There's a new twist on our local board this coming season. We can request from our assignment commissioner that we only get assigned boys games, only girls games, or both. No promises, he'll do the best he can to accommodate our requests.
In the past, we've had a few guys, older, with some orthopedic problems, "unofficially" request, and be granted, only girls games (does that mean girls get officials skewed toward the older, and slower (and maybe fatter, and out of shape) end of the spectrum).
I'm wondering if this is an off shoot from our big change last year. Previous to last year, if our guys made both the boys and girls state tournament list (coaches vote), they could work both genders. Last year, if they made both lists, they had to chose only one gender, allowing some of our up and coming guys to work the tournament, those guys who, in previous years, would be sitting out the tournament (probably added about a dozen local guys to work state tournament games). Of course, this also meant that some of our "best" officials wouldn't work the gender they they didn't select. This was a highly contentious issue that made for some interesting, and very long meetings. The "new way" was the way that all the other five local Connecticut IAABO boards had been working state tournament games, we had been an outlier for many, many years.
I guess that this means that we'll get some guys who want to be regular season "specialists", boys specialists, or girl specialists, hoping to get enough one gender coach votes to make the tournament list. The more girls games you work, the more votes your likely to get, and the same for boys.
Maybe some female officials will want to only work girls games, providing role models for girls that may want to try officiating as adults (my daughter played basketball for about six years at a very high level and only saw one female official in all of those games).
Not personally, but in general, for the good of the cause, I have mixed feelings about choosing boys or girls for the regular season, and about being forced to chose boys or girls for the for the state tournament.
It's always nice to get choices. It may be nice to get some new blood in the state tournament.
But is there any chance that the girls will end up getting short changed (not getting the best officials) for the regular season, and/or the state tournament?
In have two daughters who played sports in high school, one of those in college, I'm a modern Title IX feminist type of guy, and something about this, I can't quite put my finger on it, bothers me?
I'm probably looking at this more from the female student athlete's side, rather than the official's side.
What would Gloria Steinem say?
Should I be allowed to request only games with mostly black players? Or mostly white players? Only at big schools? Only at small schools? Not out in farm country? Only at Catholic schools? Not at Catholic schools? Not at deaf schools?
Don't all of these kids deserve the best officials available at that date and time?
Should mostly white officials be assigned to mostly white games? Should mostly black officials be assigned to mostly black games? Should mostly Catholic officials be assigned to Catholic school games? Should mostly female officials be assigned to girls games?
Again, don't all of these kids deserve the best officials available at that date and time, regardless of the gender of the players, or the officials?
I find this issue to be quite confusing, I'm fighting with myself, I can't put it all into words (though I certainly tried), and it gives me a headache thinking about it.
