My First Referee Experience

The trouble with referees is that they just don't care which side wins...

I played in the tournament at Connestee Falls this past weekend. After my bracket concluded in the morning, the tournament director approached me and said that I was going to referee the playoff games for the afternoon brackets. I was a little apprehensive as I was not expecting this role and had not studied the rule book nor brushed up on the score-keeping. But I looked forward to the experience.

I had 2 main goals when I walked onto the court - do not interrupt the flow of the game and do not influence the outcome. I was focused on the teaching's of Inga Carr and her Reffing 101 class. Be ready with the score when the players were ready play. Feet...feet...feet! I did my best using the scoresheet but I forgot some of the minutiae like the dots for side-outs. But I always had the score right.

That does not mean that I always announced the right score though. During a women's doubles match, I switched the scores and announced 10-6 when it should have been 6-10. I quickly got a look with which I familiar when my wife tells me I am wrong. I immediately corrected myself.

It was easier to watch the NVZ lines for foot faults than I thought. I called one foot fault when a player was on the line and another when a player stepped into the NVZ with both feet. Neither was a hard call. One thing that made watching the NVZ line easy was that most players stayed well behind it, by 12 inches or more. That gave me more time to watch line calls. Three challenges of line calls were made. I was able to confirm the player's call on one. A second was on the far sideline and I did not have a clear view.  The third was almost directly in front of me on a smash. I was watching the hitter's feet and could not turn my head quickly enough to see the ball and line clearly.

The biggest challenge was the players lining up in the proper position after switching sides at the game's midpoint. In one men's game, both teams were positioned incorrectly. Each team was discussing their positioning and it was obvious that confusion reigned. Finally, one team asked if they were in the proper positions and I corrected them. Then, the second team also asked. Luckily, proper positioning was something I learned a long time ago, mostly because my partner and I stacked.

The only situation that caused me some second thoughts was a call I had to make when a player served before I announced the score. Before each game, I stated that I would call the score as soon as I saw that 4 players were ready. Except for one time when I fell asleep, I kept the game moving. In the semifinal game, one player started to serve and I announced the score quickly. I did not call a violation but told him he needed to wait. The same player did the same thing in the bronze-medal game and I had to call the violation. We discussed it after the game and he acknowledged his error.

I am glad that no esoteric rulings were required since I had not studied the rules before the experience. I am confident that I would have known the right answer for most situations but there is always something for which I could be unprepared. 

The experience (and positive feedback) encouraged me to volunteer for the Regional tournament in October. I look forward to the chance to test myself in a bigger tournament. If all goes well, I expect that I will pursue certification.

But my purpose with this article is to encourage others to try refereeing. It is actually a lot less difficult than I imagined. Just remember to stay calm and enunciate clearly your words to the players. They understand you are a volunteer and an imperfect human.