[FRC Blog] Frank Answers Fridays: October 17, 2014

[Hallry]

Posted on the FRC Blog, 10/17/14: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprogr...idays-10172014

Frank Answers Fridays: October 17, 2014

Blog Date: Friday, October 17, 2014 - 15:50

Today’s good question comes from Nick Lawrence, from FRC Team 3940, CyberTooth, out of Kokomo, Indiana, USA:

Question:

Hi Frank,

Nick Lawrence here, current mentor for FIRST Team 3940. I currently live in Niagara Falls, ON again, but I’ll be returning back to Kokomo just in time for kickoff.

Throughout the Aerial Assist season, a topic that was present in social media and Chief Delphi was of the quality of the refereeing at events. A lot of good points were made in defense of both the teams and the referees alike. One common subtopic through these discussions was about the level of training different referees may or may not have had prior to their event(s). I can understand the position of a volunteer referee who may or may not have time to become as well versed in the rulebook as us teams. I also understand that referees do have an online training process with testing, much like us Robot Inspectors. So, are there any plans to ensure that all referees are adequately trained to a higher standard? And, are there any plans to create or explore different, potentially more intuitive ways to train them, perhaps through video tutorials of common calls and outlier on-field circumstances?

Sincerely,

Nick Lawrence

Answer:

Hey, Nick. Thanks for the question. We tried some new things in the 2014 game. Some, I think, worked great, others, I think, worked not great, and one of the not great things was the significant challenge we presented the refs in being able to call the game.

To help put things in perspective, refs in traditional sports usually have many years of at least watching the game and having some level of rules knowledge before they ever consider stepping on the field.* Then, at the highest levels anyway, there are weeks of training involved and only the very best get selected to become officials. With FRC, of course, the game changes every year, so no one comes to the field at the start of the season having seen hundreds of games already played and called. Also, an individual can be an expert on the FRC rules but not be an expert ref, because being an expert ref, like being an expert anything I imagine, requires both knowing the rules and practice actualizing them in the real world, with all the messiness the real world appropriately, and excitingly, delivers. Also, all our refs are volunteers, and with the growth in the number of events we have, we need lots. Last year, the total number of individuals who filled the role of ref or head ref was 554. This is all to say that while we can borrow some elements of the pro sports model of official training, in many ways it’s just not a good fit.

So, what to do? I see two approaches. First, we need a greater focus on simple and objective rules. I’ve noted elsewhere this is a top criteria for 2015 game development. We want the refs to simply have less to ref. This sounds like it should be easy, but once you actually start trying to build real rules for an FRC game, it becomes hard. Our focus on safety and disincentivizing damaging play means some rules are likely to be subjective. Second, the level of training we provide needs to match the level of demand placed on the refs. In some cases, video training could be helpful, as you suggest. We do need to be somewhat cautious in this area, though, as we don’t want to imply that any videos we use for ref training are somehow adding a layer of rules to what is already in the manual and Q&A. They would be just for illustration.

I believe the optimal approach for each year will vary, depending on the game and circumstances, but we are absolutely committed to making 2015 a better year than 2014 from a refereeing standpoint, both for our teams and volunteers.

Frank

*I’m not a baseball fan, and I rarely watch games. Several years ago, though, I was at one of my son’s little league games and the boss umpire (or whatever that person is called. Chief Ump? Über Ump? Trump Ump?), who knew me, but should have known me better, asked if I could fill in as a base umpire because he was short people. Not wanting to be unhelpful, I found myself saying ‘yes’ even though the correct response would have been much more along the lines of ‘no, are you crazy’. Anyway, things went well until a runner slid into base and I found myself having to actually do the job. The players looked at me, and I looked at the boss. There was a few seconds delay, then he called it for me. Which was good, because I had no clue. So, I’ve had at least a tiny taste of what it’s like to be asked to make refereeing decisions and feeling unprepared.


Frank Answers Fridays is a weekly-ish blog feature where I’ll be answering ‘good questions’ from the FRC community. You can e-mail your questions to goodfrcquestion@usfirst.org. Please include your name, team number and where you’re from, which will be shared, if selected.