Game Control

Last week I watched a running basketball game in Turkish Basketball League on TV and the game was a good example of what happens if referees lose the control of the game.

The game started as struggle of equal powers. The music was fine. Both teams were wanting to play basketball. The referees were handling the game well. However after the first period, they began to interrupt and cut the flow. The players and coaches started to get nervous and in the first instance the home team coach got a technical foul then a player from home team then another player again and one more. Two unsportsmenlike fouls and so on.

As you can see from example mentioned, if you put your technical foul level low, and if you fire your gun immediately, maybe you win the fight but you lose the control of the game . You are like a gangster going into a bar and everybody shoots you or you shoot everybody. Anyway, if you or your partner calls a violation or foul which he shouldn’t or if he or you don’t call a violation or foul you needed ot call, it is quite normal that the players or the coach will be frustrated. And if your misinterpretation happens in a very important or decisive part of the game, you should be more tolerant to the over reactions of the participants. You need to see what you need to see and hear what you need to hear. In these moments, you have to be a fire extinguisher not an arsonist. Calm down the participants, communicate with them, don’t make a meeting but make a short explanation or comment. Technical foul is our last trump, use it only in case of emergency! At times when everybody loses control, referees must be calm, self confident, reliable and positive. Players and coaches sometimes can complain us like a friend or a brother. And we sometimes should console them with a couple of words, or a smile or a pat on their back. If we can establish this kind of relation with the participants, you will see the positive light in the eyes of the participants when you go into the court. Keep in mind that referees don’t have the right to get nervous or angry and act accordingly. This is unaccceptable and against professionality. The worst mistake a referee can make is to sacrifice the game itself in return for not losing the control of the game.

As a conclusion, in order not to lose control of the game, you have to understand what’s going on in the game, draw a reasonable line for protests, be a problem solver not a creater. To be able to do these you have to develop your psychological and mental skills. Otherwise, you can expect more problems in your games.