Officiating, like so many aspects of life in our modern world, comes down to who is willing to step up and do it. We can all sit on the sidelines and complain, and that's all that almost every one of us, speaking for society as a whole, does. "Somebody should fix this." "Somebody should be punished for this." Blah, blah, freakin' blah.
You want to change officiating at summer AAU tournaments, grab a whilstle and a striped shirt. Put your knowledge and experience with the game to work to make it better for the kids. If you do, you'll discover a few things pretty quickly:
- You're not very good at it. In fact, you suck. It's a hard job that requires quite a bit of time in the saddle to get good at. Too much happens too fast and you don't have time to think about whether to blow the whistle. You have to know what to watch for, and where to watch for it, before it happens. Then you have to let instinct put air in the whistle for you. Oh, and then, once you've blown the whistle and everybody is staring at you, you gotta know what to do next. Some fun, eh?
- Everybody hates you all the time. Okay, that's an exageration. But you'll quickly discover that from your vantage point you can see stuff that the jackass in the third row (which incidently is where you used to sit) can't see. Or won't see. Or couldn't care less about because all he really wants is a cheap and easy break for his kid. And that jackass has no qualms about questioning your judgement, intelligence, geneology, blood alcohol level, eyesight, competence or anything else he's "clever" enough to come up with to try and influence you.
- The rules of basketball are NOT what you think they are. Sure, everybody played ball as a kid and everybody knows the rules. Sorry, wrong! Coaches, players, fans don't know they rules. Honestly, try it out and see if I'm wrong.
- You're going to need to put in some serious time, and get some qualified help, to get good. And, by the way, that serious time I mentioned, happens at summer AAU ball. It's where officials go to get practice, and this may shock and offend you, because the games don't matter and it doesn't matter if you screw up. Every coach, player, and referee there is there for one, and only one reason, to screw up as much as possible and then to learn from it. Those that do learn, move up. Those that don't, stay right there. Blaming the refs is a clear indication of an inability or unwillingness to learn.
- As you get better, you'll get better opportunities. As you get better opportunities, and get established as an official in your area, you'll get even more and better opportunities. Eventually you'll want to give up working summer ball. And that's okay. Leave it for the new guys to practice on.
Bottom line, if you really want to make the officiating better, then grab a whistle and go do it better than the guys you've been getting! But be prepared for a few uncomfortable surprises along the way. Let us know how it goes; we really will be willing to help you.