Love Team: Refs & Coaches

Love team in sports. Yes sir. No, we’re not referring to the likes of Raymart and Claudine, Angel and Richard, and Vic and Pia. Showbiz is not the only place where these are found as the sports world has its own share. The love teams in sports are much bigger, long-lasting, and can even be more controversial than all of showbiz love teams combined!

Referees and Coaches. I couldn’t think of a better pair. So bring in those theme songs, “Perfect Combination”, “ Endless Love”, “Love Team.”

You love them and you hate them. They love each other, and yes, they hate each other. Like any other relationship, they have their ups and downs, lover’s quarrels, joyous moments, and painful experiences, but that’s what love is all about, di ba?

But the optimist in me would prefer to look at the brighter side of things. I’m confident that referees and coaches can work together to establish a lasting relationship that is smooth, trouble-free and sweet. Today, I’d like to cite our current crop of refs and coaches of the CESAFI 2007 season. They’re easily the most visible love team in the local basketball family and we’ll see more of them when the tournament kicks off on August 4.

They do have many points of conflict and it isn’t easy to make both sides see eye-to-eye. Why? Primarily because they don’t have the same talking points or references when they argue and debate about certain items in the basketball rule book. All of the biggest points of disagreement arise from each side’s version or interpretation of the rules of the game. In some instances, some of them don’t even know the rules of the game, and yet act as if they were the authors of the rule book, believe it or not.

On one side, referees always refer to the FIBA rule book for amateur basketball. Some coaches also refer to this, while others have adopted the “widow” approach to the rule book, banking on sheer experience and personal interpretation of what they see or know as rules.

CESAFI 2007, however, should see a change of things to come. For the better that is, (or I pray). The refs and coaches got together last week for what I’d like to call an “Alignment” workshop. Both sides of the love team sat down and worked together to review the rules of the sport (both new and old), and aligned themselves on the same rules to use as reference for all their actions on court. For the first time as an organizer of sporting events, I saw both sides actively discuss many facets of the rule book and agreed on the calls that should and should not be made.

The workshop was conducted by Chito Narvasa, President of the Basketball Coaches Association of the Philippines (BCAP) and Commissioner of the NCAA. He was assisted by BCAP Secretary-General Tanny Gonzales and NABRO technical director Brian Tabañag.

And so there would no longer be any problems in reading the rule book, everyone was given a copy of the latest FIBA revisions and rules. With everyone on the same page, we expect to see both sides knowing what to call (and not to call) when they hit the hardcourts. But that’s not it. A follow-through activity to this workshop will see the CESAFI referees echoing the rule book to all players of the league. The refs will visit all the teams at their practice sessions, and will give them on-court instructions and briefings on the rules of the game. With coaches, players and refs all on the same page, everything should turn out smooth. It may not take place overnight, but it’s a good start.

The more important part of the activity wasn’t about technical side of the rule book. The highlight of the workshop wasn’t about the need for both sides to agree on the do’ and don’ts of the rule book per se. The icing of it all was that both sides recognized that they needed to work together for the good of the CESAFI. There was something bigger than their respective egos and pride. They were getting together to help build the image of CESAFI.

At this point, we can’t guaranty that there won’t be errors made by referees and that there won’t be clipboard-throwing incidents. But for a start, the better understanding of the rules, the alignment and agreement of both sides on interpretation, and the unified stand to work for the league is already an achievement in itself. The big challenge now is if this can be sustained throughout the season.

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Time-out: Happy birthday to Idol Lito Ondap! >>> You can reach me at [email protected]