themselves to pronounce to us officials that we "aren't enforcing the rules." While I vaguely sympathize with their sometimes self-serving pronouncements, I don't see how we can be expected to "enforce the rules" when we are given more courts to supervise than any normal human could ever do.
We did a survey of Texas tournaments and found that the average ratio in Texas for USTA tournaments is one official for every ELEVEN courts. Some national instructors say that it should be a one to four ratio and the USTA requires only "one official per site" for a USTA tournament to be sanctioned. It says nothing about the ratio of officials to courts.
Personally I have done tournaments where I had 24 courts all by myself and would love to do one with only 11 courts. The saddest part of this situation is that it is the players who suffer from lack of adequate officiating. Its not a question of officiating abilities but a question of being spread too thin...
I'm not at all sure what the remedy for this problem might be since I know that the tournament directors are in this to make money and if we lower the ratio, we would quickly lower their profit margin. However, if we are going to chastised and maligned as officials for not doing our jobs, then perhaps we need to reconsider this issue...
Please note that I have not even mentioned the fact that an official may be "stranded" at a remote site with way too many courts, no water or shade, and no meals along with having to work 12 to 14 hours without a break. That's food for thought for another blog post on another day...
We would welcome your thoughts on this vital issue whether you be an official, a tournament director, a parent, or a player... Maybe we can all come up with an equitable solution.
7 comments:
I have been (like many of us) on all ends of this issue - a player, tournament director, referee/official and parent. The TD hires the referee - I think it is the referees job to staff the officials...if the TD is not going to allow the Referee to hire the right amount of officials then the referee needs to step up and say something first to the to the TD and then to the TX section office if the problem is not addressed. If enough referees will stand up and do the right thing - we will have properly staffed tournaments. TD's need to put in more pre-tournament effort if they are lacking funds for officials - PLAN AHEAD AND GET SPONSORS - do your players, parents and officials right - don't slack - you will end up with a crappy tournament just to make a an extra dollar! There are PLENTY of Tournament Directors in Texas that do it right! If the TD’s do not allow the referees to staff the right number of officials - the tournament should be reported.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COURT– tournament directors may want to be more selective on the referees that they hire. I would want to hire a referee that is a great people person and hires good officials. This is MY TOURNAMENT and I am taking all the financial and personal risk. Many times we have seen referees that hire LAZY officials that turn an eye to controversy on the courts or are found sleeping on benches next to courts and/or are just incompetent – I would NOT want an official like that as a player, parent and much less as a TD. Paying for inept Officials eats at your reputation and bottom line. I bet the people that have had problems with officials in the past never think of the Referee as the person that hired the Official – but instead think of the tournament or tournament director as being responsible for their negative experience.
FINAL SET – Good TD’s and Referee’s should always come together to provide the best tournaments for their players. TD’s remember – your referee is the one that hire’s the officials make them responsible and listen to their request – there is a reason they are a referee – they earned it. Referee’s need to remember the TD’s are expecting professional service from us – THEY HIRED US – WE DID NOT HIRE THEM. Therefore, do your homework – hire the right number of capable, reliable officials. There is really only one solution – TD’s and Referee’s have to work together!
I have been (like many of us) on all ends of this issue - a player, tournament director, referee/official and parent. The TD hires the referee - I think it is the referees job to staff the officials...if the TD is not going to allow the Referee to hire the right amount of officials then the referee needs to step up and say something first to the to the TD and then to the TX section office if the problem is not addressed. If enough referees will stand up and do the right thing - we will have properly staffed tournaments. TD's need to put in more pre-tournament effort if they are lacking funds for officials - PLAN AHEAD AND GET SPONSORS - do your players, parents and officials right - don't slack - you will end up with a crappy tournament just to make a an extra dollar! There are PLENTY of Tournament Directors in Texas that do it right! If the TD’s do not allow the referees to staff the right number of officials - the tournament should be reported.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COURT– tournament directors may want to be more selective on the referees that they hire. I would want to hire a referee that is a great people person and hires good officials. This is MY TOURNAMENT and I am taking all the financial and personal risk. Many times we have seen referees that hire LAZY officials that turn an eye to controversy on the courts or are found sleeping on benches next to courts and/or are just incompetent – I would NOT want an official like that as a player, parent and much less as a TD. Paying for inept Officials eats at your reputation and bottom line. I bet the people that have had problems with officials in the past never think of the Referee as the person that hired the Official – but instead think of the tournament or tournament director as being responsible for their negative experience.
FINAL SET – Good TD’s and Referee’s should always come together to provide the best tournaments for their players. TD’s remember – your referee is the one that hire’s the officials make them responsible and listen to their request – there is a reason they are a referee – they earned it. Referee’s need to remember the TD’s are expecting professional service from us – THEY HIRED US – WE DID NOT HIRE THEM. Therefore, do your homework – hire the right number of capable, reliable officials. There is really only one solution – TD’s and Referee’s have to work together!
I have been (like many of us) on all ends of this issue - a player, tournament director, referee/official and parent. The TD hires the referee - I think it is the referees job to staff the officials...if the TD is not going to allow the Referee to hire the right amount of officials then the referee needs to step up and say something first to the to the TD and then to the TX section office if the problem is not addressed. If enough referees will stand up and do the right thing - we will have properly staffed tournaments. TD's need to put in more pre-tournament effort if they are lacking funds for officials - PLAN AHEAD AND GET SPONSORS - do your players, parents and officials right - don't slack - you will end up with a crappy tournament just to make a an extra dollar! There are PLENTY of Tournament Directors in Texas that do it right! If the TD’s do not allow the referees to staff the right number of officials - the tournament should be reported.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COURT– tournament directors may want to be more selective on the referees that they hire. I would want to hire a referee that is a great people person and hires good officials. This is MY TOURNAMENT and I am taking all the financial and personal risk. Many times we have seen referees that hire LAZY officials that turn an eye to controversy on the courts or are found sleeping on benches next to courts and/or are just incompetent – I would NOT want an official like that as a player, parent and much less as a TD. Paying for inept Officials eats at your reputation and bottom line. I bet the people that have had problems with officials in the past never think of the Referee as the person that hired the Official – but instead think of the tournament or tournament director as being responsible for their negative experience.
FINAL SET – Good TD’s and Referee’s should always come together to provide the best tournaments for their players. TD’s remember – your referee is the one that hire’s the officials make them responsible and listen to their request – there is a reason they are a referee – they earned it. Referee’s need to remember the TD’s are expecting professional service from us – THEY HIRED US – WE DID NOT HIRE THEM. Therefore, do your homework – hire the right number of capable, reliable officials. There is really only one solution – TD’s and Referee’s have to work together!
I have been (like many of us) on all ends of this issue - a player, tournament director TD, referee/official and parent. The TD hires the referee - I think it is the referees job to staff the officials...if the TD is not going to allow the Referee to hire the right amount of officials then the referee needs to step up and say something first to the to the TD and then to the TX section office. TD's need to put in more pre-tournament effort if they are lacking funds for officials - PLAN AHEAD AND GET SPONSORS! - do your players, parents and officials right - don't slack - you will end up with a crappy event just to make a an extra dollar! There are PLENTY of TDs in Texas that do it right! If the TD’s do not allow the referees to staff the right number of officials - the tournament should be reported.
ON THE OTHER HAND– tournament directors may want to be more selective on the referees that they hire. I would want to hire a referee that is a great people person and hires good officials. This is MY TOURNAMENT and I am taking all the financial and personal risk. Many times we have seen referees that hire LAZY officials that turn an eye to controversy on the courts and/or are just incompetent – I would NOT want an official like that as a player, parent and much less as a TD. Paying for inept Officials eats at your reputation and bottom line. I bet the people that have had problems with officials in the past never think of the Referee as the person that hired the Official – but instead think of the tournament or TD as being responsible for their negative experience.
FINAL SET – Good TD’s and Referee’s should always come together to provide the best tournaments for their players. TD’s remember – your Referee is the one that hire’s the officials – they are responsible for play, so listen to their request – there is a reason they are a referee – they earned your trust. Referee’s need to remember the TD’s are expecting professional service from us – THEY HIRED US – WE DID NOT HIRE THEM. Therefore, do your homework – hire the right number of capable AND reliable officials. There is really only one solution – TD’s and Referee’s have to work together!
There is a solution, at least for some seasoned officials, and I excersise it. Don't work USTA tournaments! Long days, too many courts, no breaks. Why do it? If the tournament directors can't get officials, they can't be sanctioned by the USTA. The officials accept the problem, so no need to complain when you do. If you don't like the condiditons, don't take the job.
While I tend to agree with your concept for "seasoned officials", what about those who are just beginning and being abused by tournament directors in their scheduling???
I consider myself a "seasoned official" but I keep working USTA events mainly because I like working around the kids. (Don't panic . . . I have already passed the background check!)
As to the # of courts we have to monitor, I don't see any way the USTA can mandate a minimum court to official ratio. The main reason is because every site has a different number of courts and they are all laid out in different patterns.
When I first read this post, I thought that 8 should be the maximum number. Then I thought about the UTA facility with 10 courts. A USTA event using those courts would either have to have 2 officials OR only use 8 courts (ridiculous). And the way those courts are laid out, it is very easy for one official to see and hear what's happening on all 10.
I have worked a number of times at Allen High School. Monitoring 6-8 courts there is much harder than monitoring the 10 at UTA.
I'm afraid that we're at the mercy of the penny pinching tournament directors on this one. They will always be able to find someone willing to rove huge numbers of courts because these officials falsely think they are doing a good job!
Post a Comment