I have been in situations where an official immediately confronted a peer about a judgment call or action as soon as the crew entered the dressing room at halftime or the end of the game. I’m not sure what the official was trying to accomplish with his condemning words, but they weren’t helpful or healthy, and you can imagine the crew’s mood when they departed the dressing room.
I do not understand why officials aggressively confront each other. What are they trying to accomplish? As officials, we should not have an elevated sense of righteousness or an insatiable desire to be correct. It’s wrong to act that way with coaches. Why do we act that way with each other?
If you are confronting your crewmate to call him out for a mistake, leave it alone. If you simply want to call out someone else’s mistake to prove you’re right and he’s wrong, don’t do it!
It is important to debrief between the first and second half and then after the game ends. It doesn’t matter the level we officiate. We should always take at least a few minutes to reconstruct significant plays and discuss how we performed as a crew.
Here are some ideas about how to debrief the first half or the game in a healthy, constructive way:
Before communicating, take a few minutes to take a drink, eat a snack, take a deep breath, and decompress. Don’t immediately bring up a play when you hit the door (varsity) or the parking lot (sub-varsity).
The debrief should be positive and constructive. It’s not the time or place to throw darts or confront each other. If you have a bone to pick, leave it alone. If you intend to lecture a crewmate, keep your mouth closed.
Don’t question a crewmate during the halftime intermission unless you need information to pass along to the head coach.
Approach feedback opportunities with a positive attitude. Speak respectfully and with the intent to help your crewmate. If you encounter resistance, back off.
Start with compliments. First reconstruct and debrief positive actions. “Great job getting to the pylon before the runner arrived.” If you have a mentor’s or teacher’s heart, you’ll know how to do this. Just like putting money in the bank with a coach, you have put money in the bank with the crewmate. He will then be more open to receiving your constructive criticism.
Whomever is leading the discussion can tactfully ask a crewmate to reconstruct the play in question and then ask clarification questions to help steer the crewmate to arrive at an “aha” moment.
“Tell me about the play in the second quarter near your sideline when the runner was downed behind the line of scrimmage.” “Talk me through your positioning and your mental processing as the play developed.” “If you had a do-over, is there anything you’d change?”
Ask questions to help the official reach the “aha” moment. Don’t just tell the official what he did wrong. The official will better remember the punch line when he has actively participated in the debrief process instead of just hearing the lecture.
Only one official should speak. It’s not helpful when multiple officials pig-pile a single official, especially when that official is new. If you’re interacting with a new official, provide only a handful of golden nuggets. It’s easy to overwhelm a new official. We don’t need to debrief the entire game in one sitting. Review the most important items and then save the rest for an Email or a phone call.
Quiz
Read the quiz stem and then choose the best answer(s).
1/10 from the A-45. A14 runs to the left and fumbles at the A-41 near the sideline. While standing inbounds, A25 bats the grounded ball at the A-40 to keep it from rolling out of bounds. A20 recovers the ball on the A-35. If Team B chooses to enforce the foul, the basic spot is the _____.
- A-45
- A-41
- A-40
- A-35
Review Rules 10-3-2 and 10-4-4a