Author Topic: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting  (Read 3329 times)

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Offline Zap

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2019, 08:17:07 PM »
Thanks for posting. 95% of coaches I have talked with in my short time with this game are good guys. You just have to remember that to us this a 'hobby' to these guys it's their life.

Offline ElvisLives

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2019, 09:44:19 PM »
Thanks for posting. 95% of coaches I have talked with in my short time with this game are good guys. You just have to remember that to us this a 'hobby' to these guys it's their life.

I don’t intend to offend, but I probably will.
Officiating ain’t a “hobby.”  It is an avocation.  Huge difference.  After 43 seasons across 47 years - longer than my post-collegiate vocation - it is no less my life than theirs, even though it is not my primary form of making a living.  I have given every game I have ever worked 100% effort.  I am incensed that anyone would call what we do a “hobby.”  At times in my career, I have easily invested nearly as much time as a 40-hour/week full-time job.  Even now, I probably spend 10-15 hours per week average in self-study, group meetings, and on-field work (just got back from a 1.5 hour group meeting tonight).  To trivialize what we do as a “hobby” is an insult of epic proportions to the many thousands of dedicated and committed officials at all levels of sports.  Anybody doing this as a “hobby” should quit and just go fishing.

Coaches are human and deserve respect.  Officials are human and deserve no less respect.  And that is irrespective of the motivations for either of them to do what they do.  Neither coaches nor officials are above the other.  We are equals.  We must insist on being treated as equals, and that means eliminating the perception that officiating is a “hobby.”

Don’t ever refer to officiating as a “hobby.” And don’t let coaches or anyone else say this is just a hobby for us, without offering a challenge to that gross mischaracterization.

If we don’t stand up ourselves, who will?

Well, I will stand up.

Robert

Offline Grant - AR

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #3 on: June 04, 2019, 09:08:35 AM »
even though it is not my primary form of making a living.

I'm sure most of us are in the same boat as you, but because of the statement above, most coaches will never believe that it's as important to us as them. 

Offline Magician

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #4 on: June 04, 2019, 09:36:24 AM »
I'm sure most of us are in the same boat as you, but because of the statement above, most coaches will never believe that it's as important to us as them. 
It's still a very important differentiator between our roles though. If I'm fired from officiating I don't lose my main source of income. If the coach is fired from his/her job it could be a huge financial impact and they have to find a new job. And as much time as some of us invest in officiating it is nowhere near as much as what the coaches spend. Not even close. And the yelling and screaming we get during the game they get all week in the form of calls and emails from parents, fans, and boosters.

Yes there needs to be mutual respect for both coaches and officials, but to say we are equally invested is not accurate. I agree with Robert's comments about avoiding the use of the word, "hobby". It should be more than that. I only use it in the context of comparing to guys who spend their time hunting or playing golf or similar activities. Mine is just as time consuming but ultimately it doesn't cost me as much money as those.

Offline centexsports

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #5 on: June 04, 2019, 10:02:31 AM »
Wow.  I am surprised that "hobby" bothers you that much.   I thought I would look it up and here is what I found.

Dictionary

hob·by1
/ˈhäbē/
 
noun
1.
an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.
"her hobbies are reading and gardening"
synonyms:   pastime, leisure activity, leisure pursuit, leisure interest, amateur interest, sideline, diversion, avocation, divertissement, enthusiasm;

Coaches know how much time we spend doing our officiating.   I agree that 95% of coaches are good guys.   But I also agree that 50% of them are not nice guys on Friday night from 5 o'clock until game over. 


Offline ElvisLives

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #6 on: June 04, 2019, 10:06:07 AM »
I'm sure most of us are in the same boat as you, but because of the statement above, most coaches will never believe that it's as important to us as them.

Then pay us enough to make it our vocation.  I’d quit my ‘regular’ job in a heartbeat.
Less than part-time pay doesn’t lessen the commitment or effort most all of us give to this avocation.  For them to think that it isn’t as important to us is simple egotism.  They don’t want to believe ANYBODY is as important as them.  But, who cares what they believe?  I do the job with full effort and commitment every time I step on the field, no less than if it was my primary vocation. 
I’m not going to let an accusation of officiating as being a “hobby” go without a challenge, especially within our own community.  It wasn’t when I started at 19, working intramural touch football in college.  It wasn’t when I started working HS football at age 21.  It wasn’t when I began FBS football at age 46.  It wasn’t when I came out of officiating retirement at age 64 to jump back into HS football.  And it isn’t today.

Think about it. Coaches don’t work any more games per year than we do. Not a hobby for them.  Not a hobby for us.

A game could easily be played without coaches.  A game could not very easily be played without officials. So, who are really important?

Robert




Offline Zap

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2019, 12:24:16 PM »
I don’t intend to offend, but I probably will.
Officiating ain’t a “hobby.”  It is an avocation.  Huge difference.  After 43 seasons across 47 years - longer than my post-collegiate vocation - it is no less my life than theirs, even though it is not my primary form of making a living.  I have given every game I have ever worked 100% effort.  I am incensed that anyone would call what we do a “hobby.”  At times in my career, I have easily invested nearly as much time as a 40-hour/week full-time job.  Even now, I probably spend 10-15 hours per week average in self-study, group meetings, and on-field work (just got back from a 1.5 hour group meeting tonight).  To trivialize what we do as a “hobby” is an insult of epic proportions to the many thousands of dedicated and committed officials at all levels of sports.  Anybody doing this as a “hobby” should quit and just go fishing.

Coaches are human and deserve respect.  Officials are human and deserve no less respect.  And that is irrespective of the motivations for either of them to do what they do.  Neither coaches nor officials are above the other.  We are equals.  We must insist on being treated as equals, and that means eliminating the perception that officiating is a “hobby.”

Don’t ever refer to officiating as a “hobby.” And don’t let coaches or anyone else say this is just a hobby for us, without offering a challenge to that gross mischaracterization.

If we don’t stand up ourselves, who will?

Well, I will stand up.

Robert

Robert I 100% agree with you and should maybe think about my words a little better when I post. Even though I don’t have the same amount of time in as you I share your passion for this ADVOCATION. I spend 10+ hours a week during the season each week getting ready for games not including the 5-9 hours one way I drive for games. I have made major life style decisions for my family for the ability to be able to officiate football. Thanks for your dedication to the game and to your fellow officials, like I said it didn’t mean any ill will or minimize what we put ourselves through to do this advocation.

Offline Grant - AR

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #8 on: June 04, 2019, 01:11:53 PM »
Then pay us enough to make it our vocation.  I’d quit my ‘regular’ job in a heartbeat.
Less than part-time pay doesn’t lessen the commitment or effort most all of us give to this avocation.  For them to think that it isn’t as important to us is simple egotism.  They don’t want to believe ANYBODY is as important as them.  But, who cares what they believe?  I do the job with full effort and commitment every time I step on the field, no less than if it was my primary vocation. 
I’m not going to let an accusation of officiating as being a “hobby” go without a challenge, especially within our own community.  It wasn’t when I started at 19, working intramural touch football in college.  It wasn’t when I started working HS football at age 21.  It wasn’t when I began FBS football at age 46.  It wasn’t when I came out of officiating retirement at age 64 to jump back into HS football.  And it isn’t today.

Think about it. Coaches don’t work any more games per year than we do. Not a hobby for them.  Not a hobby for us.

A game could easily be played without coaches.  A game could not very easily be played without officials. So, who are really important?

Robert

I agree 100% with this! 

Offline ElvisLives

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Re: MWC Referee - Coaches Meeting
« Reply #9 on: June 04, 2019, 05:03:08 PM »
I stand corrected by Centex with regard to the linguistic definition of "avocation."  I guess I never checked the literal definition.  My prior, apparently informal, understanding of the word "avocation" was that it was a secondary, but professional, pursuit.  "Secondary," because it wasn't something by which someone could make a living, under current and/or traditional standards.  I believed an avocation was something into which you might put your heart and soul, but it wasn't something by which your could - as much as you might wish it - house, clothe, and feed your family.  You needed a primary vocation to make a living.  An avocation might supplement the primary vocation, but it wasn't primary, because - for whatever reason - the economic compensation was simply insufficient.
With regard to American football, the NFL is the only place that can become a primary vocation, and I know several folks who do just that.  FBS football is lucrative, but it isn't a living.  If it were year 'round, perhaps it could be. But it isn't.  No other form of American football officiating remotely resembles a primary vocation.

Whereas, my understanding of a hobby was that is was just some form of recreation or interesting diversion, like collecting and displaying golf balls from different courses around the country/world.  Nothing to be scorned or ridiculed in any way.  But not the passionate undertaking that is football officiating.

So, I amend my comments to say that we should never allow an accusation that football officiating is either a hobby or an avocation to go unchallenged.  It is far, far more. 

To me, anyway.  I hope for you, as well.

Robert