Reffing - How cool is that?

By: Angelo Batistatos – Rules Ambassador 

Refereeing by players is a must in any racquetball tournament, including at the professional level. As with officiating in any sport, the referee must have a solid understanding of the rules. I recommend that you read the rules to familiarize yourself with the finer points of such items as timeouts, appeals, fault serves, replay hinders, and the dreaded penalty hinder (formerly known as the “avoidable”). I will elaborate on some of these rules in future articles. The purpose of this article is not to dissect the rulebook, but to give you some general advice on how to referee a match.

A better grasp of the rules will also assist you when playing with your buddy or in a tournament. A real situation that occurred at our recent State Doubles at Greenbriar will illustrate this point. A team had used all three of their timeouts during one game. One of the players on the team then broke a racquet string. The rules specify that the referee can grant an equipment timeout (i.e. broken string, broken racquet, excessively wet shirt) of up to 2 minutes even if all timeouts have been used. A one-point penalty is assessed for calling a timeout when none remain (or calling for a timeout in the middle of the service motion). After some confusion and good-natured kidding between the teams and the referee, the equipment timeout was called.
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Refereeing should not be a traumatic experience. The fact that you play racquetball regularly, and participate in tournaments, qualifies you to referee a match. Bottom line, I want all players to share in the refereeing process to avoid the most common delay in running an efficient tournament – the tournament desk looking for referees.

My goal in this article is to outline the Pre-Match and During the Match refereeing process. Also, I’ll try to offer some suggestions on how to get over the initial anxiety of refereeing a match.

Pre-match duties depend on the referee’s and players’ familiarity with tournament play and the local courts. For players new to tournament play, the referee should take the extra time to introduce them to the correct process. Most of the duties should be performed in the court to avoid distractions. Pre-match duties should include the following:

• Get materials from the tournament desk (ball, towel, scorecard, pencil, court number)
• Introduce yourself to the players as the referee for their match
• If linesmen are used, identify them and explain the appeal process
• Check on the adequacy of the court and identify any court hinders
• Remind the players of the number of timeouts per game, length of each timeout and length of time between games
• Remind the players of grounds for warnings and technical fouls
• Toss a coin (or other method) and offer the winner the choice of serving or receiving
• Mark scorecard as to the player serving first
• In doubles, mark scorecard as to the order of players serving for each team

During the match, the referee should devote their full attention to monitoring the match. A solid understanding of the rules is critical but not mandatory in refereeing a match. In cases where a rule is not known by the referee and can not be agreed upon by both players, the Rules Committee or Tournament Desk should be notified. If linesmen are used, follow the correct appeal process as stated in the rules.

Some DOs and DON’Ts during the match:

• DO take the most center court position above the court
• DO keep track of the server/receiver by placing the scorecard with the server side up
• DO mark the scorecard after each point, timeout and appeal
• DO give the server a reasonable amount of time to retrieve the ball before announcing the score
• DO keep pace of play by monitoring the 10 second rule for both the server and receiver after announcing the score
• DO speak quickly and clearly on all close calls regarding fault serves, hinders, skip balls, double bounce gets, etc.
• DO announce the end of each rally by saying “point”, “skip ball”, “sideout”, etc.
• DO overturn your call if both players agree otherwise
• DON’T argue with players (state the call and move on)
• DO announce the server’s score first then the receiver’s by using NUMBERS ONLY, i.e. 5/4 or 8/12.
• DON’T use the words serving and possible game/match when announcing the score (“5 serving 4”, “possible game”, and “possible match” are unnecessary/distracting to players)
• DO control spectators in regards to unsportsmanlike conduct, rowdiness or interference with the referee/match. Applause following a good shot or rally is encouraged.
• DO explain a call or non-call when asked by a player
• DON’T get into a personal conversation or exchange with a player during the match (it is unfair to the other player)
• DO warn as appropriate and give a technical to a player for using profanity, arguing, threats, equipment abuse, unsportsmanlike conduct, etc.
  

For players that are new to refereeing, I offer these suggestions:

• Start by refereeing a match 1 or 2 levels below your playing level. The action will be easier to follow and thus easier to call.
• Start by refereeing the match of two friends that will help you during the match.
• With approval from the tournament desk, ask another knowledgeable player to oversee your first match (much like a referee-in-training program). Players being refereed should be made aware of the team refereeing effort.

And this brings us to the Top 5 Reasons for refereeing a match:

5. Chicks (and Hunks) dig authority
4. Nothing happens till YOU call the score
3. You get the best seat in the house
2. You can brag about it to your weird friends
1. There is a cool $5 in it for you

And lastly, we have a great group of players at our INSRA tournaments that play for the
competition and love of the game. I rarely see anyone get out of hand, purposely cheat or exhibit
unsportsmanlike conduct. And usually, the players know their shots and will assist the referee by
acting accordingly. And if you do miss a call, just like in baseball, that’s just part of the game!
SPECIAL NOTE: Effective after State Singles 2005, INSRA voted to align our rules with the
USAR rules. One change affects the women – one serve for women’s open play, including
mixed matches. The current USAR rules were included in your recent USAR magazine.

If you have any questions regarding this article, or if I can assist you in a rules interpretation, please contact me at \n This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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