Communication

Written by Tom Lopes who was the Executive Director for the Collegiate Basketball Officials Association. He was a Division I collegiate basketball official and officiated 20 consecutive NCAA tournaments including three Final Foul appearances. In 1995, he was selected as the Naismith Official of the Year. In addition, he is a clinician for the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, Inc. (IAABO).

Depending on the dictionary you choose to use, “communication” can be defined in any number of ways: a technique for expressing ideas effectively; an interchange of thoughts or opinions; an idea imparted, interchanged or transmitted.Translated as it applies to basketball officials, however, it takes on a meaning that is much more practical application, one that involves having good listening skills and treating people with respect, thesame as you would want to be treated yourself. In the simplest of terms, it means little more than knowing how to handle people.

The game of basketball has many stakeholders: players, coaches,officials (not only the floor officials but also those who sit at the scorer’s table) and fans. All of these stakeholders have something incommon: they are all human, people withstrengths and weaknesses and varying moods who sometimes react in some unpredictable manner when under stress. It is in these moments of stress that the better officials stand out from their lesseffective counterparts.

A basic fact in the human condition is that the most common set of the reasons for why someone loses emotional control, whether in sport or otherwise, is twofold:First, that person is of the opinion that he or she has been somehow treated unjustly;Second, he or she wants to express anobjection, in words or actions, to that perceived wrong. Essentially, the person issaying “what you did was unfair and I want you to know how I feel about it.” This reality applies as much to basketball officiating as it does to any perception of having been wronged. When such a situation arises and an official’s decision is challenged, the easiest way out might be for the official to penalize the challenge immediately by assessing a technical foul, a technical foul that could very well have been avoided by using effective communication skills and recognizing that what a technical foul if the defiance merits it.

The spirit and intent of the technical foul rule, however, is that such a penalty should be used only as a last resort, with the ultimate purpose of restoring the order that is necessary if there is to be fair play. The problem for less experienced officials,therefore, is recognizing the difference between a behaviour that requires a technical foul and a behaviour that can be more smoothly diffused with aserving of patience seasoned with effective communication and a touch ofcompassion.

How do the good officials handle situations?The best way to find the answer tothis question is simply to ask them. In your area there are probably some very good and successful officials. Talk to them; observe them in action; ask them what it was that he or she said to that frustrated coach or player in the final two minutes of the game that put the coach at ease and prevented a disruption from escalating. Officials have to anticipate criticism from coaches and players during the game and must not take such comments personally.There are many techniques at our disposalwhen such situations develop. Try immediately moving quickly to your assigned position on the court afterreporting a foul; if the coach has a question, he or she will get your attentionwithout your having to wait around. Whenit does become prudent to reply to such achallenge, always remember to be a responder rather than an initiator. Don’tbother to answer statements (they don’tusually require an answer anyway) but ifthe coach does have a question youshould let him or her ask it before youstart talking. Always be under control;speak in calm, easy tones, be aware ofbody language and try to maintain analert, positive and confident posture.When talking to a coach, make it so noone else can hear what you are saying.

When you are questioned on a call, try to keep your answer simple and to the point.Some possibilities are “I missed the call”, or “From my angle I’m sure I was correct”, or “I think I was correct and youthink you’re correct, but we’ll both haveto see the tape to know for sure.” Don’t try to bluff; it just doesn’t work.Remember also that if a question hasbeen asked or a clarification requested, don’t ignore the coach or player.Many times a short, honest answer or explanation will do wonders for your credibility. And when all else fails and the coach or player is clearly out of control, it’s time to stop talking and blow the whistle. Mind you depending on the circumstances, a comment or reactioncould be taken as a blatant and very personal insult when really it was no more than an objection, misguided or otherwise, to a perceived injustice.

This is where communication enters the picture. In officiating, a brief moment’s well-placed and effective interaction often makes the difference. Such skill distinguishes the mediocre, “every day” variety referee, the one who is usually assigned to less challenging contests, from his or her fellow official who by contrast seems to draw all the important games. Arguably, they both could be at the same level of knowledge when it comes to rules and floor mechanics, but the official who is in demand is the one who demonstrates an ability to interact effectively with players, coaches and even with his or her partners on the officiating team. It has been said that experience is the best teacher and this certainly applies to officiating. As young and inexperienced referees we all made the common mistake of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. There are few of us who can’t remember that occasion in our early years when we said to a coach, “you coach and I’ll referee.” In most cases, such a comment only opened the door for a response from the coach, like “when are you going to start?” The rule of thumb that says “for every action there is a reaction” is as true to human relations as it is to physics! Other examples of verbal inexperience are such challenging comments as “sit down”, “stop refereeing”, “get back into the team bench area” and, the worst of all, “shut up.” All of these declarations immediately put up a barrier to further communication; you and the object of your comment are now in an adversarial role and potentially in line for a long and difficult game.

Body, language is another form of communication. Staring at someone, putting hands on hips, pointing a finger: all of these present a direct challenge and will normally generate a negative response from the coach or player. In the early years of learning their craft, officials will experience all of the above and hopefully will make adjustments as they review what happened in individual games. Such reviews are quite natural; how often, as we were driving home, have we found ourselves second-guessing how we handled a disenchanted player or an angry coach, or how we might have answered a challenge differently so as to diffuse rather than escalate the problem. Even the most inexperienced official knows he or she has the authority to levy FIBA.

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