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OFFICIALS CORNERZebra Zone Article #17 – September 1, 2010 By Terry J. Eiter “Officiate Minnesota” and “The Sports Officiating Summit”: An Attendee’s Perspective “Officiate Minnesota” was the first of its’ kind in Minnesota. The theme of the event was “Educating, Celebrating and Recognizing Sports Officials.” Sponsored by the Minnesota State High School League, it was held the last weekend in July in conjunction with the “The Sports Officiating Summit,” which was held later in the week and sponsored by the National Association of Sports Officials. It was interesting that over 1,000 officials from Minnesota chose to spend their weekend in Minneapolis rather than at home or on the lake. I was fortunate enough to attend both events which will help shape my officiating future. “Officiate Minnesota” was put together and focused on Minnesota officials from several different activities. The presenters were current and former high school officials – some of them have now made it to the top of the ladder and are now at the professional level. The initial session of Officiate Minnesota was tabbed “The 23 Most Powerful Lessons in Officiating,” by Bill Topp, Vice President of Referee Magazine. Topp had a no-nonsense approach to officiating. Of his 23 Lessons some included the following: · Eighty percent of officiating is managing people – this struck me to be very true as if you are not a “people-person” it will be a difficult avocation. · Safety is the primary responsibility of officials – this was reinforced several times throughout and emphasized again with the concussion conversations · There are rules that are written and then there is the spirit of the rule – enforce the spirit of the rule and you’ll have less problems · it’s not a fair business and the wrong call always gets more attention than the right call – he elaborated on the Jim Joyce missed call at first base this summer · he felt the finest officials were fair minded, accountable and decisive There were sessions on watching and breaking down video. Not just doing it, but having a procedure and process to it. Most coaches and fans don’t know it, but watching video is something that officials have been doing more and more of. Tips were given on how to approach and break down individual plays. Some questions to ponder: position and thoughts prior to the play, positioning and thoughts during the play and again – what was my post play positioning and thoughts. Doing this over and over while writing down notes for each step. It’s time consuming, but a valuable learning tool for officials. As mentioned earlier, there was a focus on concussion this year. In the past it’s been a bit scary for officials and there was not a solid procedure in place for athletes to return to a game after there were symptoms of a concussion. There were certainly liability concerns for officials. This year both the National Federation of High School Association and the Minnesota State High School League have created a procedure that relieves the officials much more than previously. It is now the burden of the team to determine if a player may return to the contest (by a approved medical practitioner) and not the official. “Rights, Requirements and Risks” was the focus of the National Sports Officiating Summit in the days to follow. Legal liability is a huge concern in all walks of life and officiating is not immune to it. Several session dealt with the legal aspect of officiating, It’s unfortunate, but it has come to this. Officials have been sued for many frivolous reasons AND some officials have actually sued other officials or the groups / associations that they belong to. It’s just crazy. I heard the comment, “why are we still doing this?” many times. I’ll attempt to give you one example. One case in Texas involved a football official and his entire crew who were sued by a football coach. One of the officials bumped into a coach who was not where he was supposed to be – the coach fell down, was injured and ultimately faced large medical bills. The officials hired an attorney who agreed with them that it was a “frivolous” case against them and countersued the coach. Eventually, the coaches case was dismissed and the officials each won $50,000 in their counter-suit. It was a great precedent for officials. Some other examples included one official suing his own Association because he tripped and fell down while leaving their annual meeting. He said they held their meeting at a “unsafe venue.” Really? Then there was the case of the official who sued his Association because he wasn’t getting the amount of games he thought he should be scheduled. Another sued for “unemployment” because he didn’t receive as many games as the previous year. And so it goes. From what I understand there is legislation in the state of Minnesota that protects officials from frivolous suits against them. I intent on becoming more aware if it. Overall, both of the events were outstanding learning experiences. With that being said… Until next time….remember to keep the game fun. Terry J. Eiter is a high school teacher and baseball coach in Detroit Lakes, MN. He currently officiates football and basketball and is a former baseball and softball umpire. He can be contacted at dlref@hotmail.com.
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