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Newsletter
- Issue 23, January 1, 2002 Issue 23, January 1, 2002 In this Issue:
Remarks from the Supervisor of Officials: Donnee L. Gray
TO: Officials Block/Charge. Officials need to be in the correct position to see the whole play and be wide enough to see the whole body of the defender. Principle of Verticality (POV). Again officials need to be in good position and see the whole play. A quick whistle should be avoided here. The offensive player may not draw a foul by initiating the contact. A no-call is the right call when there is incidental contact initiated by the offense. Post Play. I have been out and seen some games and officials are not calling the post play by the guidelines. In order to obtain some consistency, officials must call it the way it is outlined. Hand/Forearm Checking. We are doing a good job in this area. Don't let up on this. 2. If you take a MACBOA game assignment, I expect you to abide by the policy of arriving one and a half (1.5) hours before game time. If you cannot meet this requirement, do not take the assignment. 3. Please be prudent in your travels. This is the time of year when traffic is impacted by weather. In the event you are running late and will not be able to make the required arrival time deadline, you are directed to contact the college/university's campus security if you are not able to talk directly to game administration and then contact Donnee, Willie Jones, or the MACBOA office. Request the campus security department to contact the AD or game manager of your situation. You should have a copy of the MACBOA Emergency Procedures, Staff Directory and College/University Directory with you when traveling. 4. Officials are reminded to notify the MACBOA office immediately if there is a change in address or phone number. You may e-mail changes to macboa1@aol.com or dgray@macboa.org. The necessary changes will be uploaded on to the "Members Only" section of the www.macboa.org web site. Please check the web site for correct addresses, phone numbers and email address. They are updated on a regular bases. 5. If you know anyone interested in being considered for MACBOA staff next season, or know of a young official who could benefit from attending camp, please contact or have them contact me at 301-283-6807 or via e-mail at dgray@macboa.org. The Time Out Referee School will be held at The American University (www.american.edu), Washington, D.C. The school/camp is tentatively scheduled for the second weekend in July. The Time Out Referee School includes lectures, demonstrations, films and video viewing of on-court officiating during top-level basketball competition. The staff will work with each attendee individually to provide team and leadership skills. After being observed at Time Out Referee School by various collegiate supervisors, participants of the school have been selected to work higher level basketball. Further details will follow. Officials returning to the staff next season and selected to attend camp will be notified. Excerpted with permission from Ike Relacion, during his presentation, "You Can Have it All!" at The Time Out Referee School, The American University, Washington, D.C., July 13, 2001.
You Can Have it All! Good Morning! I want to thank Donnee L. Gray for opportunity to meet and chat with you this morning. The Time Out Referee School has many officials that have reached D-I, II, III and professional basketball leagues/conferences. Donnee wanted me to share a little about myself, so here goes. I am employed full-time at The Kennedy Center, Washington, DC as their Employment Manager. The Kennedy Center is the national center for the performing arts and we have roughly 1800 employees. I have a better half; my wife, Valerie and we currently reside in Germantown, MD. I have been officiating for over a decade and I currently have the honor of working D-I, II, III, am a certified USA Basketball official, as well as had the opportunity to officiate in the ABL and currently am on staff of USBL and the NRL. I have had the honor of working the NCAA Tournament (D-II and D-III) and this past March 2001, was selected to work the championship final for NJCAA Men's Championships in Albany, NY. And, yes, I'm a Crew Chief for Donnee's MACBOA (D-II and Juco) conference. By being here, YOU have made an investment in yourself; the things you will learn this weekend will be invaluable to you. All I ask you is that you clear your mind and absorb the information and techniques here this weekend. You will be in touch with many nationally recognized officials, observers, and yes, supervisors/coordinators of officials who all have a main goal of helping you. I encourage you to listen, be open to change and stay motivated. What you will endure this weekend is great. You will receive top-flight instruction and you will officiate some of the best talent in the country this weekend. Coaches from colleges/universities are looking for student-athletes at this tournament. Continue to grow with the game. Officiating has changed so much; and with this change comes increased accountability. Question to audience: Can anyone tell me the average listening span of adults before you tune the speaker out? Not 2, 3, 4 minutes; its 50 SECONDS. Most of you are probably are thinking, hmmm... what's this guy's talk going to do for me? Each topic you hear should give you that added reference point to give you the opportunity to learn and to be a better professional. You should receive increased knowledge, greater self-confidence that you will recognize the red lights and green lights while on your officiating journey, and you will become more aware of knowing in your development efforts. I'm hear to tell you can have it all. You can be successful in your business life, your personal life as well as in your officiating life. This opening presentation will hopefully guide you in your officiating journey this weekend and in the future. During this weekend, it is my hope that you will blend information giving, information sharing and skill building. Take a professional approach to officiating! It's important to understand that coaches, players, and parents spend time in preparation, so officials must put forth the highest level of effort, anything less is unacceptable. From my perspective, if you would like to increase your chances of success, practice the following: *SPEND TIME ON TRAINING. I'm here to tell you to get ACTIVELY involved in training. Your being here is the first step! I'm here to tell you that it is not selfish to make TIME for the thing that you are good at! For the thing that makes you enjoy life! For the time you take to officiate, improving your abilities makes you a happier person and in turn, will also make your appreciation for others in your life that much better. I'm here to tell you that you can't take care of some else, if you can't take care of yourself and your needs to improve! Exercise #2 Get in groups and answer this question:
My point is that whether you are doing a regular full- or part-time job or a hobby the reasons are the same. How can you improve your officiating abilities? By using you car, plane, bus, and train to improve yourself? We spend so much time on the road that this is a perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in getting better by cassettes, CD's, and/or read. The officiating world is changing rapidly. There is no more standing on the knowledge of the past and refereeing on reputation. We have to take time currently and on a regular basis to stay ahead of the flood of ideas and information. You do that by constantly bombarding yourself with information. Coaches and Athletic Directors are getting savvy. They see you at camps and see the fire in your eyes. Veteran officials need to adjust, go to camp/clinics if they want to improve and maintain. Remember, referee on skill and not your reputation. *DON'T TAKE THE SHORT TERM VIEW. Ignoring the impact of your current actions and decisions on the long-term potential can be devastating. Every action and every decision we take is like a stone thrown in the pond. The impact creates two results, the immediate splash and the ripple effects that reach all the shores. Be always conscious of the long-term effect caused by the actions and decisions that you are making or are failing to make. I have had wonderful mentors, Donnee, Tommie Scott, Kenny Clark, and other friends in officiating who have helped me see the whole picture and let me make my own decisions. *FIND BALANCE. Our lives are made up of Seven Vital Areas. They include health, family, financial, intellectual, social, professional, and spiritual areas. Like a seven-legged table, if one leg is too long, it causes the entire table to wobble. As we advance in our careers, it is easy to get out of balance, then divorce, health problems, and an empty lack of internal satisfaction rob us of the Achievements we have made. Be prepared. If you get the opportunity to reach another level or just maintaining where you are, remember to share your success in the form of doing something for your family a/o significant people in your life. They deserve it! Remember that officiating is cyclical. Officials cycle in and out. Be prepared to give officiating your level best and prepare yourself for the time for other avocations. Leave on your own terms…don't let the game go by you. *BE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS. It's more than a "touchy-feely" good deed, better than 50% of one's success in life is dependent upon the good cooperation of other people. If you don't have the good cooperation of other people, you can't reach a level of success. Control things that you can control. If my officiating experiences are any indication of things to come, an aspiring official will realize the friendships you make will be tested. Be ready. The sport of basketball is competitive and so is officiating. A friend that you are here with may make it or maybe you will. Learn to be supportive and encouraging. 5 Qualities to aspire to include: *Be professional on and off the court. You may be able to blow your whistle, but don't make your off-the-court activities an issue; How do you treat your family? *Be an effective communicator, know when to be a listener not a talker; the days of being an autocratic official are out; *Be able to see yourself in the eyes of other people, not just how you see yourself. *Have an air of confidence, not cockiness/arrogance. Leagues want Referees, Lead Officials, or Crew Chiefs, not umpires. So, how do you become a lead official or a crew chief? Leadership develops daily, not in a day. Leaders have thick scar tissue. The staff assembled for you want the opportunity to give you some of their scar tissue so you can learn from their experiences. What matters the most is what you do day by day over the long haul. Leaders are learners. The learning process is ongoing, a result of self-discipline and perseverance. Remember, The secret of success in life is to be ready when your time comes. In closing: Learning happens away from the court. It happens when you apply the thing(s) heard in real situations. Feel free to call me at (202) 416-8643 or via e-mail at irelacion@aol.com about anything we have discussed today. Enjoy your camp experience!
Stay Out of the Soup! While suffering from the flu in the middle of winter, a serving of your favorite soup (e.g., chicken noodle, vegetable, or turtle) helps ease the discomfort a bit. However, when officiating a basketball game between rival teams at a standing-room only site late in the season, "Soup" is absolutely the last thing officials want to taste! "Soup," in officiating jargon, unofficially refers to a predicament, trouble spot, jam, or when "stuff" hits the fan. More elaborately stated, this describes a tense, demanding situation after multiple events having occurred due to one or more primary game factors (coaches, players, fans, officials, table personnel, or media) having caused or exacerbated the situation, requiring swift, accurate, firm, and unbiased action from the game officials. Whew! Regardless of how a basketball official chooses to define it, Soup is definitely not pleasant to the palate! The higher temperature or degree of thickness of the Soup, the greater desire to avoid the situation altogether. In other words, ref, "Stay Out of the Soup!" Although highly sought-after, the answer (recipe?) on how to do just that can be quite elusive. Entering the Soup is most unpleasant. But frankly, due to the active dynamics of a basketball game, every official should expect it. There are instances during a fast-paced basketball contest, due to circumstances beyond the control of even the most perceptive official, where entering the Soup is inevitable. Examples of such circumstances include one or more of the following (the Ingredients of the Soup, if you will): fights, multiple technical or personal fouls, timing malfunctions, scoring errors, or any situation thanks to "Murphy's Law." Other underlying game factors (or Condiments to the Soup, shall we say) that may aggravate the situation include level of intensity (e.g., a game pairing traditional rivals), demeanors of coaches, personalities of players, style of play, abilities of officials, rambunctious fans, and importance of the contest (e.g., a late-season conference assignment matching first and second-place teams with regional or national ranking implications). Making light of this analogy, the following describes some familiar types of Soups often found from the basketball menu (i.e., the basketball court):
Let's face it; these unique Soup ingredients and condiments contribute to the special nature of basketball in general. Nobody said basketball officiating was simple (at least not seriously). After all, game management and rules enforcement are why unbiased officials are involved in the games. Officials should not feel inclined to let fate run its course during a basketball contest (the "Qué, Sera, Sera" attitude); instead, every basketball official must be prepared to vigorously fulfill his duties to maintain control of the game. In addition to ability and trained responses, officials should also operate under total court awareness and seek out the necessary assistance from team captains, coaches, and table personnel. Furthermore, a proficient official should practice basic managerial techniques that help identify the early stages of potential problem areas (the over-heating of the Soup, of sorts). If left unattended to, minor problem areas will surely lead to heightened trouble during a basketball contest. Unquestionably, basketball officials must address and effectively manage these simmering problem areas before they boil over. Three essential managerial techniques (cooking directions, for sure) that give support to staying out of the Soup are concentration, consistency, and effective communication skills. Concentration. The quick tempo and energetic atmosphere of basketball games mandates that officials operate under a controlled, full mental focus. When the ball becomes dead, officials must remain on guard, especially after severe contact or an exceptional defensive or offensive play. Being cognizant of the score, when teams reach the bonus/double bonus, time and separation of shot and regulation clocks, direction of the alternating possession arrow, number of timeouts left per team, staying with the shooter, identifying the correct free throw shooter, picking up the pivot foot, and rotating effectively, afford an official the opportunity to better manage the game. Similar to a soldier in the heat of battle, a complete basketball official must be able to focus on all dimensions of the game-at-hand and provide unwavering leadership. Consistency. Basketball officials, individually and collectively, must perform consistently during every game. Coaches and players become understandably frustrated when fouls and violations are inconsistently called; thus, leading to increased tension with the game officials. Major areas of the game that demand consistent officiating on both ends of the court include hand-checks, screens, post play, traveling, and the block/charge. There will be occasions where team foul totals are not balanced, but it must not be due to inconsistent officiating! Comparable to an assembly line worker at the factory, an official's judgment should be steady from the opening toss to the final buzzer. Communication. Saying the right words at the right time provides officials an effective means – probably the primary one - to control a basketball game. Speaking in a conciliatory, yet honest and clearly stated manner will usually calm a player or coach and defuse a potential problem area. Of course, the lines of communication only go so far before an official should blow the whistle. Just as important to effective communication, is the avoidance of ineffective communication. Phrases such as, "shut up" or "sit down," or cursing are demeaning and unprofessional. Like a politician on the campaign trail, an official should stay focused on the main issues in order to get his message across. The manner in which an official composes himself on the court is absolutely crucial to the outcome of the game. This is especially so during "Crunch Time" or when in the Soup. The adage, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen," DOES NOT apply to basketball officials! True, there are times when the officials have entered an authentic Soup Kitchen, and there's no escape. That's when officials have to officiate with near reckless abandon. As the saying goes, "Once you're in the Soup, you just have to swim." For every assignment, a basketball official should have his "game face" on, while simultaneously sending the perception that he's approachable, in-charge, considerate, and above all, fair. An official's performance not only impacts the game, it also weighs directly on his reputation as a basketball official. A basketball official may have perfected the ability to orally recite sections of the rule book and/or display impeccable mechanics, which are impressive attributes, but it's the intrinsic, seat-of-the-pants "feel for the game" that exposes the truly valuable basketball official. Concentrating at a high level, being consistent, and communicating effectively are key factors for an individual earning the privilege in becoming a lead, or "R," official. So, let there be no doubt: Real Refs eat meat and potatoes; Soup and Salad Bars are off-limits! Why? Well, to "Stay Out of the Soup!" of course! MACBOA.ORG Web Site has Impressive Numbers! The MACBOA web site has received substantial visitor traffic. Since the redesign of the www.macboa.org web site in October 2001, we have had over 16, 275 visitors to the web siteand have had over 293,400 hits to the website. MACBOA wants to thank Jessica Mays, JMays Design, for the continued support and expertise. The following is the December activity on the MACBOA.ORG website: Report for: macboa.org Summary Total Visitors (12/01/01 thru 12/31/01) Average Visitors Per Day Average Page Views Per Visitor Helpful Information:
Hurry, while supplies last! Order Al Battista's best selling, The NCAA Rules Index, at $5.00 per order. Please e-mail Al Battista at albattista12@msn.com or call at (301) 949-9197.
You may access the MAPQUEST link (get travel/driving directions) at www.macboa.org under "About" then "Colleges/Universities" or go directly to the link at: http://www.macboa.org/about/directions.html The "Forms" page at MACBOA.ORG: To view Portable Document Format (PDF) files you must have the Acrobat Reader Plug-in installed on your PC. You may now download a free copy of Acrobat Reader in order to download forms in PDF that allows you to print out forms. MACBOA has provided a link to Acrobat Reader. Click on the link: http://www.macboa.org/forms/ Check the "New Items - BULLETINS" area of www.macboa.org for recent 2001 NCAA Men's and Women's Officiating Memoranda MACBOA Logo Whistles Are Here! Send your payment of $5.00 for each whistle ordered to Ike Relacion, c/o MACBOA Logo Whistle, 21112 Archstone Way, Unit 101, Germantown, MD 20876-6996. Member News Our heartfelt condolences to Richard Olgetree on the passing of his mother, Mrs. Willie Mae Robinson, Wendell Daniels on the passing of his father, Wilbur Daniels Sr., and Owen Fox on the passing of his father, Francis L. Fox. Reward, challenge, appreciation, stimulation, writing, reading...rarely thanked or noticed.
What do you do? Read postings. Write articles, membership news, coordinate interviews, cultivate sponsor relations, etc. Write e-mail back and forth amongst us to establish communication, and guidance to keep this list as valuable as possible for our membership. Although we're virtual, our presence is sensed, we hope...and appreciated, although rarely acclaimed. We haven't a job description, nor do we know what knowledge, skills, and abilities are required, but some that will come in handy are:
Please respond directly by e-mail to: irelacion@aol.com
MACBOA welcomes and encourages news and information for the periodic newsletter. Please submit all materials to address letters of comment, article proposals and queries, or news items to: Ike Relacion MACBOA, INC provides the MACBOA newsletter. MACBOA is a nonprofit organization providing information about membership news. The MACBOA.ORG Newsletter's contents may be quoted and reused as long as attribution is included with the reprinting and/or posting. MACBOA nor its guest contributors shall be liable or responsible to any person or entity for any loss or damage caused, or alleged to be have been caused, directly or indirectly by the information or ideas contained, suggested, or referenced in this newsletter MACBOA does not share its email lists. We value and respect your privacy.
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