Women's Ultimate and The Rules
I began to write a lengthy response to Cooke's blog entry on the rules, when I realized I had enough to say to make my own blog entry.
My coach and I were discussing self officiating and rules knowledge on the way home from the Chesapeake Open a few weekends ago. He made a suggestion that I can only help but smile about and hope it becomes real some day. He suggested that every team that competes in an UPA championship series event should have at least two players on their roster who are certified observers. I think this would have a tremendous effect on the women's college level where ignorance of the rules runs rampant, it is an epidemic really. What probably surprises me the most, is the ignorance of the rules exhibited by many of the coaches at the college level. Young college players will live and die by how their coach makes a ruling on a play - even when they recite a rule that does not exist - and it absolutely blows my mind. And, this ignorane of the rules is not just evident with the smaller, younger programs, but programs who have been to the big dance, have almost won the big dance. I think it is time for players and coaches to take a little more personal responsibility and accountability for their knowledge and proper interpretation of the rules. Instituting a "Two Observers per Team" type of ruling would help a great deal and maintain the integrity of our sport.
This past regionals, we were in a game that mattered a great deal and errant calls were being called by the opposing team quite a bit. At one point, one of the younger players on the team - I believe she only had 1.5 years experience - made an errant call on me. I explained to her why it was inapporpriate and told her the rule she was reciting did not exist. I turned to her coach to tell her that the rule did not exist. The coach did not comment. Later, the coach commented to me that she does not like to intervene during a point, but will help her players learn the rules between points. I personally think that is ridiculous! I mean, if my team was blatantly violating the rules, out of pure ignorance (or otherwise, which I hope would never be the case) I owe it to this sport to speak up - especially if my opinion has been asked for. And, this "infraction" was a very black and white matter. It was not a question of whether I was fouled or not - which can be a very grey area. Needless to say, this was about the last straw for me, as many other bad calls were made during this game. At 6-11 I requested observers. We went on a 7-2 run with observers. Too little too late, but I wonder if it would have made a difference if the observers were there from the beginning. We played like shit too, do not get me wrong. But, maybe, just maybe.
At the women's club level, rules ignorance is really not as much of a problem. At least I do not have to throw discs out of frustration and whip out the trusty rules book every tournament. I believe this is probably because every team has a couple of people who are somewhat experts on the subject. We only have discussions about the very obscure rules that the basketall refs were challenging each other with in Cooke's blog. I personally do not claim to know the whole rule book, but it is rare if I am wrong twice about a rule.
If there is one interpretation of the rules that needs better clarification in women's club ultimate - it is fouls on the receiver. Women's club ultimate is no where near as physical or aggressive as men's club ultimate, but some teams are progressing to that style of play. As some teams progress to that style of play - which I like to think of as a more athletic style of play where people dominate who have been in the weight room, like basketball - teams who have not progressed to this style tend to call quite a bit of fouls when they are going up for a disc on the defender. Personally, and I have thought about this a lot, I think about half of the fouls called on my team this year in this situation were not fouls. They were simply the stronger person winning the matchup. Was there incidental contact? Sure. Was it a foul? No. Did the stronger athlete win? Yes. It is very similar to rebounding a basketball or going in for a layup. There is going to be contact. Can you rebound/make the layup despite the contact? There is always contact - contact does not equal foul. Now, if a defender hacks your arm or hand, definitely a foul, basketball or ultimate. But, really, that is my only real beef with women's club ultimate and the rules.
College ultimate? That is a whole other can of worms. This year, we are going to try and do something for women's college programs on the southeast coast - a camp of sorts. And, I can promise you that among the skills, drills, and administrative talks that will occurr at this camp, there will be a rules session.
My coach and I were discussing self officiating and rules knowledge on the way home from the Chesapeake Open a few weekends ago. He made a suggestion that I can only help but smile about and hope it becomes real some day. He suggested that every team that competes in an UPA championship series event should have at least two players on their roster who are certified observers. I think this would have a tremendous effect on the women's college level where ignorance of the rules runs rampant, it is an epidemic really. What probably surprises me the most, is the ignorance of the rules exhibited by many of the coaches at the college level. Young college players will live and die by how their coach makes a ruling on a play - even when they recite a rule that does not exist - and it absolutely blows my mind. And, this ignorane of the rules is not just evident with the smaller, younger programs, but programs who have been to the big dance, have almost won the big dance. I think it is time for players and coaches to take a little more personal responsibility and accountability for their knowledge and proper interpretation of the rules. Instituting a "Two Observers per Team" type of ruling would help a great deal and maintain the integrity of our sport.
This past regionals, we were in a game that mattered a great deal and errant calls were being called by the opposing team quite a bit. At one point, one of the younger players on the team - I believe she only had 1.5 years experience - made an errant call on me. I explained to her why it was inapporpriate and told her the rule she was reciting did not exist. I turned to her coach to tell her that the rule did not exist. The coach did not comment. Later, the coach commented to me that she does not like to intervene during a point, but will help her players learn the rules between points. I personally think that is ridiculous! I mean, if my team was blatantly violating the rules, out of pure ignorance (or otherwise, which I hope would never be the case) I owe it to this sport to speak up - especially if my opinion has been asked for. And, this "infraction" was a very black and white matter. It was not a question of whether I was fouled or not - which can be a very grey area. Needless to say, this was about the last straw for me, as many other bad calls were made during this game. At 6-11 I requested observers. We went on a 7-2 run with observers. Too little too late, but I wonder if it would have made a difference if the observers were there from the beginning. We played like shit too, do not get me wrong. But, maybe, just maybe.
At the women's club level, rules ignorance is really not as much of a problem. At least I do not have to throw discs out of frustration and whip out the trusty rules book every tournament. I believe this is probably because every team has a couple of people who are somewhat experts on the subject. We only have discussions about the very obscure rules that the basketall refs were challenging each other with in Cooke's blog. I personally do not claim to know the whole rule book, but it is rare if I am wrong twice about a rule.
If there is one interpretation of the rules that needs better clarification in women's club ultimate - it is fouls on the receiver. Women's club ultimate is no where near as physical or aggressive as men's club ultimate, but some teams are progressing to that style of play. As some teams progress to that style of play - which I like to think of as a more athletic style of play where people dominate who have been in the weight room, like basketball - teams who have not progressed to this style tend to call quite a bit of fouls when they are going up for a disc on the defender. Personally, and I have thought about this a lot, I think about half of the fouls called on my team this year in this situation were not fouls. They were simply the stronger person winning the matchup. Was there incidental contact? Sure. Was it a foul? No. Did the stronger athlete win? Yes. It is very similar to rebounding a basketball or going in for a layup. There is going to be contact. Can you rebound/make the layup despite the contact? There is always contact - contact does not equal foul. Now, if a defender hacks your arm or hand, definitely a foul, basketball or ultimate. But, really, that is my only real beef with women's club ultimate and the rules.
College ultimate? That is a whole other can of worms. This year, we are going to try and do something for women's college programs on the southeast coast - a camp of sorts. And, I can promise you that among the skills, drills, and administrative talks that will occurr at this camp, there will be a rules session.
posted by Mccants at 8:21 AM
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