CROWN REFS

Mentor Sessions | Adam ZohniWe are excited to launch our new private community for officials and our developmental training program called Crown Refs MENTOR.  Adam Zohni is a long-time supporter and passionate 5th-year official from Toronto, CN, who was one of the first officials to sign up for our MENTOR tier.  So after a few years of exchanging messages online, we finally had the opportunity to sit down and meet for our first mentor session.In this episode, we discuss why he decided to join Crown Refs MENTOR and some of the things that he's looking to gain from being part of the new community.  We also reviewed his referee profile, where he listed his biggest areas of growth that he's looking to improve on.  His most difficult plays are calling flagrant fouls and managing unsportsmanlike technical fouls with players and coaches.  He's focused on slowing down and being emotionless to have a greater sense of control in those hostile moments.  We also go over some differences between FIBA and NFHS, proper time-out mechanics, and tips for calling double fouls.Special thanks to Adam, Zack, Carmela, Pedro, Ryan, Lance, Will, Ken, Aaron, Joseph, Josiah, Chris, Tony, John, William, Alice, Jon, Justin, Luke, Jason, Scott, James, Korbin, Corbin, Isaiah, and every other official who has joined us for this next chapter of Crown Refs content.  #servethegame

The Wonderful Women of Officiating Ep. 7 | Penny DavisPenny Davis is the NCAA Women's National Coordinator of Officiating for divisions 1, 2, & 3, a position she's held since 2019.  Before that, she had an incredible 17-year division career working in such conferences as the Pac 12, West Coast, Mountain West, Western Athletic, & the Big Sky.Penny is also fortunate enough to be in a select group of officials who have worked multiple NCAA Final Fours earning her way to the last weekend of the year in 2015 & 2018.  On top of her outstanding college career, she also spent time in the WNBA and the D-League (now the G-League.)In this episode, we covered a lot from Penny's early beginnings to how she rose to become a final four official, her rocky first year as coordinator in a pandemic year, the importance of relationships, and some financial tips for officials.  We are super grateful to have Penny on the podcast and we hope you enjoy this episode. 

Game Notes 029 | Travis Potter | Deland, FlIn this episode of Game Notes, we graciously welcome back Travis Potter for his 2nd episode of Game Notes and his 3rd time total on the podcast.  We truly appreciate his continued support of the Crown Refs brand.We had the opportunity to watch Travis work a Florida high school state semifinal game in which he showed a ton of growth from his first IPR experience.  In this episode we discuss the importance of not blowing the whistle while rotating, being proactive by using your voice to prevent game interrupters, and if you're leaning over that means it's time to position adjust. We also discussed the concept that sometimes there are elements of a foul but the contact has to mature to become illegal, and a pregame partnering and game management tip.  

Courtside ConversationsIn this episode of courtside conversations, we hear from site supervisor Angel Martinez, and officials Robbie Donaldson, Khalil Dock, Taylar Brisbois, Darren Drake, & Donal Griffin. You can also watch this series on all 3 tiers (pro, plus, mentor)#servethegame

Video Rules Talk | Screening Rules | with Zack MurphyThe series formally known as Rules Talk has been elevated to Video Rules Talk as we supply you with more visuals to compliment the rule and further explain the play.In this episode of Video Rules Talk, we discuss the rules for settting a legal screen and general guidelines to help you judge the legality of screens. Locations for the screening rules can be found below:NFHS Rule 4-40NCAA-W Rule 10 - Section 5NCAA-M Rule 4 - Section 35NBA Comments on the Rules -Section II - 3: Screening

Signal School | Mechanics @ the MarriottOn this special edition of Signal School, my nephew Ryan Ceglieski get to jam in our hotel room as we attended Roger Ayers Camp.  I had the chance to work with Ryan virtually a few months early, so it was nice to have a live and in-person session with someone so connected to the community.  In this episode, I take a look at Ryan's pushing and hand check signal as we insert a few tweaks to try to improve the overall quality of his presentation.  We also watch Ryan's PC foul and travel violation signal, and finish up diagramming the 6 most common spots on the court that we stand in when we make our call.

No Offseason | Ep 6/7In this episode, Shay and I dispel the myth around the word “moving” and provide clarity on the rights of a legal defender and what they are legally entitled to. There were also a few opportunities in the game to be proactive and use my voice to put out the spark before it became a forest fire. If we have a Forrest fire then that means we have to call the fire department because we couldn't put out the little spark. We also document a situation where a coach tries to talk to us about a play on the court but I invite him to discuss it in his coaching box as he shares his opinion on the play. After listening to his description of the play I show officials a quick way to respectfully exit the conversation and move on with the game. We hope you enjoy and remember these episodes are available to watch on the PLUS/MENTOR tier. #servethegame

Rapid Responses for Officials pt. 1 | Christian Cotard | Ryan Ceglieski | Pedro RodriguesFor officials looking to gain that communication edge, the Rapid Responses series will be a great way to accelerate that process.  In episode 1, I interact with a few great people from the Crown Refs MENTOR Tier as we talk about everything from how to respond when a coach questions the foul count, how to evoke empathy in the mind of a coach, and fully utilizing the "I would never" approach for many different situations.We also discuss what to say when a coach asks you about your partner's call and being more comfortable knowing that you're going to disappoint the coach at some point and not to fear it.  Another great point that the group made was to start thinking bigger and going more macro with your responses because sometimes coaches are so caught up in the moment that a reality-checking response might be highly effective.Towards the end of this communications training we spoke about why we should stop providing explanations of why we gave the coach a technical foul, and we covered the relationship dynamics  between the ref and an assistant coach.  We hope this episode helps you add another layer to your communications package!Here is the Google Drive link that we created from our rapid responses discord channelhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1-2nqaujfwBLFOkezx_kyreqWZTlWYI5EQq7t6Ii0xTc/edit