Need Reffing Advice

[Carbon]

Anway im gonna ref this saturday at the local field. This is my first time reffing, but as far as i can tell, for certain, i can do a %100 better job than the few "refs" on the current field roster. I say this becuse iv played while being reffed by these knuckle-heads. Mind you it wasnt a case of the refs makin the right or wrong calls, Its the "little things" that bugged me. The refs are young, i would say 13-16 yrs old. go figure.

1) Appx. a good %60 of the customers/walkons/players knew the GAME rules when it was played, In fact on the last 2 occasions, I had to explain the indoor rules to the players.

2)Only %50 knew the field/playing/house rules. Unnaceptable.

3)For gods sake! people not wearing gogs in the chrono area!

4)"player driven game start times" I mean your the ref, your supposed to call when the games start and stop right, not wait till folks complain for the game start. Right? 10 to 15 min game s and a 5 to 10 min break/re-up time? sounds reasonable, that shoul be reasonable.

I want to be a good ref, but i dont want to be a stern as to take the fun out of it. A lot of noobs come to this field, and i dont want em to be jerked around by some turd chickenhawk who gets his jollies sandbagging.

Anyway all you refs out there hook a dude up with some advice, tips & tricks to keep a day of pballing fun and safe.

[Creative Mayhem]

I would say you have your head in the right place. I try to keep things light and make sure you can do all you can to help the player out. Whether that is shorter/longer breaks(you can feel them out on this one), or just goofing on the experienced players fo the noob's benefit. There are many factors that make the day more enjoyable. Don't worry, you've seen what the "knuckle heads" have done wrong, and you obviously have a plan to counter their lack in reffing. Now... the only thing to do is watch those sub-par refs squirm when they have to follow your example.:D Hope this helps.

Keep us posted on how your day went.

C Mayhem

[shartley]

My opinion is that you are not thinking wrong…

It is not the Refs job to make the “game” fun, that is up to the players. It is also not up to the Ref to make the “day” fun. It is their job to enforce safety rules, game times, game rules, etc.

Refs should be courteous, use tact, and not be jerks… BUT they should not worry about always making the players “happy”. That is not their job. And honestly, fair Refs who stick to their guns, but are not jerks about it gain more respect than “friendly” refs that get pushed around by the players.

I personally would not hire a 13 year old to be a Ref, but that would be up to a field owner. 16… maybe. 18 and above, no problem at all. And this is not because I think that younger people can’t do the job, but that when it comes to rules enforcement and control, I want folks that I think the AVERAGE player would pay attention to. I know many of us would listen to a Ref no matter what their age is, but I just don’t think the majority of people would.

I don’t think Refs should be staging games either, or controlling the times between the games. I think other field staff should do that. Then before a game begins, the Refs come out, give their safety and rules briefing, and take the players in… and do their job.

Good luck, but it looks like your head in already in the right place.