Honor and integrity is a weirdly contentious subject in volleyball--most sports actually. The only youth sports I know where the honor system is in place seem to be tennis and golf. I suspect those would start to change if officials directly supervised contests.
No matter. I make honor calls if I am sure the call was 100% wrong. I've done it three times now in the past couple weeks (five on the season), but I've also had one opposing coach roll her eyes at it and another outright say "I'm not ever giving the other team a point. That's why we have officials."
That got me wondering about the pros and cons of honor calls. It is unlikely to change anyone's mind--I know that, but I think spelling it out is good for novice/young coaches who may be tempted to go against their personal integrity for the sake of a scoreboard.
PROS:
- In youth sports, we are supposed to model the behavior we want them to act on now and later once they are adults.
- Illinois doesn't use line judges, so with higher quality teams, it becomes a guess when calling the lines.
- The score better represents the action and does not tilt the playing field because of an error by a non-player or coach.
- Sometimes, if you make an honor call, you'll get the other coach willing to do so as well--they just didn't want to take the first step.
CONS:
- You are giving up a point that could cost a match.
- The opposing side may not act similarly, so that you put your team at a disadvantage.
- You may upset some officials who believe you are 'showing up' their authority.
- Officials are "professionals", paid to do a job, so they should be permitted to do so as they see fit--call 'em as I see 'em, as the saying goes.
- Somethings ethics can be 'situational' [see below]
I'm sure there are others.
For me, the biggest factor is the first 'pro'. Youth sports is about modeling behavior--as a coach, it's about treating the players with respect, pushing them to be their best as people and athletes. Part of that is accountability--we can't run from mistakes, we should fix them. An honor call shows the coach and ref can work together to get things right, even though they have different roles during a match.
The first time I made an honor call like that as a college coach--my AD at the time told me to never do it again--he said that's why we had officials and paid them well to do their thing (and the line judges). I continued to make the calls, he continued to get mad, but after that very first one--which surprised my team, my athletes didn't react any more. Sometimes, I didn't even have to say anything, they'd just roll the ball to the other team, the ref would say something, and my player would say "I touched it". After a while, the refs accepted it but always thought it strange.
Do I get frustrated when other coaches then don't act similarly? Yes. --not because I believe in a quid pro quo but because I believe in the integrity of doing the right thing at all times. BUT BUT BUT--this is personal, not a judgment of you reading this and your coaching!
**
Above, I mention that ethics can be 'situational'. I think we are naturally aware of this--but it was my experience out at Quantico with the USMC that discussed it specifically--the ethics instructor there mentioned 'hot and cold morality'--cold morality is how you act and think when confronted with a textbook situation, no skin in the game. Hot morality are the decisions you make in the heat of battle (literally for Marines). The answers are not always the same--because you don't get the luxury of thinking time when bullets are wheeting past you.
The other catch is context. If you find $1,000 in a taxi, do you keep it? Would it matter if it was a little old lady's life savings? What if it was dropped by accident from Don Corleone's wallet? Would those things affect your decision? What if you were a millionaire--would that affect your decision? What if you hadn't had food in a week?...because $1,000 buys a lot of food.
Do you get it? Do you see how context affects your choices?
In terms of honor calls, that can lead to some interesting discussions (I've had them with my players). In a 'cold' situation, they are in favor of honor calls--they want to do the right thing, but...
- What if it is at match point?
- What if it is game point and if you win, you go to State?
- Does it matter who the team is on the other side of the court--if it is a rival?
- What if it is a blowout one way or the other--do you bother with the call even though it will have no bearing on the end score?
- What if you are 99% sure but not 100%?
Like I said--kids are good with honor calls...but they are honest beyond that and most will admit that they wouldn't say anything if something big like a trip to State was at stake. I appreciate the truth of that.
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