If anyone is familiar with tennis officiating they know we are in a dire drought when it comes to having enough quality officials. In the USTA world we are seeing tournaments officiated by under-qualified officials on a regular basis and everyone just keeps complaining and asking why. In the ITA world we have quite a few highly qualified officials but not nearly enough to go around when there are a lot of matches that need officials.
This has always been an issue with tennis officiating but one that we have been successful in sweeping under the rug and just going on with what we have--but that day is coming to an end. When parents and players pay huge entry fees for USTA tournaments they have every right to expect quality officiating so its time for us to begin some difficult decisions. ITA coaches expect (and rightfully so) officials who are qualified, experienced, and prepared to properly officiate their matches. Due to the drought, I have observed USTA officials working tournaments they have no business inflicting their lack of training, knowledge, and experience on the unsuspecting public. In the ITA world, I have seen coordinators have to put inexperienced officials in matches where they should never be officiating--and all because we don't have enough officials to meet the need.
We all ask--what do we do? I'm not totally sure of all the answers, but here are some suggestions for us to begin to deal with the drought...
* Develop a system of much more accountability among officials. When an official continually makes poor or bad decisions, they need to be held accountable. Unfortunately we have too many referees who just ignore ineptness to keep the boat sailing. In the collegiate world, there is more accountability because you have a referee who personally observes an official in the chair (along with at least 4 other officials) so mistakes and errors can be dealt with quickly.
* Re-examine our testing process for officials. Just taking an online exam and watching a few webinars doesn't automatically ensure a good official. Its a start but there needs to be more much more stringent requirements for an official.
* Strengthen our on-court training. Many USTA officials are just shoved out onto a court with no prior training or shadowing and then we wonder why we have problems. I personally require an official to have done at least 10 training chairs before I ever even consider hiring them--and sometimes I don't think that's enough.
* Develop a "buddy system" for strengthening new and weaker officials. Pair them up with an experienced official who knows how to teach and train and not belittle and disrespect them. Usually an inept official knows down deep that they are inept but don't really know how to rise up and improve.
* Since pay is an issue, do your best to compensate everyone fairly. I never ask someone to do USTA training with me without paying them the standard rates. After all, they are certified so do a little on-job training with pay and there should be an improvement. In the ITA world, an official may have to do a few chairs without pay but the referee should do his/her best to get them into the paying world as soon as possible.
* Referees need to step up to the plate and do their job. This is a job and not a fraternity/sorority where we hug, kiss, and drink beer together. We are paid to do a job and we should expect quality officiating from our officials. If they are inept, call them on the carpet and do something about it.
* Tournament directors need to do their fair share too. Quit complaining about how much the officials cost and start demanding quality out of those you employ. Noone loves working for a tournament director who is late with their payments, complains about how much they are paying officials, tries to get them to work beyond their shift without pay, and cuts out their lunch or brings them a hamburger that even a starving indigent wouldn't touch. Make the workplace better and you should see the quality improve.
No one thing will cure the drought but if we all work together, it can be done! I hope we can count on you because we need a fresh drink of water in the officiating world.
4 comments:
Many tournaments and ITA especially have coordinators that have a small group that they always use, without considering other, newer officials, so to complain about a lack of quality officials while allowing that behavior is curious.
You said it................enough with the webinars. I've heard numerous comments about how "hands-off" we've become, and webinars are by far a sufficient substitute for good quality hands-on training.
Mentorship is another program that should be recognized and exercised regardless whether it's ITA, USTA, NAIA etc... It's rough out there when you're asked to draw-on what little knowledge and abilities you have as a chair (due to the shortage of officials), on the final point of a match during an ITA competition. Shadowing is a great idea, and it should be implemented at every level. The only way you'll learn is by experience and making those mistakes of calling the wrong score, not knowing what to do when both coaches are wanting a ruling on an infraction and they're both in your face (where's the referee when you need them?)............everyone has been there, and not one of us has performed perfectly.
How do we overcome it...........opinions and ideas must come from those that recognize we've got a problem, and talking about it isn't going to fix it. This has to land on the "powers to be" desks, and meetings must take place so that we as officials are heard and just not pacified. This is a dead horse scenario and the poor thing just keeps getting beat. As it was once said...........stop the madness, and let's git-r-dun.
Open the pocketbooks, employ trainers/mentors and set up regional travel teams for those that are exemplary and experienced at training. Lesson plans, CD's, Powerpoint presentations, outlines, tests, real-life scenarios and SUFFICIENT TIME will in-turn provide outstanding professional acting and ready officials.
You have to actually want to solve the problem. I believe at the higher level of the tennis officiating organization they see the problem and the need for change. But a the local level there is a strong desire to remain status quo. ITA has become such a tight network of a handful of officials that it is not even practical to think that the supply will fulfill the demand and new officials do get assigned because they dont get trained. Tennis officiating has be club, not a profession, for so long most of the individuals overseeing the ITA, sectional, and local organization don't know how to function any other way and they have no intention of changing. The training process is disjointed and unorganized, the assignment process requires an advanced degree in code-breaking, and the average age of officials is rising not decreasing. Change is possible but you have to want it and I am not convinced that the
ITF nor the UTSA organizations really want change.
Anonymous 2/9 11:41 is correct.
But having served as TD and referee and area officials coordinator over the last 15 years, "other, newer officials" that will actually work are hard to find. I have personally recruited, trained, pushed through background checks and video testing and traveled at my own expense to get new officials and the actual return on investment is less than 10%. The new recruits for the most part are enthusiastic about the process of certification but when it comes to tournament or match time, they have a hard time giving up their weekend. As a result, I do have a small cadre of reliable officials on whom I can rely to be ready for the challenge. From time to time I am able to add a new recruit but they are few and far between. If 2/9 11:41 was in my area, he/she would not lack for work. In April we have 1 HS District Tournament, 3 DIII ITA Matches, 5 DII ITA matches, a 2 Day / 1 Day Challenger, a 2A UIL Regional Tournament, a USTA Adult Open and a USTA Senior/ Super Senior MZ. I haven't counted the DI's, new officials are not chairs yet.
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