Dealing with Officials

Dealing with Officials; Timothy Strazzere

Officials are an important part of a volleyball game; they can work for you – or against you. Now, while you cannot control them, you can increase your chances of being on their good side. A quick thing to remember about officials that people can often forget is that they are human, no matter what you may think. This means they can make mistakes, enjoy nice people, but most importantly – hold grudges. These people put up with tons of bull from players, coaches and fans – trying to make their life easy is usually in your best interest.

Now, I am not telling you to do any of the following – especially if it is not in your nature. These are things I’ve done as a player/coach/captain/fan and had done to me while officiating. Greeting officials is always a good thing; introduce yourself – its formals, yes. However they won’t need to call you “coach”, “#7” or even worse, “you.” This allows you to converse on a personal level – very good if you see the same officials often.

This may seem dumb or obvious depending on your level of honestly, but call yourself in the game. If you hit the net – let them know. Honesty is the best policy – it earns you creditability and massive amount of bonus points with most officials. Officials can’t see everything, it is relieving when people admit and call themselves, instead of lying and complaining.

Only talk to the official you are allowed to during a game. Coaches – no yelling at the up ref, ask your floor captain t do it, you’re only allowed to converse with the second official. Floor captains, control your court – do not allow any players to talk to the officials unless the official questions them (unlikely). You should apologies quickly for any comments a player may have said or actions done and tell them you will control your players. Officials appreciate following the procedures – just don’t suck up, fake people can be more annoying at times.

They’re humans too, like I said before. Don’t be afraid to crack a joke or two (As long as your funny!). I’ve been called plenty of times for carries as a setter. A quick “How was that a carry? I’d call it a ‘catch and release’!” or “Double hit? I definitely used my face on that one…” can earn you a good chuckle. These are almost always welcomed – and much more welcomed than swears or a statement about someone’s officiating skills. A nice thing to do during a long tournament (Especially if you’re hosting) is offer them food or the ability to order food. Most officials aren’t bad people, learn to appreciate them and you like will become much easier. A cranky, hungry official can only be worse than a happy one (normally).

All that being said, most of it was common sense – other parts are just good sportsmanship. It’s still very easy to forget though, officials are people too. Some things I’ve learned about people over my years are the following – almost everyone can relate to these.
-Give them a bad reason to remember you, they will
-Give someone a good reason to remember you, they may
-Your more likely to believe/trust someone you “like”
-People don’t often trust and/or watch people more closely if they have been given a reason to not like them
-Whining is always annoying (this include condescending tones and phrases like “are you serious?” – “no way!”)

Quick recap – follow the golden rule. Act onto officials as you would like your officials to act onto you. Don’t give them a reason to hate you, let them like you or not care about you – both are better choices. Lastly, officials talk to other officials, a bad reputation can easily be spread and spoil you for all officials in your league – so be careful what you say to them.