Now that the summer USWP season has concluded with the Men's Senior National Championships in Stockton, it is time to reflect and review several lessons learned.
First, to all the officials who worked this past Spring and Summer, thank you for your efforts in applying what you have learned through the Water Polo Academy and your on deck instruction at local events or during your participation in the Junior Olympics at Stanford and surrounding areas.
I will keep this brief and pointed. We had many complaints about officiating and coaches this season, from top to bottom. For the most part deserved and in some instances not deserved at all.
This year, changes in training and education of referees were initiated by Jim Cullingham and USWP through the Water Polo Academy and Dr. Loren Bertocci. These classes alone are not meant to throw anyone out onto a pool deck to blow a whistle. On deck evaluations and instruction are an integral part of the development of officials across the country. Our Zone comprises Bakersfield north to Oregon and the west side of the valley to the Nevada border. This is an extremely large area with several pockets of great competition with many good coaches who are working very hard with their athletes not just locally, but at tournaments in southern California and the Bay area.
Coaches, I understand the pressures if winning, both from a coaching standpoint, a parents view, and that as an athlete. But constant berating, ridiculing and screaming from the bench does one thing. It imediately drives new and inexperienced and in some cases experienced officials, away from the game and develops a constant turnover of people. And we will never achieve any level of competency from our referees unless this behavior and conduct ceases. Coaches who recieve red cards have opportunities to appeal them through rules procedures. Those officials with little or no "skin" are at a loss as how to react to this excessive behavior, and as much as a coach may be upset receiving a card, part of our instruction to new and existing referees is how to deal with poor coaching behavior and when necessary deliver a card.
But if officials are driven away before they can even learn the basics of how the game should be called, we will be in a perpetual state of turnover and never have a top level group to pull from for the important tournaments or games.
My personal experiences differ from most. I have been around our sport for over 40 years and have maintained friendships and developed new ones with all of our FINA, ASUA, and neutral International referees, both current and many retired but still working the games. I don't profess to be worthy of officiating at those levels but do however, listen to their input and philosophies regarding the different aspects of the game and when possible, pass that information on to anyone who has interest in hearing what I have learned whether a referee or a coach. As the Zone Referee, I am taking the responsibilty seriously and doing everything possible to get people trained as quickly as possible with the help of four people in our zone including a retired FINA official, Dave Albertsein who recemtly moved back to Visalia.
To our Zone referees. It is a constant job to improve yourself. If you have opportunities to hit a scrimmage and practice, please do it and offer your free services to the coaching staff to allow them to coach and yourself to educate yourself to conditions and situations that will make your game better when it counts. Read the rule book. For refs and coaches alike, the rule book explains it all. The only discussion should be on the intepretation of those rules.
---------------------------------
Alan Korsgaden