Doug Shows is a college basketball referee with decades of experience managing the game. In the following article, Doug Shows talks more about the relationship between players, coaches, and referees, and why this connection is so important.
Many fans of basketball have mixed feelings about the referees that can sometimes make or break dreams associated with that game.
According to interviews by CoachAd.com of coaches and referees with upwards of 30 years of experience, the relationship between players, coaches, and referees is an irreplicable part of the industry of basketball. Players can learn character and boundaries from referees, while coaches can demonstrate trust and good communication skills, all of which work together to bring out the best standards in the game.
In this article referee Doug Shows examines the relationship that a referee in basketball has not only with players, but with the coaches as well. By the conclusion, it will be clear why referees are such an integral and important part of the basketball industry. With so much information to cover, let’s get started.
Doug Shows Details the Connection’s Importance
Doug Shows, referee says that players, coaches, and those in the audience alike can all relate to the frustration that sometimes accompanies witnessing a controversial call by the referee. Sometimes this frustration is just, but more often, it reflects a misunderstanding and undervaluing of game officials.
In actuality, referees are critically important to the game, the culture of the game, and most of all, the morale of players and coaches.
Doug Shows takes a look at these reasons more closely in order to thoroughly explain what makes a referee in college basketball not only important but beneficial to players and coaches.
• A Good Referee Establishes Trust
Many college basketball players make the mistake of thinking that they’ve learned all they need to know, especially when they’ve had a history of playing in a high school basketball career. However, a referee can always teach players more than just the ethics and strategy of adhering to the rules of the court. They can provide an example of establishing trust in a working relationship.
Doug Shows, referee explains that this is something accomplished through the relationship between a referee and a coach. A good referee can make objective calls, regardless of the home team bias that others might fall prey to during certain games. This objectivity is something that coaches can rely on even in the most heated circumstances.
Trust can also lay a foundation that breaks through the intensity of an in-game moment to actually diffuse situations that would otherwise remain volatile, because one ref knows that, even in the back of an angry mind, the referee is someone they can trust.
Doug Shows, referee notes that this has a trickle-down effect on the basketball players. They can learn to have that same level of integrity and establish trust in their relationships with others whether it’s on or off the court. After all, trusting one’s teammates is just as integral to the overall sport of basketball as it is in all of life’s relationships.
• A Good Referee Teaches Communication
Another important aspect of a good referee’s relationship with the coach and the players in college basketball is communication. Coaches can appreciate an official who is willing to talk to them, even about the toughest calls in the most intense games.
Throughout all of life, it takes a certain caliber of good character to remain levelheaded when emotions are high, crowds and players are clamoring for a certain outcome, and plenty of hopes and dreams are riding on the ref’s call, according to Doug Shows, referee.
Even after the dust of that decision settles, a referee can demonstrate what it is like to stick to a decision and leave conflict where it belongs rather than allowing it to dismantle objectivity.
• A Good Referee Provides a Standard
Finally, a good referee provides a standard of excellence to the game of basketball, not only in college circles, but wherever the game is played. Players can see that there is an element of unflinching authority that must be respected, even in the context of a game and organization they feel passionately about, explains Doug Shows, referee.
Additionally, coaches can take the trust and good communication that was established by a referee and use it to lean on that provided standard.
In Conclusion
The relationship between basketball referees and players/coaches is vitally important to the basketball industry as a whole. Without referees, there would not only be less order in the game itself, but less incentive for players and coaches to remain at their best.
Doug Shows, referee notes that without referees, basketball would be chaos; with them, and their relationship with players and coaches, the game has a standard that can bring out the best in everyone involved.
