A Few Thoughts…
I would not ask my team to perform a move during a match that we had not practiced at trainings, likewise, have you practiced sending a player off or expelling a coach?
I’m sure all officials know it’s possible, but are you prepared?
Many referees may never get to use a red card, so in the heat of the moment, do you take the correct step and ask the person to leave the playing area?
Is it Red & Yellow together or Red & Yellow separate, if you have not done it before or practiced expelling people from the court, you may just take the easy option and do nothing.
So why am I asking this question?
I have been made aware of an incident, and I am going to be deliberately vague here, but an experienced official appeared to take the easy way out by doing nothing at a recent match, which unfortunately appeared to altered the match result. If it was an inexperienced official, then we can highlight this as part of their learning curve, not much else to add, we all have to accept it and move on.
I clearly remember the first time I expelled a player, a young lad who was getting frustrated with himself. We had worked our way up through the sanctions, so out came the Red & Yellow cards. I recall being quite nervous at the time, I had no idea what was about to happen next, my knees were shaking under my tracksuit (hopefully no one noticed). Would they go quietly, would there be an altercation, would I get out of the venue alive?
They went quietly, but after the set had finished, the coach ran straight across the court to me. I feared the worst but to my surprise, he could not thank me enough “I have been telling him for weeks that he will get himself sent off, excellent, you have made my day”.
Video Evidence – Good or Bad?
Back to the above incident, emails from all parties started circulating and you know it’s serious when people start tracking down video evidence of the incident, but basically, after looking at the video, we all came to the same conclusion. It very much looked like the match official had never expelled anyone before and hence did not know what to do.
We all get bowled a curveball every now and then, which will catch you off-guard, but please be prepared and practice. I’m sure it will also liven up your club training nights as you practice sending people off (however you may wish to warn them first that its just a practice session). After all, your team and coaching staff do need to know what to do and to practice adjusting the lineup after a player gets injured, or in the above case, sent off.
