referee COACH Survey NOVEMBER 2012

Distribution & Responses 248 s sent 92 responses 39 with ≥ 10 yrs experience 26 Level 2 or above

Action Day Referee Coach information session 31 indicated they had attended 30 said it was ‘of worthwhile’ 54 hadn’t attended; of these, 44% didn’t know it was on; 13% not available because of refereeing

Retraining experiences 52/92 responses said they had received some form of ‘retraining’

Retraining experiences 35/92 responses said they had received no ‘retraining’ 72% of respondents said they thought referee coaches should be reaccredited (eg. every 2 years)

Referee school involvement 85/92 responses

Use of technology 85/92 responses

Not currently working in a league as a referee coach. Opportunities to use new coaches ?

Current activity as a referee coach 45/92 responses

Scaled questions 10 = good 1 = bad Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Enjoyed my role = most common response

Scaled questions 10 = good 1 = bad Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Feel a valued team member = most common response

Scaled questions 10 = good 1 = bad Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Workload = most common response

Scaled questions 10 = good 1 = bad Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Game assessment system = most common response

Scaled questions 10 = good 1 = bad Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Payment for game reports = most common response

Scaled questions 10 = good 1 = bad Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Payment for travel = most common response

Scaled questions 10 = good 1 = bad Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Enjoyed my role = most common response Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Feel a valued team member = most common response Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Workload = most common response Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Game assessment system = most common response Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Payment for game reports = most common response Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Payment for travel = most common response Domestic Country VJBL Lower VJBL Higher Big V Lower Big V Higher SEABL WNBL NBL Payment for travel = most common response

Active referee ? 84/92 responses

Best thing about being a referee coach 83/92 responses This selection is typical of all responses

Worst thing about being a referee coach 84/92 responses Politics8 Travel Time13 Referees who won’t listen28 Not appreciated/valued17 Report writing13 Time on Task15 Limited opportunities4 Poor communication8 Poor ref coach knowledge4

What would you change 15/92 responses I was a referee coach at Vic Country Big V Seabl and WNBL and for my home association. Stopped all leagues in 2011 due to my health and the large number of games I was doing some years I was doing 50 to 60 games at SEABL and WNBL just become too much my health had to come 1st in the end. and for what you get paid it is not worth it, referee coach payment are crap and have changed very little in the 20 years that I was a referee coach. Referee coach's are taken for granted by the leagues and are not valued for the big input that they have in the leagues. They want you to be professional and pay you crap. I basically retired from most basketball due to family commitments I was no longer asked by my association to help out a difference in opinion on how things are being run Politics. Not doing much VJBL. Stopped being asked probably because of upper league workload I wasn't utilized therefore I lost interest

What would you change 15/92 responses I had stopped for almost 8 years due to young family The politics associated with the governance and administration of the referees program. I still enjoyed getting out and coaching referees when I ceased all involvement with basketball. The VBRA have so pointedly and catastrophically failed to deliver the support required to improve the standard of basketball refereeing in this state. As a governing body, the VBRA should act in their constituents’ interests. Instead, it my opinion that a few people connected to the organisation put their own political interests ahead of the development of the referees program as a whole. However, if this is addressed I would not hesitate to return to something that I genuinely enjoyed doing. Time commitment is not possible when still active as a referee and have a young family The XBRA head coach/president wants everything done his way and does not approve of my methods. I now only offer suggestions to my less experienced or less qualified fellow referee during domestic games.

What would you change 15/92 responses Really considering stopping as I feel the standard has slipped, and too many people are being used as referee coaches who are not qualified or experienced enough or have not done re- trainings, and this is leading to referees classifying all coaches as not having enough knowledge or don't know what they are talking about. I enjoyed being a referee coach, but now it is a little different. There are too many young referees doing referee coaching who do not have the people skills and consequently do a poor job. time constraints I suspect I will stop now due to not being asked to continue nowhere has offered me the opportunity to ref coach and thus my abilities are diminishing due to lack of practise. this applies to outside of XXXX as i referee at many stadiums. does not apply at XXXX as i don’t ref there and they have too many coaches already

Followup issues:  how do we create a more ‘positive environment’ for Referee Coaches and create an awareness of the value of referee coaching per se within associations and leagues.  how do we build accountability into referee roles ? They need to be willing to listen to the points raised by referee coaches AND the referee coaches need to be giving them meaningful feedback.  the time on task compared to payment is a concern; as is the inordinately convoluted and time consuming report writing process. Can this be streamlined. ? * how do we (or do we ?) track/correspond with referee coaches who have ‘retired’ ? * what accountability do leagues have in terms of referee coach development ? If any..... * referee coach retraining/reaccreditation is required - how ? when ? who ? * communication processes need to be improved to facilitate sharing of information and resources.