[Goose]

Been away for a couple of days, but this issue strikes a cord with me since I moved from one geographical area (NE) to another (SE). These differences are such that I have really considered retiring from officiating. Yes, the differences ARE considerable.

The biggest, and I mean the biggest difference I've seen has to do with training and rule interpretation.

I came from an IAABO board who had in my opinion the best interpreter in the country, period! Our board did an excellent job in training and rule interpretation, so that is what I was used to.

Fast forward to Nov. last year, and I move to the southeast. Chaotic to say the least. Board meetings were complete by December. No meetings in January or February, but the season ends here first week of February, but I did inquire about any more meetings and it was simply stated to me that they "might" have another one. State requires officials to take a test. That test is neither IAABO nor FED, but is "made up" by the director of officials. He can put, and does put whatever he wants on the test. This state test also goes a long way in determining your ranking which in turn determines your varsity assignments. Of course this means, and was witnessed by myslef, that the good test takers get varisty assignments, but then again, just becasue one is good at taking tests, does not always translate into one being able to blow the whistle on the court. Again, I had the pleasure of working with one of these great test takers. To bad the game was not held on paper though.

Here are the regional issues that I saw first hand which haven't given me a warm and fuzzy.

Training or lack thereof. No wonder the highest rated official in my area (this is a huge area compared to the single county I moved from) is another transplanted IAABO official from the Northeast.

Interpretation: I was frankly shocked at the number of T's given out down here. Most wouldn't even have gotten a stare back in the NE. Basically, the players and coaches are extremely well mannered, which did not go unappreciated from myself, but most of the T's I saw, were given for extremely mild stuff if you ask me. I would never give a T for some of the stuff I heard or saw.

I believe this is really a cultural thing too. Maybe in the Northeast, we were more used to ruff and gruff stuff, and having spent 26 years in the inner city has a way of jading your eyes and ears, but people down here expect a certain behavior, and if anyone crosses the line, even in a minimal sense, bang! Most were shocked when I told them I let the coach talk to me. I'll always listen, after all, maybe there is a valid point to be made.

Coaching boxes, shirt tails, etc. These things are big down here. If the coach steps out of the box, bang! Shirt tail out? Stop game to re-tuck. I'm not saying these are not good things, but it can get to the point of being overly picky, especially with under a minute to play with Team A up by 20 and you are stopping the clock to get players to re-tuck. That's picky to me.

Police officers: Extremely visible down here. I was actually escorted out of a gym for the first time in 20 years by an officer this past winter. Never mind that the parking lot had emptied and I said I appreciate the thought but walking me to my car was not necessary. Still, the officer did their duty and walked me to my car. If they only knew past situations in the NE....they simply wouldn't believe that we did not have escorts. Note, this was an 8th grade game!!

Along with training, comes mechanics. There is a mish-mash of mechanics down here. Some good, most not so good. Again, this comes from proper training.

Ohh, minimal pre-game. We were supposed to be on site 1 hour before game time for a varsity assignment on my old board. Down here, your lucky to get guys to arrive 15 minutes before game time. Pre-games are basically non-existant and I told our director of officials that that was one thing I would change. Most guys come dressed now too, which is huge turn-off to me. No time after the game to talk. No shower, just put on the coat and out the door. I must say though, that the dressing facilities are much nicer down here than in the Northeast.

Last but not least, PAY. The pay here in the SE is horrible to say the least, and I'm not talking about the area I live in, but all over North, South Carolina, plus Georgia. The pay is the pits compared with the Northeast. No one could believe that we were getting 65 dollars for one varsity game. Down here, we get 57 for TWO varsity games played back to back. I won't even mention the sub-varsity pay, but let's just say I was getting more money for one 5-6th grade city rec league game that I get down here for TWO sub-varsity games, back to back.

Please don't get the wrong impression. I'm NOT saying the officials in the Southeast are bad and that the officials in the Northeast are great. I've worked with good and bad from both areas. I worked with the best woman official to date down here, and I must say, she was equally as good as any male official I have worked with. But there are regional differences and many of these have to do with the culture of the area.

One last thing. Fans! Frankly, I was shocked to see the gyms full of fans down here in the Southeast. It would have taken a really big game for the fans to come out in my previous area in the Northeast, but down here, I've seen 5-600 at an 8th grade game! My daughters HS gym holds 2600, and rivals any D-2, or D-3 gym I saw in the Northeast. All this with an enrollment of 1200 in grades 9-12. So, the fans do come out down here, even for the Jr-Hi levels, which is a good thing compared with fan levels in New England.

goose