聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 It鈥檚 one of the most annoying things to listen to, people who don鈥檛 necessarily know the rules to a sporting event who then proceed to criticize every little thing that they think they know.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I was calling a pretty tight game the other day between a local team and a city team from Weyburn. And the chatter over my right shoulder was annoying me to no end.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淲hy don鈥檛 you call that one on the net?鈥� Being on the stand I have a pretty good view鈥hat one you think was on the net wasn鈥檛, it was the ball that was pushed into the net making it move, she never touched it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪he was completely under the net!鈥� Well, technically the rule is you can go completely under the net, you can be laying on the other side as long as your feet don鈥檛 fully cross, I never saw her feet completely go under.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淪he didn鈥檛 touch the net, it was the other girl.鈥� Again I have a very good angle to see who was or wasn鈥檛 on the net, or who pushed the net into the other player.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭hat was two hits!鈥� Well technically the first pass is clean if it鈥檚 one motion, so if it rolls up your arms and bounces of your chest, it鈥檚 good on the first pass.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Looking back I should have called the captain over and explained some of the rules loudly enough for the parents in the corner to hear, next time.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I would say I know the rules fairly well; I鈥檝e taken referee courses and have read through the rules countless times as a player, ref, and coach. The rules change, so you need to be up on them. I wasn鈥檛 trying to sway the game at all, but that鈥檚 how these people felt because they were misinformed regarding some of the rules.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 However, at the same time I鈥檓 not perfect, I don鈥檛 claim to be, and neither is anyone else who gets up on the stand. It鈥檚 tough to do no matter how well you know the rules, calling a game is very difficult. Even the ones at the international level make mistakes.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 You know when you should have called something, but it gets worse when people sit there chattering about what they saw. After the game one of my players, who had been linesing the game, came up to me and asked if I had heard all those parents. She was my linesperson on my right, so was standing directly in front of the ladies who were voicing their opinions quite loudly. That grade eight kid sad they were talking so much that she wanted to turn around to explain the rules to those parents.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The day before one of my girls were actually refereeing for the boys and was heckled by a group of parents as well. She ignored them. However, she鈥檚 in grade nine and learning how to ref, why in the world would you heckle her? I鈥檓 lucky she鈥檚 made of sturdy stuff because it鈥檚 interactions like that which turn people off refereeing and makes it difficult to find referees.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 hoping the boys that were refereeing the same day I was weren鈥檛 getting heckled too badly. Yes, they missed calls, but they did their best. I reminded them about the rules at the net and having to call certain things if I saw they were consistently missed, but it was constructive criticism. They鈥檙e learning and they were getting better as the day went on.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In fact the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association have a large sign which schools have to display which reads, 鈥淧lease be respectful and encouraging in your approach to our opponents, officials, coaches and team members. Be a Fan鈥︹�ot a Fanatic.鈥�
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, as high school sports are getting into full swing and as hockey begins to take off, keep in mind everyone is human. No one is perfect. They鈥檙e going to do their best and that鈥檚 all you can expect. I鈥檓 a competitive person, but if someone makes what I think is a wrong call, I accept it and move on. And remember, at least in volleyball, your conduct reflects on your team and can cost you a point.
