Hoops

Referees Required!!!

My son's job at 15 years old paid him $11 an hour - many jobs pay more. Mc Donald's is known amongst kids as a "rip-off". The kids are also out for a morning or evening 4 - 5 hours but may only ref 3 games. If they worked 4 - 5 hours they would earn more. It is important that basketball keep some parity and compete with these salaries. My sons have both spent full days training at no cost. It is not adequate nor constructive to simply dismiss the wage on one hand and then wonder why kids do not go on with refereeing. I gues the final comment to make is that they are going 17 not 15 and they are now ready to take on more responsibility - this is the exact time the game should not want to lose them.

The responsibility for parent behaviour has to be addressed by the club that their child plays for. When a child first joins a club, there needs to be a "Code of Conduct" document for both players and parents. They each need to read it and sign it to acknowledge their understanding of the conditions set out therein. One of the consequences of parents not adhering to the rules could be that their child will be disqualified from playing the next match. I know that is cruel on the child but it is going to send a clear message to the offending parents. There is no excuse whatsoever for a parent to make a complaint about a call. The coach of their team is more experienced than they are and if a complaint is warranted, the coach will make it.

As far as shortage of umpires go, that is the responsibility of the stadium. They collect $5 or $6 dollars whatever the amount is from each player to play, they also collect a few dollars from spectators. Should they not be giving a court and umpire in return for this money?

Rookie umpires with a red arm band is a good idea, but they should not be responsible for the game. They should be there just from a work experience point of view and when deemed to be experienced enough, can take some control over the game. They should be paid a minimal wage to do this just to keep them encouraged to progress to a more senior level. "Learner" umpires are usually very young and it gives them a little bit of extra pocket money. It is not an income that they need to live on. It beats washing cars and a 15 year old wouldn't earn any more than that working at McDonalds. The prospect of a promotion and an increase in wage that comes with it, will encourage them to do a good job and take the job seriously.

i must agree with both wayne and swish, although it is unfortunate, the mighty dollar will always rule, but there may be a solution that would allow referees to umpire without being attacked, read swish (#25252). Perhaps we need to create a mentality (although it would take perhaps two or three seasons) where referees are no longer abused, but respected, and give them a compensation worth their time. Either way, the referees situation in SA basketball need immediate attention.

There seems to be a lot of finger pointing here and comments like it is abuse etc etc. My boys ref and they have the choice of being paid $8 an hour for reffing or $12 an hour at a part time job. Both jobs involve some sort of downside (ask Lewis about the meatworks one day!!!!) They enjoy the company on Friday nights but like all of us the dollar will have the final say i am sure.

In terms of clubs Scott speaks with all Sturt coaches at the start of every season. We try to behave at our best (not always perfect).

As a Dad I am very thankful for the time that Peter, Graeme & Matt have put into my boys. Pasadena has a great program for junior refs and should be a model for others.

One interesting point as far as my boys are concerned. In the last 3 or 4 years there has only been one coach they felt very poorly about in terms of how he treated them. They will not ref one of his games if they can help it.

Just having a read here and I can shine a bit of light on the red arm bands for junior umps being used at the AHRC. No they are not allowed to be approached by anybody and yes they umpire with a more senior umpire who answers any questions or passes the person on to the UIC. It makes everyone in the stadium aware that the umpire with the red armband is learning and since returning to umpiring juniors ,it seems to be working. The kids enjoy playing and the parents enjoy watching them.

They have only been there once to ref - they liked their charge ref and enjoyed the experience but still wish to maintain strong links with Pasadena

AHRC

where exactly is up the road?

wayne, perhaps you could ask your terrible two about the system up the road?

Paul - you are right - please chat with me about this issue when next we meet - I have a couple of comments to make.

yogee, i agree, and am in a similar boat, was an umpire doing all grades up to high level seniors. but to get refs past the juniors stage, they need the confidence, which come from NOT being abused. A concept that is being trialed in a regional competition is that junior referees wear red arm bands.

Any ref with a red arm band cannot be approached by any players, coaches or spectators, the penalty is that they can be thrown from the game. This works best when this junior ref is coupled with a senior (non-red arm band) ref to handle any issues. Also the umpire in charge should be seen as the point of contact for queires.

This has so far been very well received, and the guidleines have been respected, perhaps BASA could look at adopting a similar concept??