Do you need a partner to be a good official? No. Does it help? YES! I have been extremely lucky to have great partners throughout my officiating career. However, my first three years I officiated volleyball, I was stationed in Oklahoma and I didn’t know any officials. I worked with someone new every night and every weekend. There can be benefits to that. I learned something new each match. I also had to learn my own style of officiating. I really believe I am a better official because I had no one to cover for me those first three years. That worked best for me. It’s not the best for everyone. When you don’t have a regular partner, you have to be able to defend yourself and your calls. That sometimes means defend yourself from your own criticism and self-doubt. Can you reach a high level on your own? You sure can. I officiated the state finals two of my three years in Oklahoma without a regular partner.
HOWEVER
I am a better official because of (and with) the partners I have had. I was very lucky to have my dad as my first regular partner. I learned a lot and we worked really well together. When my current partner (Linda) returned to officiating after a few years off, she partnered with my dad again half time. This left me without a partner for half of my schedule. It was different reffing without my regular partner. I worked with some top-level officials regularly. I was a good official and they were good officials but the game wasn’t officiated the same way. I am a good official. My partner is a good official. When we work together we are a great team. I am able to watch things I normally can’t because I know what my partner is going to be watching. It’s not that I don’t trust other people I work with, but I know when I can shift my focus to different areas because I know when and where my partner is going to be focusing. I know what her strengths and weaknesses are. She knows mine as well. We have had many talks and we both agree in the biggest matches when there are high emotions, she handles R1 responsibilities best and I can control the game and benches from the R2 position best. We have a regular rotation that we very rarely deviate from but in those matches we know what is best for that match.
Have I missed out on the spotlight being the R1 for a big-time game a few times? Yes. But we are there to serve the game. When we are working together and feeding off each other’s strengths, the game and players get a better officiated match. That should be our goal. Does that mean we always take those positions for the biggest games? No. A few years ago we were working state semi-finals. We had planned for Linda to R1 each of the two matches. The first match went 5. After the match we debriefed. I said, “You reffed a great match but you seem worn out and stressed now that it’s over. Want me to go up for the second match?” We both agreed that would be best. It was a good thing too because that was another 5 set match that went extra in 3 of the 5 sets. Our adjustment was what was best for the moment.
What makes a good partner? The first and most important thing is trust. You have to trust your partner. If you don’t you should find someone else. I trust that my partner will be watching what she is supposed to be watching. I trust that she will be focused on her roles so I can focus on mine. I know that if I am R1 and I feel the net shaking there will be a whistle. I also know that if there isn’t there is a very valid reason there wasn’t one. I won’t look at her and see her eyes following the ball and giving me a look telling me she didn’t see what happened at the net. I also know she will always back me up. If I miss a call we will discuss it and make sure it doesn’t happen again. I know she won’t go and tell others about the mistakes I made. She won’t go to others to make herself look better at my expense. We do have those real conversations. We have both had times when we walked over to the other during a time out and said “Wake up. You need to get your head into the game” or something more blunt. But we NEVER tell other officials about the off game the other had or mistakes that were made. I also trust her to be able to explain what I saw to a coach. She knows what I look for. What I like in a hit and what I think is illegal. I know her criteria that she uses to call her match as well. I trust when she is talking to a coach she is explaining my call and not “throwing me under the bus.” You also have to be able to be honest with each other. We have both had matches where we said, “That wasn’t you best match.” We discuss those and that is when we have longer post-match discussions. Because of those times, I know when I walk down to the scorer’s table and she says, “You called a hell of a match” that that’s a genuine compliment. Those comments from her mean so much more than from someone I don’t work with on a regular basis. You also have to have fun together. We don’t make enough money to not have fun while we are doing this. We go out to breakfast before Saturday tournaments. Does this cut into the paycheck? Yes but it is worth every penny. Some of our breakfast discussion is volleyball but most of it is just about life in general.
So how do you find a consistent partner? Use your assigner. Get feedback from him or her. The best place to find partners is at tournaments. You were assigned a tournament based on your current officiating level. That means others assigned to that tournament are about the same level you are at. Work with as many different officials as you can until you find someone you work well with. Then ask them if they would like to work more together. Then you both need to contact the assigner and let them know you would start working together. The assigner may say ok or may say they don’t believe you will be good partners. Feel free to ask why and a good assigner will give you honest feedback. Usually, the assigner will be more than happy you have chosen a partner because that makes the job of assigning much easier. That doesn’t mean you will be working with that person every match. I still work a bunch of games with different people. That is a good thing if you go in with the right attitude and use it as an experience to learn new things.
So, do you need a regular partner? No. You can go solo and have a lot of success. A good partner will make you even better though. They will elevate your officiating skills beyond what you could ever do on your own.