Last Call

Now What

You made the last call of the Match. The teams are shaking hands You made the last call of the Match. The teams are shaking hands. You have descended from the officials stand. What you do next is what seperates the good officials from his or her peers.

Great teams practice hard, they play hard then afterwards they evaluate how they performed.

The officiating crew needs to do the same

During the match you react to situations that present themselves During the match you react to situations that present themselves. Many times they are brand new to you and your officiating career. It might be the way a coach reacts, a strange play or a situation with a fan. There is a good chance if you run into something you have not experienced before, you will not handle it correctly or in the best manner.

The post match DEBRIEF is where you can possibly learn how to handle those situations the next time.

R1 is the person who needs to lead this debrief session R1 is the person who needs to lead this debrief session. But it is not their job to be the teacher or necessarily critique the officiating crew.

To Start: Congratulate the crew for surviving to the end of the match with no blood drawn (at least their own) Have a discussion with the line judges as to what they could have done to make your job as R1 easier. Ask if there was anything you could have done to help them. If you had to over rule one of their calls, explain why. You might be able to give each of them 1 or 2 mechanical things they can work on to improve their line judge skill set. Elicit comments from them. They may very well be able to give you some help with your game as well.

Next is a discussion with R2 Discuss any strange plays that occurred and get each others ideas on what actually happened. Were there problems with the coaches that could have been addressed differently? Let the R2 know what they could have done to make your job easier. You might be able to remind them of specific mechanics that they need to brush up on’ Ask the R2 what he/she thought about your ball handling calls. Were they consistent? Were they too tight or too loose?

Remember this is meant to be a learning experience for all involved Remember this is meant to be a learning experience for all involved. It is a discussion not a lecture. This is where you grow as an official. Take full advantage of it.

This also gives you the opportunity to pick your partner’s brain a little bit concerning things you want to work on, are having trouble with or a situation that has arisen and you are not sure the correct way of handling it. This is especially true if you are working with a more experienced official. He/she likely struggled through the same thing in their past. Use their experience to your advantage.

Caution. Many officials are not used to this debriefing happening Caution! Many officials are not used to this debriefing happening. They are used to ending the match and getting into their own world and leaving the arena. You need to ask them prior to the start of the match if they would stay for a little while after the match and discuss what went right and what went wrong.