Article reprinted from the Positive Coaching Alliance Newsletter – 22 July 2010
More information at www.positivecoach.org
Teaching Players to Respect Officials
An important life lesson that can come from sports is the need to respect people. Youth athletes who learn to respect officials, even when disagreeing with them, can apply that learning throughout their lives in relationships with friends, family, teachers and employers.
A great way for coaches to teach players to respect officials is to have players officiate during practice games and scrimmages. Players who experience the difficulty of officiating are much more likely to maintain their composure when faced with a “bad call.” They incur fewer technical or misconduct calls and are better able to focus on what they can control – and what is most important in the game – the next play.
Click the video screen to visit the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports Program Powered by PCA and watch players officiating in practice under Kris Weems, basketball coach at longtime PCA partner Menlo School and a former player on Stanford University’s Final Four team in 1998.