In reflection of my pre-high school volleyball career (club and high school), I must have been sincerely unpopular among the referees in Pennsylvania. I used to complain about EVERYTHING! There wasn't a call I agreed with. Frankly, I was just extremely unpleasant.
Enter ONU Men's Volleyball, and that all changes..
As part of our team fundraiser, each year we host two weekends of junior olympic volleyball tournaments. We completely manage the entire tournaments (ref, confessions, set-up, tear down). We are all Ohio River Valley certified officials. It's a great fundraiser, and we've experienced a lot of success.
With that said, being a referee has completing changed my outlook on playing the sport and officiating. Officiating is a thankless job. You can never make everyone happy. You have complete strangers yelling at you aggressively. You are expected to know and see everything. I will say that I am a completely different player because of my experience with the OVR. My patience, understanding and support for officials has drastically increased. It's a tough job, and I can appreciate that now.
I learned quickly that my officiating career with most likely come to an end after I live ONU. It's just not for me. I love watching and enjoying volleyball, and as an official you have to worry about so many other aspects of the sport. It works for some people, but not me. I will say that I WILL NOT be the parent who screams and yells about every call. We all know a few.
First off, I'm going to have to call you out on calling it the Ohio River Valley, and then preceding to get it correct by calling it the OVR. It's Ohio Valley Region Joe. Ha
ReplyDeleteSecond, I'm also going to have to basically agree with you on this post. Ref's will never get the credit they deserve. It's tough being up there on the stand and having players and coaches and fans and parents and everyone yelling at you, regardless of your call. If it's a close play, someone is going to be mad. I think it's part of the game to be mad at refs and blame things on them, but deep down inside, we all know the truth in games and we know what it's all about.
Joe, I completely understand where you are coming from. I have umpired the past two summers for our community youth softball league. Who knew parents of ten year olds could be so intense?! Every pitch, every play, every inning there would be someone who wasn't happy with what I was calling. It definitely tested my patience.
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, it completely changed my outlook on the game. I never grumble, give dirty looks or challenge umpires anymore. I realize that it is a very difficult task and they are doing the best that they can.
1. Ohio River Valley? Please don't judge me. Apparently nine hours of officiating got the best of me. I'm pretty sure that if any of the OVR officials read this, my certification will be revoked. Hopefully, they're not big bloggersl
ReplyDelete2. It's crazy how it changes your prospective. I now understand that complaining about calls just makes the officials angry. I want to find all of the officials who I heckled during high school and apologize for being such a pain.