Learning as an Official

Today's blog comes to us from Social Foundations of Coaching student Liam Madden. Liam reflects on his experiences as a basketball official and how his decisions affect his coaching strategy. To learn about Play Like a Champion Today's Official's Workshop, check out our website.

I had the chance to officiate an extramural basketball tournament at Oakland University in Michigan and dealt with many hot-tempered coaches, whom we are trained as officials to communicate with.  However, in the men’s semifinal game of the tournament, in a close game that would crush the hopes of one college club team and advance the other to the highly-coveted championship game, I was in a bind that changed the way I view coaching from the sidelines.    

After another official on my crew called an intentional foul on a player who clearly hacked an opponent on a fast break, the fouling player’s coach began a tirade on the sideline and contested that the play was not overly violent (the coach clearly misunderstood the difference between an intentional foul and a flagrant foul).  The third official on my crew gave the coach a much-deserved technical foul and told him that he had to sit down, or else he would be kicked out of the game.

The coach proceeded to continue standing and arguing, and I went over to him and warned him that he had to sit down or I’d eject him.  At this point, his team was down 12 points with under a minute left and was clearly going to lose, yet he refused to give in to our instructions.  His team wanted to get the game over with and his team captain yelled at him to sit down because he was embarrassing the team and they wanted to finish the game.  I did not eject the coach, which the NCAA official evaluating me told me was the biggest mistake I made all game because it compromised my authority as an official.

What I learned from the whole situation is that a coach’s conduct not only influences his reputation among officials and fans but also reflects the whole team, and in youth sports coaches must be role models for their players.  After the game, the team’s captain came up to our officiating crew and apologized on behalf of his coach and said the whole team was embarrassed by his behavior.  As a coach, especially at an amateur level, one must be respectful of officials and set a good example for his or her team.  In the future when I coach youth sports, I will always remember this lesson I learned from a coach’s extremely poor sportsmanship.

As a basketball official, I have dealt with many coaches who do not hesitate to spew criticisms, even at the youth level and have learned that coaches not only must be professional in conduct and demeanor but also must set a standard for communicating with officials that their players can follow.  In pre-game captains meetings, I always make it clear that as officials we are glad to answer any questions about specific calls but will not respond to obnoxious statements about our officiating.  Coaches, as role models for their players, must demonstrate the proper way to deal with officials so their players do not feel they have the option to act disrespectfully towards referees.