New Officials: Game Management

Becoming a new official is a daunting task.  Not only do you have to learn the rules, mechanics, and positioning, but you're also tasked with being a game administrator.

Being a successful basketball official is not just about blowing the whistle and calling fouls and violations.  Being a successful basketball official means excelling at game management: using your presence and confidence to establish authority, knowing what to call and when to call it,  understanding advantage/disadvantage (or RBSQ), and learning how to respond and communicate with coaches.

Here, you will find some administrative guidelines, tips, resources, and nuggets of wisdom to help you as your embark on your officiating journey.

Please click on one of the tabs below:

The NCAA and NFHS has the goal in mind of making the game safer by reducing physicality. As such, their points of emphasis (POE) include:

• Handchecking and body bumping against the ball handler/dribbler
• Post play and rebounding
• Protecting the shooter
• Protecting the free throw shooter
• Safety/Concussions

In addition to those POE listed above, PVOA would like to focus on the following:

• Fair play
• Sportsmanship
• Get the obvious
• Be consistent
• Teamwork
• Appearance and mechanics

Notes on the Points of Emphasis
Point of Emphasis	Notes
Handchecking and body bumping against the ball handler/dribbler	Rule 10-6-12 details actions that constitute a foul when committed against the ball handler (including a player in the post): Placing two hands on a player Placing an extended arm bar on the player Placing and keeping a hand on the player Contacting the player more than once with the same hand or alternating hands Additionally, do not let the defender "body up" against the ball handler and use the hips/body to redirect the ball handler. Note: Not all contact is a foul.  Only illegal contact is penalized.  A tactile touch is not a foul.
Post play and rebounding	Focus on the players trying to get position on the rebound.  If a player has an advantageous position and illegal contact from an opponent removes that advance, it is a foul. On the shot, do not bail out and stay with the play.
Protecting the shooter	Stay with the shooter all the way up and all the way down to the floor.
Protecting the free throw shooter	The free throw shooter is not allowed to leave the free throw semicircle until the ball hits the rim.  Defenders are not allowed to enter into the free throw semicircle to box out the shooter until the ball hits the rim.  Contact caused by the defender against the shooter is a foul.
Fair play	Ensure that the rules are enforced so that one team does not gain an advantage over the other team due to inconsistency or lack of calls.
Sporstmanship	Sportsmanship of the highest form is expected from all participants of the game.  This includes coaches, players, officials, and fans.
Get the obvious	Players hit the ground, all crashes, contact that affects player/dribbler possession or impacts a shooter, traveling, palming, carrying, illegal screens.  Crack down on taunting, rough play, and unsportsmanlike, inappropriate behavior.
Be consistent	Catalog plays as a crew so that similar plays get similar calls.  If a call is made on one end of the court, a call needs to be made on the other end of the court for a similar play.
Teamwork	Enjoy the process and work together as a team.  Practice competent communication.  Be an official that other people would love to work with and coaches love to see.
Appearance and mechanics	Look and act professional.  Blow the whistle with authority!  Good mechanics on a stoppage of play to indicate foul, violation, jump ball, or administration.  Clear, slow, and concise signals and table mechanics when reporting fouls.

Coaches and officials have a very unique relationship during the game.  Coaches have to advocate for their players and for their team.  Officials have to keep things balanced by enforcing fair play and sportsmanship.  As NCAA official Michael Greenstein says:

"Head coaches and referees, we're in two leadership positions.  Who's in the middle?  It's the kids.  And what has to happen is both leadership positions have to come together and figure out that night how to get along for the kids."

There's the misconception that coaches and officials should fight like cats and dogs, but that's simply not true.  At it's essence, the relationship between coaches and officials is not an adversarial relationship.  Both parties have a job to do during a game and figuring out the interaction and relationship is an important part to having a successful game.

Officials should strive to be competent communicators (competent = effective and appropriate) and this includes when communicating with coaches.  A few important guidelines as it relates to communicating with a coach:

• You can't quote silence.  If you feel like you're going to say something that can be misconstrued, then it's better not to say anything.
• Do not try to answer a question from an out of control coach; deal with the behavior first.
• Do not ignore a coach.
• Statements by coaches don't normally need a response.  Answer questions, not statements.

That said, all those guidelines boil down to this rule of thumb: if the coach has a legitimate question, they deserve a legitimate answer.

Don't ignore them; don't try to bluff your way through a call (sometimes, admitting mistakes works to your favor); don't match their rise in tension and emotional level.  There will be times that a coach will just want to vent; in those situations, a simple acknowledge "I hear you, Coach." would suffice.  

Officials need to remain level-headed in all situations.    Be in control and speak in calm, easy tones.  Be aware of your body language (your nonverbal) and how it could come across - let it facilitate the conversation instead of being an inhibitor.

Below are some examples of how to respond to coaches and to address what they are saying in a non-confrontational way.  Note that each situation is different and these examples may work on some coaches and may not work on other coaches.

Specific Communication Examples
Behavior/Question/Comment from Coach	Official's Response
Coach sees the play very differently than the official.	- "Coach, if that's the way it happened/what you saw, then I must have missed it. I'll take a closer look next time." - "Coach, i had a good look at that play and here's what I saw [short explanation]."
Coach believes you're missing persistent illegal acts by the other team.	- "Ok Coach, we'll watch for that." - "Coach, we are watching for that on both ends of the court."
Coach wants to bring up a lopsided foul count.	- "Coach, which one of those fouls do you want to talk about?"
Coach is very animated and gesturing.	- "Coach, I'm going to talk with you and answer your questions, but you must put your arms down/stop the gesturing." - "Coach, please put your arms down.  Now, what's your question?"
Coach is raising their voice when talking with the official.	- "Coach, I can hear you/I'm standing right here, you don't need to raise your voice." - "Hey Coach, I don't appreciate that.  I'm human too and there's no reason for you to raise your voice with me." - "Coach, I need you to stop raising your voice and just ask your question calmly." - "Coach, are we talking or yelling?  If we're yelling, then I'm going to walk away." [If Coach says, "We're talking."] "Ok Coach, what's your question?"
Coach is commenting on something every time down the floor.	- "Coach, I need you to pick your spots, we can't have a comment on every single call that is being made."
Coach has a good point and might be right.	- "You've got a good point and might be right about that play." - "You might be right, that's one we'll talk about later."
Coach is venting, make editorial comments.	- "I hear what you're saying." - "I hear what you're saying, but we're moving on."
Coach just won't let it go.	- "I've heard enough and that's your warning."
Coach is commenting to you about making a call (like 3 seconds, hand check, etc).	- "Coach, I can't make that call with you commenting on it all the time.  It looks bad for me to call it after you commenting on it." - "Coach, give me a chance to call it before you start making comments.  If I don't call it and you want to talk, we can talk later."

RSBQ stands for Rhythm, Speed, Balance, and Quickness and is a rule of thumb for ruling fouls on the ball handler around the perimeter.  Use this in addition to the Rule 10-6-12 fouls for handchecking.

A reminder that Rule 10-6-12 indicates that the following is a foul when committed against the ball handler:

• Placing two hands on a player
• Placing an extended arm bar on the player
• Placing and keeping a hand on the player
• Contacting the player more than once with the same hand or alternating hands

For ruling contact on the ball handler around the perimeter, determine if the contact impacted the RBSQ of the ball handler.  Contact that is incidental and does not affect the RBSQ of the ball handler is not a foul.  If an offensive player can move past the defender and is not impeded by the contact, then there is no foul and let the play go.

We do not penalize incidental or marginal contact, but illegal contact; that is, contact that results in a disadvantage for the offensive player.  However, if illegal contact is not called, it will permit the defensive team to continue to play rough.  What you don't penalize, you condone.

Most fouls will call themselves (80/20 rule) as most fouls are obvious (player hits the ground, a hit on the head, a jersey pull, a body chuck, etc).

"Great officials have great on-court presence."  When you look at great officials like Bryan Kersey, Roger Ayers, Mike Eades, Teddy Valentine, John Higgins, Monty McCutchen, and others, they are all great play-callers, great communicators, and great game managers.  But they also all have great on-court presence.

Referees often their own language and on-court presence is in the vocabulary.  The common response from new officials is, "I know on-court presence is important.  But what is it and how do I get it?"

Dictionary.com defines presence as:

• The state or fact of being present, as with others or in a place
• Attendance or company
• Immediate vicinity; proximity
• The ability to project a sense of ease, poise, or self-assurance

Furthermore, the book Presence by social scientist Amy Cuddy adds the following to presence:

• Presence stems from believing in and trusting ourselves
• Presence manifests as confidence without arrogance
• Presence allows us to focus on the experience and ourselves rather than what others think of us

A couple important things to note:

1. Presence is not a permanent, transcendent mode of being.  It comes and goes so it's important for officials to find ways to be present in a situation.
2. Presence is not a replacement for competence.  No matter how present you are, you will never be able to cover up incompetence.  As officials, we need to be competent in what we do and then allow presence to work for us and facilitate what we're trying to accomplish.

One way to establish presence is by power posing (think Wonder Woman):

It's about expansive body postures to helps us to "feel" powerful and activates the behavioral approach.  When our behavior approach system is activated, we are happier, more optimistic, more confident, more creative, more likely to take action, more likely to seek rewards and opportunities, more physically energetic and less inhibited. 

Note: Power posing like Wonder Woman seems silly to do, but it's quite simple.  Prior to the game starting while you are watching the players warm up, strike up the Wonder Woman pose. 

For officials, great on-court presence means:

• Confidence in communication
• Confidence in calls/strong mechanics/sharp signals
• Positive body language and nonverbal communication
• Less fear of confrontation
• Better ability to act under stress
• Commanding respect from players and coaches
• Having fun

Our presence impacts our believability.  It can either facilitate or hinder.  If we are good presence, we can focus more on the game rather than feel like we're under a cloud of scrutiny.  It allows us to be more comfortable at what we do and being comfortable will help us improve as officials.

Amy Cuddy preaches that in presence, the body changes the mind, the mind changes behavior, and behavior changes outcome.

Officials who can tune into their on-court presence will have more fun officiating.  Officials who do not develop their presence are more likely to dread game assignments and will not last as long in the profession.

Here are some nuggets of wisdom from NCAA officials Rick Hartzell, Steve Gordon, and others...

• Know the rules.  Know the right mechanics.  Stay in shape.  You can control these things.
• Blow the whistle when you KNOW you are right.  And stay in your primary area.
• Be the greatest partner you can possibly be.  Have everyone love to see your name on the line.
• Referee today's game and referee it like it is the most important game in the world to someone.
• Be confident.  Don't be arrogant.  There is a huge difference.
• Be FIRM, but FRIENDLY.
• It is nice to be important, it is more important to be nice.
• Enjoy the journey.
• People may not remember a lot of about you, but they will remember the way you make them feel.
• Curiosity and questioning are the root of all learning.
• Smile because of who you are, not how your day is going.
• Don't try to change too many things at once.
• Lead by example, not works or by challenging.
• Be early to meetings (and games).  Everyone is as busy as you are.
• Make mistakes and be vulnerable.
• Don't give the appearance you know everything.
• Strive to do your best even when no one is watching.