Sometimes there is security in numbers.
Sometimes its just better to sleep through the overcrowding.
Here are the duties of a court monitor as listed in the FAC:
1. Maintain control over assigned courts.
2. Measure the net at the beginning of the first match and at other appropriate times.
3. Time warm-ups.
4. Call foot faults, remembering that there is never a warning.
5. Stop play when the monitor observes a code violation and seek assistance from the referee or other official.
6. Settle scoring disputes on a limited basis.
7. Overrule clear mistakes if authorized to do by the referee.
8. Time rest periods.
9. Record scores of matches if requested.
10. Inform the desk of open courts and of the progress of matches in play.
11. Send for a certified official if there is a question of rule interpretation.
12. Call the score if assigned to only one court.
These are the specific duties--what do you think about using court monitors????
10 comments:
I assume they would still be paid? Can't imagine too many wanting to volunteer their time for this. Tournament directors aren't going to want to pay these folks . . . unless it is some token honorarium. And then it becomes 'volunteer' work.
Court monitors are a great idea for newbies to get their feet wet under supervision. The bottom line problem is the bottom line . . . tournaments want to make as much money as possible.
Would tournaments provide court monitors lunch?
Great thoughts. Somehow I don't think TD's would pay the court monitors and noone would volunteer for long. Especially if they are attacked by an irate parent...
I see lots of problems with this idea...
First of all, you get what you pay for. If the Court Monitors are unpaid volunteers then there is no control over their quality of work. We seem to have inconsistencies with our officials with all the training we go through now.
If they are volunteers then there is really no way to insure that they would stick around and work the shift.
I like starting the matches at a facility and setting the "tone" for the day. Seems like having Court Monitors running around could be an opportunity to have potentially poorly-trained, possibly power-hungry people instigating situations on my courts that could have been avoided.
Would Court Monitors wear the same uniform as "certified" officials? Seems like the players may have a difficult time distinguishing between the two...
Finally, and this may be the most disturbing point for some of us. If Court Monitors became accepted, how much more of a stretch does it become for TDs to decide to have a referee and ONLY Court Monitors?
As officials, we recognize the problem with having too many courts to monitor. The money in tournaments is controlled by the players. If the players would start complaining about tournaments that had too few officials, or better yet, if they would avoid playing tournaments where this is the case, THAT would certainly get the attention of the TDs.
I hope that they would at least provide LUNCH for these court monitors. That's only fair....
I hope that they would at least provide LUNCH for these court monitors. That's only fair....
As a tournament player, I have never wanted more officials around. In fact, the fewer the better as far as I was concerned. I have had a few controversies on the court but we settled them without an official. However, being an official, I see the need to have more officials at certain locations and events. There are some events that will require a greater presence of officials than others will and the tournament director, if they have been tournament directing for awhile, will know which events need more than others. We are lucky in Austin to have Vickie Wright because she has this kind of knowledge and I have never found that we lack for officials or have too many whenever she is the tournament director. Other areas may not be as lucky, but I don't think requiring 1 official for "x" number of courts in order to have the tournament is the answer either. The directors may be in it to make money, but if there are a lot of problems with a tournament, they won't be making much on that tournament in the following years.
A poor proposed solution. Court Monitors
(LOL!)
I have used court monitors and they were in fact, volunteers. How I did it, I had specific shirts printed up for them at the same time the TD had his shirts printed. They were light blue and they all had to wear khaki shorts/pants.
They took their responsibilities seriously and were invaluable. I also did a training with them--stressing that I'm not a certified trainer nor are they certified court monitors.
I gave them the speech about tone and they fit into the rotation as the other officials.
They got short shifts to ensure I could get a commitment.
The best ones are the people who are just die hard tennis players OR, we might can find some Junior Team Tennis coaches and use it as an educational tool for them.
It saved my hiney when my budget for officials were cut in a big tournament and I had multiple sites.
I had lunch sent to the monitors as well. They also all knew to bring stopwatches. Guys, these are potential officials to train if you find someone who is an absolute gem.
Lisa
As tight as some of our TD's are, you can be sure they would never provide lunch for the court monitors. I am speaking specifically of the Dallas Tennis Association and the Ft. Worth Tennis Association.
You guys are blowing this topic way out of proportion. Court montitors should only be used to assist the on-court official for specific problems, i.e., a match that is having a lot of controversy. After the match is over, the court monitor goes back to being a parent, coach, spectator, or player, or none of the above.
Come to think about it. Maybe some tournaments could make a run to the local homeless shelter and get some of those folks to become court monitors. It may actually speed up the match. Think about it - would you want a scrubby looking homeless person with possible severe body odor watching over your court if you are playing?
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