What is the meaning of the USTA Official’s uniform?
I will try to take all emotion from the question, and only deal with facts. If any rumor is used, it will be specifically indicated as such.
An individual that is not certified, and has not submitted to the background check administered by USTA wears a USTA OFFICIAL uniform.
It has been reported (rumor) that the USTA Section Chair stated that a university can employ any individual they wish. If this was actually said, it gives implied approval for the non certified individual to wear the USTA OFFICIAL uniform.
The coordinator for a university designates the individual as an official, knowing they are not “certified” by USTA but that they will be wearing a USTA OFFICIAL uniform.
The university pays the individual even though they have not gone through recent USTA training.
This has happened during the past year with no attempt to stop the individual from wearing the USTA OFFICIAL uniform by any representative of USTA or the institution. The legal term is complicit. The USTA knows that an individual is representing himself as a USTA OFFICIAL, and they have made no attempt to restrict the wearing of the USTA OFFICIAL uniform by someone that is not recognized as a USTA OFFICIAL. This represents implied approval. If any individual can wear the uniform without completing the training, completing the background check, and following all the steps necessary, then what is the purpose of the training? What is the meaning of the USTA OFFICIAL uniform to the general public?
The USTA has 3 options:
1. Totally ignore the issue, which will again imply that they don’t care who wears the USTA OFFICIAL uniform.
2. Make a special exception to allow this individual to continue wearing the uniform. This will set a precedent that any individual can wear the uniform. It is better to ask forgiveness than ask permission, and if you have been wearing it before asking, then it will be easier to get permission.
3. Issue instructions to stop wearing the uniform of a recognized USTA OFFICIAL or complete the steps required.
If the USTA decides to protect the brand of USTA OFFICIAL, then perhaps the uniform at the institution can just change to the ITA Black shirts. At that point, the ITA will have to decide if an individual that is not certified by the USTA can act as official and wear the ITA logo and be considered a legitimate tennis official. The decision will be shifted from the USTA to the ITA.
Another option will be for the institution to develop it’s own tennis official uniform. With all the coaches concerns about “home cooking”, will you as a coach be interested in taking your team into a university where the officials wear only the approved local uniform? As an official, will you be interested in buying a uniform that can only be used at 1 location?
All these ramifications must be considered, but the initial question still remains “What is the meaning of the USTA OFFICIAL’s uniform”? The answer has to start with the USTA. It will have to determine how it wants to be represented and by whom and how it responds to this issue will point out if the USTA OFFICIAL’S uniform actually has any meaning.
Note: Gary has done a fine job in clarifying a very important issue in our state. We would welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.
18 comments:
Great article and insight. Maybe the USTA will read this and take it to heart.
This crap only happens down in College Station, where our special official is in charge of scheduling and coordinating A&M matches. She will do whatever she wants since she is the self-appointed goddess of officiating in Texas, as least in her own feable mind. Is there anymore to say?
Does anyone know if the Athletic Director at A&M knows about what's going on down there?
Reference a post from a few weeks back in which the athletic director's e-mail address and phone number were posted here.
Guess nobody contacted him? (Or worse yet, maybe he was notified and . . . . . .)
Its all public information on the A&M athletic web page.
Someone needs to ask David Benjamin at the ITA office what the rules interpretation for TWO qualified officials really means.
The USTA has NO authority over college tennis, only the institutions and the ITA Coaches Rules Committee who draft the rules.
As far as being eligible for ranking purposes by using the appropriate number of certified officials, that is a university decision, not the USTA. If a University wants to take the risk of losing their ranking, it is their decision.
The language above comes straight from the USTA lawyer who was handling the background check. The University and ITA Coaches Rules Committees set the standards and rules for college officials, not the USTA which does not have the authority to tell other entities who to hire or what they can wear at a college match.
Why don't you contact the lawyers at the USTA to verify?
Yes, the A&M coaches know about the situation and I am mystified why everyone is trying to tell them how to run their own program and who to hire as officials.
Do we really want to permit non-certified officials running around in USTA shirts? That makes all of what we do seem like a joke.
If non-cerfitied officials are allowed to work college matches at A&M, then they shouldn't be allowed to wear the official USTA shirt.
I find it hard to believe that a world-class team like A&M would allow non-certified officials to work a collegiate match. The home coach is responsible for using certified officials and this just smells.
If A&M would find a credible coordinator, all of this poop would disappear before our eyes. Is it true a lot of good officials won't work at A&M just because of the coordinator, or is there more to the story that we don't know about?
To Anonymous at 8:55AM
Your points are correct but irrelevant. This entire discussion is about the meaning of the USTA UNIFORM and whether the USTA has any authority, or desire to determine who wears it. This entry does not attempt to tell a university what to do. It only asks the question about the worth of the USTA UNIFORM. Perhaps your response would be better applied to the entry posted later as you do not discuss or mention the contents of this actual blog entry. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on this actual entry item. Do you think the USTA should regulate or attempt to control the wearing of the USTA OFFICIAL unform?
The USTA cannot control who wears the multi-colored shirt as it is sold by other entities and anyone can purchase one from the suppliers, certified or not.
Many new officials not yet certified but going through training buy them.
Who has enforcement authority over an umpire who owns a shirt and has been a certified umpire for decades and is not longer certified?
Only the entity who hired him can dictate what he wears or does not wear or send him/her packing.
I personally don't have a problem with an uncertified official helping to work an ITA match if the school is short on officials. What concerns me is when the uncertified official acts as the Referee for the match, as is the case at Texas A&M. In my opinion, this flagrant disregard for the rules should never be tolerated.
Personally I think it's silly that the A&M Coordinator does not allow the new and cool ITA shirts to be worn. She claims she's waiting on the new digs to be "blessed" by our USTA Texas official's chairman. I'm not sure why it needs his stated blessing. The fact that we are currently wearing them and no one is pitching a wall-eyed fit about it is OK enough for me. Our chairman certainly knows about these shirts and even helped select the original BAYLOR GREEN one. Now that we've migrated to the ever popular BLACK shirt, it offends NO school or coaches and is bias neutral. Silence is acceptance and compliance in this case! This may be just another one of her...I've got the power and I'm going to use it "things".
Lots of gnashing of teeth and righteous indignation, but I doubt there will be any changes. Probably no entity in authority will step forward and admit or recoginize any problem. If that's all that happens, I will have learned that I don't have to go to any classes, take any tests, use any of my time, or even join any organization. All that matters is the clothing. Most copywright lawyers probably won't agree with Anonymous 12:56 because the multi-colored shirts have the USTA logo and say OFFICIAL. USTA has spent lots of money developing the brand and logo. I think USTA certainly should say who can wear it, but if they don't, I will know how to proceed. I agree that the person knowingly hiring an uncertified official should be responsible, and so should the institution, but if they have received permission from the USTA, then they can't be to blame. If the USTA gives up their claim to the uniform, then anyone can use it.
Dear anonymous 2:53. It is obvious you know nothing about copyright law...you can't even spell it.
The shirt means your are unemployed or retired and looking for something to do and you never played tennis at a high enough level to understand the nature of a competitive match from the player's side and sometimes interfere with a match where there is no problem. We call it "umpire issues", not player issues. Most of the time umpires do more harm than good for the players.
Interesting post. I agree this needs to be looked into. But on the other hand, how would you enforce something like this?
LOL! So glad I'm out of the scene. You guys have more drama than a baptist church with a woman pastor and charasmatic chairman of deacons
Enforcement. There is NONE. Once you have a shirt, it is yours to do whatever, wear it, burn it, give it to Goodwill or whatever. You own it, period.
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