Many of us referees most probably were players at a particular level at some point in the past. Due to such an experience, we should be able to understand the type and level of intensity that is created in a competitive environment especially at top levels. If one departs from this state of mind, then one can start to visualize the referee’s relationships on the field of play in a better way.

In the past years I have been taught that one should never discourage or dishearten any sort of competitive spirit by the players, coaches or team administrators. This type of spirit is essentially a great attribute and characteristic.

On the other side of the coin, players, coaches or team officials should never be allowed to show disrespect to any referee. It is of utmost importance, in my opinion, that if, during a game, a player addresses the referee in sort of manner that ultimately will humiliate the referee or else the player attempts to ridicule the game, the same referee should immediately and without hesitation assess a sound penalty in order to try to correct this incorrect behaviour.

One thing I have observed (even though there is technically only a minimal sort of generation gap between me and today’s youngsters) is that young players have developed a greater tendency to use foul language and at times obscenities.

A question many young referees come to ask advice about is whether a referee can send off a player for foul language and/or obscenities.

The advice I have learned in the past and which I try to act on is that, at times, it might be advisable for the referee to try and work with the player first.

If the same player is willing to listen to the referee and thus consequently corrects his behaviour, the referee might be able to keep the player in the game and not resort to an expulsion. However doing this requires a lot of experience and discretion and each incident is different from all the others. A good sense of maturity is also needed on the part of the referee as the latter has to judge accurately the situation.

I am not implying that a referee tries to work with a player in each situation, but only in those incidents which are not that visible, and audible. If a player curses at the referee or his opponent, a penalty (according to the respective rules in the sport being played) is needed immediately.

A definite piece of advice is that each referee should not tolerate unruly behaviour that might cause a game to get out-of-hand. The following might sound nasty but I can vouch that it works when I resorted to such an action on very infrequent occasions. When a game will flow better without a player because he is unwilling to play by the rules, the referee should not hesitate to get rid of him.

In some cases, the referee may approach the coach of the particular player to ask for help and assistance so that you do not have to resort to an expulsion.

If the coach gives the cold shoulder in reply, the referee should not worry but immediately discontinue the conversation with the coach and get back to refereeing.

Without the coach’s help, the referee now must do what he sees fit to do. The next time the player displays borderline or excessive behaviour; it is imperative that the referee takes care of business without the use of any more warnings.

In the case of personal physical contact, the scenario is different. It is very rare that a player engages in physical contact with a referee. However, if this does occur, the referee must take immediate and timely action and there is nothing else to do but send off the player from the game.

The conclusion for today’s article (which was quite on the negative side of sports) is that at no time should a player be allowed to verbally or physically abuse a referee.

To quote one of the best basketball referees around at the moment, Italian La Monica: “To be a good referee, you must show the players and coaches that you must be respected. Sometimes, to show teams where the border in the relationship is, you have to shout and use your own ways to explain your philosophy.” These are definitely some very strong, but relevant, words.

About Melbourne 2006

Greetings from down under, specifically from Melbourne, to all the readers. I am writing this article early Thursday morning here and with the Commonwealth Games entering their final days.

The atmosphere here is ecstatic as there is great interest amongst the locals in practically all the sporting disciplines.

Personally, I was greatly satisfied when I heard that Malta had managed to win a silver medal in shooting. Truly a well done to all those that were involved in this great historic achievement.

Unluckily, since I was on duty refereeing on practically each single competitive day up till now, I could not attend to any other sports arenas (except those of basketball of course) to watch other Maltese competing.

I had the occasion to watch the Maltese basketball team playing in three games, namely their group game against Malaysia and substantial parts of their classification games against India and Malaysia respectively.

In the two matches against Malaysia, the Maltese lost by a whisker yet I totally believe that the win could have easily been registered with more attention on certain things like free throw percentage and turnovers.

These two games were close and the Maltese showed character in certain stages where they even managed to annul deficits and forge ahead. Yet, in crunch time (the dying stages of the game) the pressure seemed to have its toll and certain turnovers and near misses permitted the Malaysians to grab the game winning points.

Even though the Maltese finished in the last place, I still continue to stress that the decision to play in these Games was a good one. Many would certainly not agree with me but the experience could reap benefits for the same girls in the near future.

What I was truly disappointed was with the state of physical fitness of most of the players. This was maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity for them to compete in such a high level of games. The least I would have expected (if technically, preparation needs a long time period) is that the team would be in its top physical shape, especially when one has to play a number of game sin a short span of time.

I truly believe that if players were in their top physical shape and the team included also a couple of top local players who did not make the trip, Malta could have easily fought it out for the sixth place.

As I stressed last week, I cannot describe the atmosphere at the Athletes Village as I have no access. Being a referee, I am situated in the centre of the city together with the 1,000 plus officials from different sports.

The last week has been one of extensive traveling as the initial group basketball games were played in the regional centres around Melbourne. In fact I had to officiate in Bendigo, Geelong and Ballarat.

The final stages are being played in the Melbourne MPV Arena with a capacity of 10,500 and all the days are sold out.

My aim here, prior to the Games, was to prepare myself in the best shape possible and then give my best in the game. Honestly, I was disappointed. On the contrary, right now I feel delighted as I was entrusted with two semi final matches for men and women respectively and tomorrow will be one of the referees for the Women final between Australia and New Zealand.

I truly feel proud to be nominated for these games and to represent Malta at the centre stage of the basketball competition, a tournament which is being really followed by thousands of people here. It also feels marvelous to be respected by some foreign persons that really matter when maybe certain fellow Maltese people do not do so.

By the time you read this article the final would have been played and hopefully Malta would have also won some other medal so as to make these Melbourne Games historic as regards the medal tally.

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