GhostBuster
“Go out with a mentor, take the USAPA
training course, practice and watch others
refereeing matches,” he says. “It’s just
like when you start playing pickleball for
the first time. You go out as a brand-new
player, stuff happens, and it’s happening
so quickly your brain isn’t used to it. With
time and experience, though, the game
slows down and you’re seeing and hitting
openings. It’s the same with refereeing. You
learn to adapt to fast situations, assimilate
to the conditions without getting hyper, and
your stress level stays down.”
Grasso says if you think you’ll go through
training and be refereeing the Nationals,
it’s not going to happen overnight, so don’t
let that kind of pressure be a deterrent to
getting your certification.
“Everybody should go out and try to
referee at least once and do a couple of 3.0
matches to start,” he says. “Those players
aren’t as competitive and are out for the
social and fun aspect of the game. They’re
more forgiving if you make a mistake. You
can use those matches to build up your
confidence until you feel comfortable with yourself.”
But even the best referees can flub a call or suffer derision from players or the crowd.
It doesn’t happen often, and Grasso says the stories he’s heard about confrontations with
referees mostly come from pro-level playing situations.
“The most exciting thing about pickleball is that it’s like a family. Rarely is there much
confrontation between players and referees or even players with other players,” he adds.
“But the pro level is much more intense. You can get more frustration there, but even at
that level it’s mostly players goading each other, more or less. Everyone is pretty congenial.
If you make a mistake, people are more than happy to help you out.”
“I personally have never been a party to any of that. I’ve heard of it happening locally—
players abusing referees, name calling, things of that nature, but I’ve never seen it in
person,” Shank says. “But people do expect to have a competent referee when one is
present. I’ve been training for seven years now, and I tell people there are three different
standards of play: Having a well-trained, competent referee is the best scenario for
everyone involved. Second best would be having no referee at all. The worse scenario would
be having a poorly trained, incompetent referee because now you have somebody adversely
affecting the match. That’s why the USAPA training program is so important to get everyone
on the same page.”
Barksdale echoes those sentiments, adding that the USAPA’s goals for referee
management include having a tiered system stemming from the Certified Referee tier,
creating a system where people can graduate and gravitate to a level of service that’s best
for them.
“The biggest challenge is to help people feel comfortable so they’re willing to go out there,”
she says. “Personally, I love having a referee on the court for every match. At the same time,
players need to realize that they’re volunteers, or they get a minimal stipend. I always tell
people to remember to thank their referees no matter what the playing situation.”
For more information on becoming a certified referee, visit USAPA.org. •
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