Written By: Tim Briggs
Part 1 and part 2 have provided such thoughtful conversations, so let’s continue with our final part of the series and may it only continue the conversation to encourage exercising more wisdom in sports!
When is it right to argue with referees/officials? My answer was never. As you can imagine, not everyone agrees. I’m so thankful though for the feedback and response. I think it’s great when people wrestle with these topics.
Below are some reasons I’ve heard regarding appropriate times to argue with referees/officials followed by my response. As always, I would love your feedback.
4. What about the safety of my players?…
Should you address the official if you are truly concerned about the safety of your players? Yes, I think so. Of course, this “exception” to the rule could be abused. You could argue for the safety of your players on almost any play in sports if you wanted to. I think you could very easily address this topic with an official without arguing.
5. Poor officiating affects players’ desire to play the sport…
This particular comment was focused on a coach who coaches kids. I would agree with their assessment, poor officiating does affect players. Most of the time, it affects the players because a coach is making a big deal about it (like arguing with the official)!
I addressed in part 2 that there is a place for a constructive conversation with an official about his/her job performance. What I would like to emphasize here, especially when coaching kids, is the opportunity to leverage poor officiating and use it to teach about life. As adults, we all know there are many things out of our control. We all experience unfairness and deal with people who ultimately fail us. In light of this, teach the kids this lesson through officiating. Use it to prepare them for adulthood.
Some closing thoughts:
As I have said, there is a place to address an official during the game and after the game. To be God-glorifying though, I don’t think it ever involves arguing. As always, we must be sensitive to our hearts when we do this. Ask yourself, why do I want to address the official? Is this about glorifying God or is it about me? Is this about wanting what’s best for the official or wanting to win? Don’t assume you have good motives because the Biblical story tells us that we often don’t.