Referees in Tennis in Comparison to Referees in Ancient Greek Sports Essay Example

to and fro over a net. The Greeks named the game Sphairistike, which implies “let’s play.” The Grecian Bourgeoisie class were the first group that chiefly played tennis in its early stages of development. With time, the game grew in popularity and was incorporated into the Olympics that took place in 1896. The interest provoked in its inclusion in the first Athens Olympics motivated the setting up of the official tennis organization in Greece (Grimsley 35). Ancient Greek sports comprised the Olympic Games that happened every four years. They were a significant part of the Grecians’ religious life and were inaugurated with a sacrifice to the ancient Greek god Zeus at the Olympia stadium. The chief sporting that took place during that time were javelin casting, discus casting, jumping, dispatch race, pankration, and running (Duvinage 30).
The concept of an objective third party overseeing a sports contest is not a novel invention of the present times. The ancient Greeks already instituted the occupation of “Hellanodics” who were in charge of the administration and supervision of the Olympic Games. The Hellanodics were the equivalent of today’s referees. The “Hellanodics” were drawn at random from a pool of competent residential applicants who comprised only the members of the class of nobles. A person who desired this honor had to make contributions in several ways. Besides relinquishing all manner of reward for their efforts, the Hellanodics were needed to suffice significant financial support for the games. Their tenure was constrained to one year, but multiple reappointments were possible throughout their lifetime (Duvinage 32). Hellanodics received their appointment a year before the commencement of the Olympic Games and began executing

their tasks and responsibilities immediately. Their duties ranged widely and needed a lot of preparation; thus, the Hellanodics were diligently informed of the contest rules and their duties ten months prior to the opening ceremony, and all took the oath of office. Hellanodics were to verify the integrity of the participants in the Olympic Games. More importantly, they were to confirm that all athletes were free Hellenic citizens for slaves and non-Hellenes were exempted from participating in the games. Additionally, the Hellanodics categorized the athletes into various age groups and carefully denied participation to those who did not appear to meet the high standard of the tradition of the Olympics (Duvinage 34). The referee in ancient Greece was to regulate and supervise human actions to see to it that they did not overstep the barriers of the laws and rules of the human society (guaranteed by the gods) and produce death and violence (Duvinage 35).
Today in tennis, there are two sets of officials – referees and the umpires. Umpires make calls during the tennis matches. There are three kinds of umpires; chief umpires, chair umpires, and line umpires. The referees are the principal officials. They choose and assign the umpires and hold pre-tournament training as needed. They serve as the final authority for on-court disagreements and the explication of the tournament regulations. The referee labors with the director of the tournament and various other officials to set up the draw and seedings. He readies the daily order of play and specifies the matches planned on particular courts. The referee also ensures that the courts are marked and equipped as per the regulations. The referee also

is tasked with the duty of briefing players concerning the weather conditions, changes in the courts assigned for the matches, withdrawals, and other events related to the tournament. He can delay a game, and with the consultation of the other officials cancel the same as appropriate. The referee also puts on clothing that identifies him as an official during the tournaments (Ashe-Edmunds; Browne).
To sum it all, the duties of the present-day tennis referee have some resemblance to those performed by the Hellanodics of ancient Greece. Both were the final authority in matches, explained the rules of the games to the participants, informed the players of new developments relating to the games, made arrangements for the daily events, and saw that all was set before the start of the matches. The only slight difference between the two kinds of referees is that in the ancient Greek sports, he (the referee) performed his duties as a service to his gods, and even made personal financial contributions to the events and never received payment for his services. On the contrary, today’s games are designed more for entertainment purposes, and the referee receives payment for his/her services rather than him/her making financial contributions to the games. To this end, one can safely conclude that the modern-day referee’s duties trace their origin from ancient Greece.

Works Cited

• Ashe-Edmunds, Sam. “Responsibilities of Tennis Referees.” LIVESTRONG.COM. Demand Media Inc., 18 February 2015. Web. 14 April 2016. http://www.livestrong.com/article/
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• Baker, J. William. Sports in the World (Sport and Society). Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1988. Print.
• Browne, Claytone. “The Responsibilities of Tennis Referees.” Chron, 2016. Web. 14 April 2016. http://work.chron.com/responsibilities-tennis-referees-16407.html
• Duvinage, Cedric. Referees in Sports
  

Contests: Their Economic Role and the Problem of Corruption in Professional German Sports Leagues. Wiesbaden: Gabler Verlag, 2012. Print.