Opinions & Comments

Officials should put egos aside
Appeared in the Sun-Sentinel on June 18, 2000
      Once, while refereeing a high school volleyball match, I changed a call.
     I had called an overlap on a player, meaning that she was out of position when the ball was served. After listening to a coach's argument, I realized the coach was right and I was wrong.
     Later, another official said to me: "You should never change a call."
     Why not? If you can't take a little humiliation, you shouldn't become an official in the first place.
     The point of being an official is to call the game right, not to avoid personal embarrassment.
     This holds true of officials in all sports. I've also had experience umpiring high school softball and baseball.
     That's a sport that can cause real embarrassment to the umpire who is out of position to make an important call.
     When that happens, he should seek help from the other umpire and change the call, if he got it wrong.
     This is a concept a lot of officials don't seem to understand. In at least one case this past season, a bad decision which the official, out of personal pride, refused to change, deprived a Palm Beach County team of an excellent chance at a state championship.
     The Florida High School Activities Association holds field clinics and gives exams to officials during the summer. But when fall and winter come, officials become the closest things to gods in this world.
     They have little or no accountability.
     Here are three suggestions to improve this situation:
     -- When coaches and officials file differing reports, the officials' view should not be accepted automatically as the correct one. Input should be sought from other witnesses, objective ones if possible.
     -- Coaches should be encouraged to grade officials' performances. If three or more coaches complain about the same official in a season, that official should not be allowed to do playoff games.
     -- In selecting playoff officials, the choices should be made on the basis of grading by coaches rather than longevity. Coaches want good officials to do important games, regardless of age and experience.
     

David Heeren - Sun-Sentinel - Palm Beach County Sports

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