Awaking from a truly restful night of sleep Coach Lou and I again headed into the cavernous convention hall. We split ways to view presentations by officials and coaches at the top of their field. Rich Tamberino, an official with over 30 years experience, presented on Mental Checklists. The amount of information that he covers with his officials before a game is astonishing. They go over nearly every aspect I can imagine about a lacrosse game before they ever step onto the field. I had my eyes opened very wide at the end of his talk as I realized how much more work I need to put into each game I officiate this season. To do anything less would dishonor the profession.

Verbal Judo

After Tamberino’s presentation I attended the one speech that left me breathless by the end of it. Verbal Judo Vice President W. Lee Fjelstad spoke about his involvement in Verbal Judo. A company that speaks to hundreds of companies and law enforcement officers every year on effective techniques to get people to do what you want during confrontations. Since officiating could very well be described as a “C*#@p attracting profession” this presentation was immensely helpful in illuminating both sides of a confrontation and how to use certain words and phrases to my advantage. By the end of the speech I had a full sheet of notes and my belly was hurting from laughing through Mr. Fjelstad’s well told stories. If anyone works in an environment where better communication would benefit you I would highly suggest attending one of his Verbal Judo Classes.

After that entertaining speech I headed to the expo to find some swag and my dad. What I found instead was The Watermelon Challenge! Demonstrated by pro MLL players the target is one lonely watermelon ten yards away. The

Death to all Watermelons!

objective? Complete watermelon obliteration! The pros lined up and ripped shot after shot until one of them hit the mark. The watermelon split open as if shot. Pieces of watermelon littered the ground in a sticky, but delicious mess. With the watermelon defeated it’s remains were passed out to some astonished youth players who carried it around as reverently as the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch (if you do not get that reference then shame on you).

After that it was back to class. I will not bore you with the details of 2-man mechanics, and rules interpretations but I will mention that the NFHS and US Lacrosse is extremely serious about removing as much head-to-head contact and body-to-head contact as possible in the game. Officials are being instructed and encouraged to call fouls that result in contact to an opponent’s head as a one minute non-releasable Illegal Body Check. This is a new emphasis over last year, and if anyone read my post on Mouthgards and Concussions this emphasis makes a lot of sense. Expect to see helmet-to-helmet contact penalized more often and more severely during the 2011 regular season. Please players, keep your head up and start your body checks from a lower crouch. You will save a lot of wear and tear on your head and spine if you do so.

With all of the classes over for the day I went out with all of the officials to Pickels Pub next to the Orioles Ball Park. Everyone shared a few drinks and some hilarious stories but eventually it was time to call it a night. Coach Lou and I met up, he had gone out with the Youth Council members, and crashed as soon as we got back to the room. With the convention all wrapped up there was nothing left to do but take a cab to BWI and board the flight home.

I must say my first convention experience was an absolute blast and well worth the expense of going. If you are a coach, official, or a player I would highly recommend checking it out when it moves to Philadelphia in 2012. I had a fantastic time with my Dad. As a Father/Son trip this one definitely goes into the top three.

Cheers,
Gordon