February 2017, Issue 12

Transcription

1 February 2017, Issue 12 Overrules is the official quarterly newsletter for all tennis officials in USTA Northern. Items included in each quarterly issue are upcoming news and notes, trainings/evaluations, rules and procedures updates, milestones, introductions to new officials and a showcase about an official working in our Section. Ideas and information is always welcome. If you have anything you would like to add, please Kristi Bushinski at bushinski@northern.usta.com. News, Notes and Reminders New Officials If anyone knows of someone looking to get into officiating, please contact Kristi Bushinski at Bushinski@northern.usta.com. Calendar/Schedule Blocking Thank you to everyone for keeping their calendars updated with their availability in Arbiter. We are in the midst of college season which makes scheduling especially complicated. Please continue to keep your calendars updated by the first week of each month to reflect the following month s availability. Thank you! USTA Reminders/Updates Dear USTA Official, The USTA Officiating Department made great strides to improve your experience as an Official in We launched the new Officiating Clothing Program, the USTA Officiating Online Learning Center and are developing the replacement for NUCULA. In addition, the Officiating Department has moved to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Fla., and will work closely with the community and professional events on campus to provide training opportunities for Officials. Below are a few important updates to get the year started right? Friend at Court The 2017 Friend at Court is now available on the Rules page of the USTA Officiating Website. To view the 2017 updates, click here and scroll to page 13. You should have received your printed version as well. If you have not, please contact me at Bushinski@northern.usta.com. Vision Form 2017 is a vision year. The 2017 Vision Form is available here. All USTA on-court Officials (those acting as Roving Umpire, Chair Umpire, and Line Umpire, and Referees who go on court) must submit to the USTA

2 a physician s or optometrist s statement attesting that the Official has 20/20 vision either corrected or uncorrected in each eye. The form must be submitted via to Officiating@usta.com by Friday, December 1, Certification Document The 2017 USTA Officiating Certification Regulations have been updated on the Rules page of the USTA Officiating Website. Education We have some exciting new education opportunities planned for Please keep an eye out for an education update in the near future. Thank you for your continued hard work and dedication to USTA Officiating. You are an integral part of growing the game of tennis. If you have any questions, please reach out to us at officiating@usta.com. Thanks, The Officiating Team On behalf of Stacey Allaster, Chief Executive Professional Tennis One of my goals for the USTA Officiating Department is to provide world-class service to the Officiating world. With that in mind, it is with great pleasure that I inform of you several staff changes in the USTA s Officiating Department, taking place immediately. Andrew Walker has transitioned to Manager, Professional Pathway. Andrew is a Silver Badge Chief Umpire and a Bronze Badge Chair Umpire. Andrew has officiated at all 4 Grand Slams, and is the Deputy Chief Umpire for the US Open. Andrew has a wealth of experience and knowledge that he will leverage to advance the great work that Bruce Littrell had begun. Andrew s drive and determination will serve both the department and the constituency well. Cristina Nunez has been promoted to Manager, Community Pathway. Cristina has been with the USTA for over 2 years and will be an incredible asset to the growth of community officiating, something the USTA is heavily focused on. She is passionate about officiating and will hit the ground running. Cristina s primary focus will be expanding education opportunities and growing the base of new community officials. I would also like to welcome Camille Retell and Cyril (KY) Monger to the Officiating Department. Camille will take over Cristina s former position of Education Coordinator, focusing primarily on Officiating education and grass-roots development. KY will provide overall administrative support to the department and will assist in providing administrative assistance to our Officiating community. Please join me in congratulating Andrew and Cristina, and welcoming Camille and KY to the Officiating family. In addition, I wanted to inform you that we have engaged the Nolan Partners to conduct the search for the leader of our Officiating Department. If anyone has any interest in the USTA s Sr. Director Position you may contact Chad Biogenic, Managing Director North America. Chad can be reached at 1 (310) or via cbiagini@nolanpartners.com. Thank you, Stacey All aster Chief Executive Professional Tennis

3 ITA Reminders/Updates As you probably know, the Rules and Dual Match Sub-Committees, as well as the D-I Operating Committee as a whole, worked very hard on the new rules on player and spectator behavior to achieve a couple specific goals: 1. To separate the rules for players and spectators. We wanted to be in line with all other collegiate sports where student-athletes are held to a higher standard of sportsmanship. 2. To physically separate players/team personnel and spectators--both to professionalize college tennis further (in no other sport would players go and sit in the stands with fans when NOT playing) and also to assist our officials in better identifying non-playing players and team personnel, so they can be held to the higher standard of sportsmanship. In terms of your specific point of confusion on spectator behavior, I assisted our faculty of experienced officials in leading many of the webinars over the summer, as well as the webinars for new ITA officials this fall and winter. I have copied Bob Booth, Carole Cox, Rebel Good, Anthony Montero, Darren Potkey, and Reliford Sanders who are our faculty members and taught webinars over the past 6 months for us. As for the specific language for spectator behavior, here it is from page 24 in the Rulebook: 3. Spectator Behavior. Spectators are to behave under the same principles/guidelines of other sports (no profanity, vulgarity, abusive comments, etc). Crowd control is the responsibility of the host institution. Officials should first appeal to the host game management for appropriate action when deemed necessary. In the case of no host game management staff, the head coaches are responsible for addressing behavior of their respective fans. An announcement outlining appropriate fan behavior will be made prior to every match (or a policy must be posted or printed and provided to all entering fans). Alumni and former student-athletes should be considered and treated as spectators and should remain in spectator areas from the start of the warm-ups to the completion of the last match. The head coach, institutional administrator, event management personnel and officials will be responsible for enforcing penalties if violations of the above policy occur. a. Penalty for Violating Policy: i. First offense: Warning from event management staff. ii. Second offense: Point penalty and removal from facility. As you can see, the spectator rules really are to prevent the abuse of players and are not about cheering. Cheering in good faith by the crowd as in cheering that is a result of a good point played-- should not be penalized. However outbursts from spectators that are deemed by the official on court or the head referee to intentionally disrupt play should be penalized (first by a warning, then with the point penalty and removal). Obviously, like a few other rules in our sport, this requires officials to use good judgment at assessing intent, however in my experience--almost 20 years as a D-I player, coach, and now administrator--this is generally not that difficult. It should actually be easier because of the other rules contained in this section that will physically (and visually) separate players/team personnel. And as we both know, a lot of our poor spectator behavior over the last couple years was actually driven by non-playing/bench players--so the higher standard and ease of identifying these players should help improve the overall sportsmanship at a college tennis match. I hope this clarifies this rule for you and the folks you have copied. Please feel free to give me a call or send me an if there are further questions. I am happy to help out. Erica Perkins Jasper Chief Operating Officer Intercollegiate Tennis Association Office: Mobile: epjasper@itatennis.com

4 Best Practices and Reminders Reminders for College Events Coming Up Verbiage In The Chair: Team Event Only use specific player names in introductions and when serving the first time. Otherwise, always use team name when announcing score, etc. Ex. Game Edina, Edina leads 5-2, first set. Individual Tournament Use the individuals names. Ex. Game Smith, Smith leads 2-1, first set. College Matches Dress: Wear ITA shirt, khakis, tennis shoes primarily one color. You can wear your generic blue long sleeved gear that says OFFICIAL on it for these events. No USTA gear is allowed at ITA events. Once You Arrive: Check with the tournament referee once you arrive at the venue and confirm the following: Format What scoring formats are being played for both singles and doubles Trainers - Check to see if there is a trainer on-site and where are they located Warm-up Time What is the warmup time for first round and following rounds Balls- Number of balls being used and ball changes Restroom policies What restroom rules are being used it varies from facility to facility. General Information Chair Official Pre-Match Verify Position Please make your calls verbally and visually, so both your opponent and I can see or hear them. For college - Appeals must be audible and immediate. High School immediate overrule, you do not have to wait for an appeal New Balls, Ball # Any Questions Coin Toss Warm-up Announcements. Starting from 10 minutes 5 Minutes 3 minutes 2 Minutes 1 Minute Time Adjust accordingly depending on warm-up time. 10 minutes should be the most players will receive. Introductions Keep head up and turn if the crowd is behind you. Start introduction at 20 to 30 seconds before time is called, depending on singles, doubles, and crowd size. Ladies and gentlemen this round match will be the best of three tie-break sets. To the right (point hand) of the chair from, name. To the left (point hand) of the chair, from, name. Team/Individual won the toss and chose to serve/receive. Edina s Mary Smith to Serve Play Verbiage for next server. Minnesota s Jane Doe to Serve. If doing doubles, same for the next two servers

5 Start of second set. 2nd Set, Minnesota s Jane Doe to Serve. Start of final set. Final Set, Edina s Mary Smith to Serve. Other Situations That Could Arise Code Violations Always remember C-O-R-N C=Code O=Offense R=Result N=Name Ex. Code Violation, Ball Abuse, Point Penalty, Mary Smith If the behavior is egregious and could warrant a default, immediately have the players sit down and call the tournament referee or tournament director (at the state high school tournament) to court. Remember only a tournament referee can default a player for bad behavior. Medical Time-out Make sure to review the medical time out and bathroom policies for both college and USTA prior to coming to officiate. The state high school tournament is using USTA rules for both medical and bathroom. Ladies and gentlemen, the trainer has been called to the court. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr./Ms. Jones is receiving a Medical time-out. (The medical timeout may occur off court and this should be added to the end of this sentence when appropriate.) Announce times and Treatment Complete to trainer, player, and supervisor/referee only. 2 Minutes 1 Minute 30 Seconds Treatment Complete Time (Wait for player to put on shoes socks, etc before announcing to the crowd) General We communicate with the players in a way that s good for them, not for us. First and foremost, LISTEN FIRST and try to say as little as possible. Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to the following officials! Tim Heck 1/27 Roy Lillifors 2/1 Tim Wynne 2/16 Tony Stingley 3/16 Thank You and Good Bye Tony Stingley USTA Northern would like to thank Tony Stingley for his service to our organization for over 20 years. Tony is moving to the USTA National campus in Lake Nona, Fla., to fill the National Schools Manager position. He has given so much to the organization as a leader, mentor and volunteer and has represented USTA Northern and the official community with such character and grace. Tony thank you for everything. You will be greatly missed!

6 Getting To Know USTA Northern Official... Lisa Mushett Q: How long have you been an official? A: I have been an official since the fall of Q: How and why did you get started? A: For years, I had a number of people tell me they thought I would be good a good official because of my knowledge of the rules and experience in the tennis industry, as well as my personality. But honestly, it was a conversation I had one day with Hal Miller, the Tournament Director of the Minnesota State High School Tournament, that really convinced me to pursue it to the level I have. Hal was telling me how important he thought it was for young people, especially girls, to see more women working as officials (as we have very few in our Section) and to show them there are ways to stay involved in tennis after high school. Hal also thought it was important to have women working in what were perceived to be maledominated roles like officiating - and gave me my first big opportunity when he asked me to chair the Class AA singles final between Summer Brills and Caitlyn Merzbacher in Of course, it was a threeset thriller with the stands packed from end-to-end at Baseline Tennis Center and the crowd hanging on every point. There were a lot of tight calls and I had to overrule late in the match, but I survived, and Hal told me after the match he knew he made the right decision. I really have to thank him for having such confidence in me. Q: What are the best reasons to become an official? A: I love watching tennis at all levels and getting paid to do it is even better. I also really like working with the little ones because I feel like my role as an official there is to educate them and help them love the game like I do. With the older, more experienced players, I feel my role is to preserve the integrity and respect for the game, while ensuring a level playing field for all players. Call me Mother Teresa, but that is probably why I code players faster than some. Q: What has been your biggest highlight as an official? A: Attending the USTA Chair Academy in Hilton Head, S.C., only nine months after becoming an official was a pretty big deal. I was scared to death the entire weekend and hardly slept a wink. I was the greenest official there by far and had to do solo chairs (where you have to call every line) in the qualifying rounds of a professional tournament. Officiating royalty Palma Chryst was my mentor and evaluator and I had to do my first match on one of the main courts. I called three foot faults on a player in the first set and the player was not happy about it. Palma came up to me after the match and told me I did a really good job and that all three of my foot fault calls were correct. Whew! Q: Why should someone else become an official? A: There are so many reasons. It is a great way to stay involved in the game and give back to the sport. It serves as a great second job with awesome flexibility. In what job can you determine when and how much you want to work? But, really the best thing about being an official is all of the people you meet the other officials, the players and coaches, and yes, even the junior parents. It is a close-knit family made up of people who really love the game of tennis. Q: What advice would you give young officials who are looking to advance? A: I always tell new officials that the rules of tennis are black and white and you cannot change that, but good officials are the ones who work in the gray area and use good judgment before getting involved in a match. The most successful officials are aware of the situation around them and know when they need to insert themselves into a match and when they don t. It comes with experience and just getting out on the court. I also tell new officials that you are going to make mistakes, and that is OK. It is what you do after the mistake that determines how good of an official you will be. Learn from the mistakes you make, and when you make a mistake, do not let it lead to more mistakes. Finally, do not be afraid to ask other officials questions or for advice. Officials love to talk and tell stories, and often times, you learn more from their stories than you ever will on the court. I have had tremendous mentors along the way in Doug Miller, Tony Stingley and Tim Kurtt who have invested a lot of time in making me the official I am today (I hope I

7 am making you proud), but I can honestly say that I have never not had another official answer my questions and want to help me. You do not find that type of support in many professions. Please Welcome New Officials Yinjie Qiu I am a passionate individual who finds himself in the field of biological sciences. Currently, I am doing research in plant breeding and molecular genetics at University of Minnesota. I love traveling, hiking, camping, snowboarding, and of course, tennis. Tennis has been a big part of my life in the past ten years; I love playing and watching tennis. I've been to the US Open twice, also Miami Open, China Open and Indian Wells. My favorite players are Serena Williams, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka. One of my dreams in tennis is to hit some balls with them. Glenn Nylander I am a native of Pittsburgh Pa., and have been living in Minnesota since 1985 along with my wife, Judy, and our three children. I am a retired sales/marketing manager having spent most of my career in construction products. I am now retired and devote a lot of my time as Grandpa to my seven grandchildren. I also am part of a therapy dog team with my dog Sadie. We volunteer at Children's Hospital of St. Paul, Gillette Children's Hospital and the VA Medical Center. Tennis is my sport of choice having played in USTA leagues for 31 years and still play 2-3 times a week. In 1996, I played on a 3.5 White Bear Lake men s team that was fortunate enough to make it to Nationals that played in Tucson. Now, I look forward to being part of your officiating team and learning more from your combined expertise. Terry Gambaiani I have played tennis for most of my life, starting when I was eight years old and then playing in high school. It is a great sport and I have many fond memories of matches I have played. For the past four years, I have volunteered as an usher at the Indian Wells (California) tournament in March. Now, I would like to give back to the sport by being an official. I am a retired consultant for business insurance and live in Bloomington with my wife. We have three adult children and six grandchildren.