Referees Get Respect

In the past I have posted somewhat critical looks at local referees. I wanted to be sure to say something positive about that part of the sport when I saw it. This was made easy by our participation in the 2011 Alberta Open in Calgary in March.

Usually, with 7 divisions of play and 3 or 4 pools of games at one time, referee action can vary greatly. This was the first year where I felt the level of officiating exceeded the level of play from start to finish at the U12, U14 and even U16 levels. Sure, there were crazy situations in some games where parents, coaches and players saw things much differently than the referee. But, that is just sport and it can be expected at any time. Even at the U18 level the referees for the most part were totally in synch with the level of play.

There is a reason for that and I want to talk about it so people hear me say positive things about referees and so anyone looking for ideas can maybe see a way to make progress. First of all you need to understand that Calgary in particular has many regular league water polo games during the year. This is supported by league games in Alberta with other cities and clubs. These league games force a need for referee development and it is made possible by strong leadership.

Leadership comes in different ways in Alberta, probably most clearly the referee support comes from Mike Dykman. He is a referee leader that shows authority, fairness and civility while still being totally relaxed and approachable. This is modeled for all young referees emerging from the playing ranks. Even if Mike is not in charge, which he seems always to be, all the referees know who he is and how he conducts himself. That is the solid footing to begin a training program of mentorship.

With a role model it is possible to set expectations for young referees and they will see the desired outcome. This also allows coaches to see where the referees are going and to know that there is a model being pursued. It prevents the common problem of referees being developed 1 or 2 at a time and toward different ends ie a competitive stream, a community stream, a youth stream, a masters stream. These new referees all acted a similar way and what really stood out was how they smiled and interacted with others. In 2011 referees were relaxed and professional.

That may seem like a small thing, them being relaxed and professional, but it is not. I was so impressed with how they acted that a "bad" call I didn't agree with was never considered an attempt to "screw" my team so it kept me from showing players I was upset, because I wasn't (at least not at officials). For a coach to go a whole tournament with that view of referees is really nice.

It is interesting that we went 2 years between the 2009 Alberta Open and the 2011 event and with that gap there was a quiet evolution of referees in Alberta. I say "quiet" because we didn't see it outside as it was in their leagues. That is the key thing in consistent officiating - REGULAR GAMES at a set standard where performance is standardized. That simply can never be done with a stand alone tournament in a community 2 or 3 times per season.

Once again we see Leadership, Regular Games and Mentorship as keys to sport success. Surprisingly it is not in a discussion about athlete development but it does impact that part of sport in a very direct way.

Alberta Open Redux

It has been a very, very long time since we returned from the Alberta Open without a medal for one of our teams. Some years we return with buses full of 100% of our players wearing medals; not this time. Did we all of a sudden forget to teach skills or recruit the right players? No. Did something change with the hosting, scheduling and competition itself? Yes.

First of all, our Cadet teams both finished 5th. That means of the 9 entries they were the best teams not playing for a medal on Sunday. Can that be explained? Sure, here goes. The experimental grouping placed our teams with a developmental team from Neptunes and a transitional (from developmental to HP) team from Regina. The other 2 divisions of 3 teams each were stronger than the division we were in and the format had teams only playing the 6 teams outside their division. So, we did not all face opponents of the same strength and the final rankings, after 6 games each, were not based on common opponents. As a result only the Cadet boys final was close, all other Cadet medal games were lopsided with opponents not being matched according to their strength. Also recognize that playing our first 2 Cadet Girls games in the small recreational pool was a complete joke preventing us from being ready for a switch to the big pool mid-day on Friday to face a hard swimming Valley team.

Our Bantam teams played all their games in a small pool, as small as the space we play the 5 vs 5 event in January. This meant the skill level of the players was hampered; all players crowded centre so there was very little ability to use the 2m position and that is the basis of our boys team, by far. Our girls are strong in the 2m department too and their explosive driving had nowhere to go. By Sunday the girls had figured out how to more quickly move the ball in transition and they exploded much more on the counter so they flipped an 11-4 loss to an Alberta All-star team into a 7-3 win over the same squad. The team that finished 4th had beaten them on Friday as the 5th game of the day for half our team (2 Bantam, 3 Cadet games) and immediately after the Cadets had just finished their 3rd game. So the girls should have been playing for a medal if the schedule had been developed to allow teams to recover and perform over a balanced 4 day cycle.

The Atom team may have finished where they belonged since that division has a high up & down performance factor for all but the most experienced teams. There was certainly improvement over the weekend but Mackenzie being too sick to play most of the event hurt us. And, no player was hindered more by the small pool size than Natalie who could not find space to use her speed as one of the 5 fastest girls in Canada.

Youth teams were a curiousity. I am not sure how the boys lost to Fraser Valley 2 but after leading 9-8 at half and then losing 1-6 in the second half suggests fatigue. I guess having the Cadet/Youth boys (Carson, Mike, Alex, Andrew) play 5 times on Thursday and then a Cadet game before the FV2 Youth game on Friday can be identified as part of the problem. Their Storm loss was simply a result of a 1 hour rest after their hard swimming game earlier that day vs FV1. Why did we have 2 games with a one hour break and nothing else all day? Simply a lack of concern for visiting teams.

Youth Women need their own paragraph here. I can tell you they were not the 4th best team, that is for sure. In the bronze medal game that shows us losing by 1 (7-6 to Calgary A) we had a goal ignored in the first half. Our big centre forward, Heather, scored a backhand that went into the net and out again so quickly the referees did not see. That was possible because the goals we played with were only a foot deep and sat so close to the bulkhead that the rebound out was extremely fast. You would think that having 2 Calgary referees working that game would have had them used to the rebound out of the net. I'll let you figure out why there were 2 refs from the same club as we were playing. The other difference in scoring came when the referees allowed a free throw inside 5m (at 4m actually) to be shot at net and score. So, it was actually a 7-6 Bushido win but having the medal from the event was much more important to Calgary than to us, we will focus on a medal at the end of the year, not the middle. In our earlier games vs Storm and Calgary we played many players, some of whom were very tired, so only our match with LA was close to a test of our real strength prior to the final. That game was a 2 goal loss, 10-8, and was close for the duration.

None of that is sour grapes; I'm just explaining to those who were not there or who don't have the technical background to know the factors altering team play. I am quite at ease with the standings as I could not care less about winning at this huge event with so much player overlap on rosters. I was interested in judging our training and testing our work thus far in 2008 and that was possible to some extent. We will just make note of how this major event has degenerated as a regional or international event and accept that it is now an Alberta showcase for their regional teams to come to Calgary and get some games vs teams they will never travel to see in their own cities. Maybe in 2009 some of those teams will return. For us we are looking at alternatives and I had many discussions along those lines with other coaches during the weekend.

Coming up later this week, adding a team of sport psychologists and why

Long Long Day (or Half Day to be Exact)

Thursday is always the hardest part of the Alberta Open. We've had a draining 14-15 hour bus ride to get here, a night of little sleep, then mayhem at the pool. Everyone plays their first game on adrenaline and then crashes. Sometimes the crash is during that game in the 3rd or 4th quarter, other times it is during the next game.

Our Cadet Boys started out very well vs Calgary and controlled every aspect of the game. Unfortunately they gave the ball away 30+ times and allowed Calgary back into the game after leading 5-1 in the second half. It was a 1 goal loss that resulted from fatigue. From there it was downhill and they played their most lazy and lethargic game ever vs Saanich to end up losing to a much inferior team. Tonights last game, yes their 3rd in half a day, was a lopsided loss to a hard countering Fraser Valley team that is half Valley and half Storm from last years BC teams.

Bantam girls also struggled with mental errors and lost a decent 1st game to Fraser Valley and then a lopsided game to an Alberta team that is made up of 2 alberta clubs and some Neptune girls from Winnipeg. They had too many players to outswim us and the lack of jump in our play resulted in lost passes and missed shots. Nothing that is not able to be corrected right here, this weekend. They are playing well, just to tired to be really sharp. Bantam Boys also lost to Calgary today as we did not have the depth to keep up to the never-ending driving and shooting of that more experienced Calgary group.

Atom team played only 1 game but came from behind to win and feel confident for tomorrow morning vs LA. The Cadet Girls also came from behind vs a Calgary team after losing 3-0 in the first quarter. Delaney had started in net and all the goals were outside shots on free throws that were high corners that she just could not get to. None were her fault though since the defense was supposed to block those free throws. They adjusted in the second quarter and no mire goals against Delaney.  Shae as really frustrated and tired so missed many shots in the first half. I had a chat with her after the 3rd quarter and she made every adjustment we talked about to lead the team on a 4 goal outburst to win by 8-4. She only scored a couple of those but her confidence and renewed effort gave Jaelyn and Sarah Mutch the confidence to score to last 2 insurance goals.  Sandra also benefitted from watching the shooters early and was superb on the long shots when she got to play net.

Youth Women just humbled Calgary B 11-2 but we had been winning 9-0 for the first 3 quarters. Everyone did things well in that game so we have lots to look forward to there. The Youth Men gave Regina some hope as they went up early then relaxed and let them come back to within a goal. I was frustrated with some starters and sat them for awhile so it was not a "play the best guys all game" sort of match by any means.

We have some small teams here and some players to ill to play today (Dylan, Devon, Miranda) and some ill enough to not be at their best. Friday is always a rebound day for us so I hope we play with a little more zip and confidence. Lots of early games Friday with Cadet girls and Atoms at 725, Youth Women at 820 (Storm) and 1010 (Calgary A). That means Youth women will be finished for the day by 1100am having played twice, what are the chances that was a coincidence in schedule making?

Over-all our goalies are outstanding and have shown they are the best club of goaltenders here. That reflects well on everyone and it anchors our defense which we are having fun experimenting with.

We're Here

The bus ride almost seems to be getting shorter. I guess the road conditions were ideal and the buses comfortable so the 14 hours went pretty fast. Kids were all well behaved and no movies that could not be tolerated by the adults.

We got the schedule from the host while en route, not ideal. There are some difficult scenarios but only 1 head to head conflict where Cadet and Youth girls play at the same time. Since we have 5 Cadets (half the team that is entered here) on the Youth roster we can;t play without them. We have asked for this to be changed but who knows.....

Weather in Calgary is pretty good, certainly no sign of snow. It's warm enough to be sweater or light jacket weather for us but the LA athletes may still want their UGGS and shiny new parkas to beat the chilly north air.

I will try to do meaningful daily updates via this blog or the family email chain but that will depend on my schedule of daily games.

Calm Before the Storm

I had hoped to do a blog entry on the lead up to the Alberta Open today or yesterday. That hasn't been possible since I am still waiting for schedule adjustments and clarifications before it is settled. This is a big event but for some reason they are reluctant to limit teams or do an advanced schedule for club input.

There are too many teams at the Alberta Open this year. We don't need 9 Atom or Cadet teams and the 11 Bantam teams is too many as well. 8 or 12 teams in divisions of 4 would be ideal. Some clubs have pushed for "more games is better" and "we want to play LA" so the host tries to give everyone a balanced, meaningful event. I like that accommodating approach but we have past over into the overwhelming. For 12 and unders who are learning to train, exploring skill development, forging psychological patterns it is not possible to play 9 games in 3.5 days and have time to play, recover, enjoy, learn, observe. They will not know how to look after themselves and will burn out, many will return home ill.

So, I will wait to see how things unfold, may be there is a surprise revision in the works.

Getting Ready for Alberta Open

The new Agon suits look great, girls are really happy with them. Let's hope they last longer than the sketchy ones we got from Turbo last year.

When you see the whole group in them it really looks like a powerful "team" not just a bunch of girls in suits. I guess that is actually what we were going for. The objective now will be for every player to have the white of their suit out of the water with every shot. Shouldn't be a problem for these dynamos.

I've taken a break from writing about the shooting technique from last week. Still waiting to get some concrete biomechanical data to mull over before too many comments. There is no rush on that since I am not encouraging any drastic changes in shooting before we go to the Alberta Open next week.

Speaking of Alberta Open, holy crap! Got the draft schedule today and it is asking us to play 4 games a day on Friday with 2 of our teams, no way! We won't drive all day Wednesday to be available to play Thursday to Sunday and then sit around doing nothing Thursday while waiting to kill ourselves Friday. There is only 1 US team this year, playing teams in 3 divisions, and no eastern teams. Lots and lots of Calgary teams though.

Jesse is planning on taking his laptop to Calgary this year so I may do Blog updates while I am away. Not sure if I will do journals too since that would double up the writing and electronic communication. This could be a problem since I might need to be at the pool 14 hours Friday (7:00-21:00) and longer on Saturday. I shouldn't have any trouble sleeping on the way home!