MATSIDE CHAT: Continued from page 25
with officials of different countries and cultures. Explain the importance of these relationships in being an effective referee. Tucci: If you are not a people person, you are not going to make it. All you do is create walls and boundaries between you and the other countries and the people they represent. My clos- est friend in the world is Orestes Molina of Cuba. People used to say, how can you be a friend with a Cuban? Aren’t the United States and Cuba enemies? I said that’s the political end. Sportswise, I would trust him with my life, with my family and he would do the same for me. It’s the same with the Iranian offi- cials, the Japanese, so many countries. The gentleman in charge now, Antonio Silvestri, he was on my mat many times at the Olympics and Worlds. What I try to do, when a referee gets off the mat and I’m an evaluator, I would call them over. If they do a good job, I tell them, that was a good five-point call you made. If they made a mistake, I say you should have been clos- er to the out of bounds zone. A lot of guys don’t do that. They write them up, downgrade them, just throw them to the dogs. I can’t do that. I tell them what they did right and wrong. A lot of people appreciate that. You try to be fair.
USA Wrestler: You also officiate high school folkstyle. Is it good for a referee to do all styles and why? Tucci: I tell these guys in my high school meetings, when they say their season is over, that my season is never over. If you are really interested, come to freestyle and Greco. If you know wrestling, you can pick it up quick. Just come to some of these local events and get started. If you like it, continue. If you don’t, at least you tried it. For instance, if baseball season is over and you don’t pick up another baseball until spring, you are going to be rusty. If you stay involved and keep your skills going, it makes you a better official. I tell guys in clinics, go online and get video. Look at the official. Pick an official you respect and think does a good job. Watch his or her mannerisms, see where they are standing. When they give their points, is it with authority or are they timid? All these things help you. You can learn the rules, but that does- n’t make you a better referee.
USA Wrestler: Teaching is a big part of your role. Tell us about how you help others get better? Tucci: I am still going to different countries doing clinics for national officials who want to become international officials. Working with Zach Errett, he puts together a power point. I use my 39 years of teaching skills. I try to get across to them, not so much the rules, but what you need to do and how to do it. Protocol. Where you stand, and where you don’t stand. Anybody can tell you this is two points, four points or five points. To teach them well, you tell them you have to make like a triangle, and stand where you can watch where the throws are going. You need eye contact, things you don’t get at a lot of clinics around the world. I’ve been to clinics which are 20 minutes and they don’t teach you anything. You are thinking, I know all this, tell me something I don’t know. Give me one thing I can learn from this clinic and can pass on to everybody. I made it a point to be that person who adds something different than dictating the rules from a rule book.
USA Wrestler: As an international official, you don’t work American matches. What do our officials do to help the U.S. coaches and athletes on the world stage? Tucci: When the USA has its training camps for the Worlds or Olympics, we bring a good referee in. When I went in, I would say you would get hit for passivity if you do this. Somebody in
Tucci at the 2015 U.S. Open in Las Vegas. John Sachs photo.
the stands would ask, I did this in a tournament, why did they hit me? Because your head is down and blocking. It’s question and answer, up-close and personal. You answer the questions they thought about but never had a chance to ask. In a wrestling room, we can help them. On an overseas trip, we tell the official, when you go to the clinic, if there is something different, go back and tell the team what they are looking for. Whatever the emphasis is on, you let the athletes and coaches know. We try to help as much as we can. If it meant a point or two in the long run, so be it, we helped.
USA Wrestler: Since you started in the sport, what have been the biggest changes in wrestling? Tucci: I think we went from good, hard-nosed wrestling to gimmicks, with the clinch, with pushing a guy out of bounds. To me that’s not wrestling. To see a guy pushed out of bounds, go to Tokyo and watch sumo wrestling. It shouldn’t be part of ama- teur wrestling. I think we are headed in the right direction. I think Greco will get better. Hopefully, we will get more scoring oppor- tunities and interest. Freestyle is freestyle. Look at Beat the Streets, the Ramos match. Does it get any better than that? If you are sitting there and there is no action, who wants to watch that? I gladly let the wrestlers decide who wins and loses. I tell guys at clinics, if spectators come out of a wrestling event, and they say they were great matches, what if they ask who the ref- eree was. If they say they don’t know, you did a good job. The attention should be on the wrestlers and not the referees. The wrestlers put in the blood and the sweat. The referees are there to enforce the rules and encourage wrestling.
USA Wrestler: In USA Wrestling and UWW, officials are vol- unteers. Why should somebody try officiating and choose to be part of this special group of people? Tucci: The first thing you hit on is that you can really help support the sport and make it more popular by your involve- ment. You have a chance to see Olympic and World champions, NCAA champions. You get to be a part of something. If the nationals are over, as a referee, you can say you helped make this a success. It has to be in your blood. Wrestling is unique because it is a sport that wears on you. It’s addictive. Once you get the addiction, it’s hard to get rid of it. I enjoy it. But I couldn’t have done a lot of this without the support of my family.
27 USA Wrestler
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