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Originally Posted by M&M Guy
This is where the discussion gets interesting. Where do we draw the line?
You mention that "the best people with recent experience at that level and gender should be the ones that do the post season. That seems the fairest to the players." Ok, but what if the "best people" happen to be a crew of varsity boys officials? Wouldn't you think the fairest to the players would be to have the "best officials" on that game, not just the "best girls officials"?
I know the issues of college officials vs. HS officials is muddied a little due to some rules and mechanics differences. But would it be fair to say that the higher an official moves up the ladder, the "better" they are? Are HS varsity officials considered better as a group than primarily grade school officials? Are college officials considered better as a group than HS officials? Are D-1 officials considered better as a group than juco officials? Obvious generalities, but is it still fair to say? If so, should those "better" officials be excluded from HS post-season because they worked a lesser number of games than others? Or, are the HS officials better suited to work HS post-season because they have a better feel just for the HS game? What's fair to the kids? If Ed Hightower or Jim Burr showed up to work a HS game, would you think, "Oh, cool, we've got good refs tonight!"? Or would you say, "Oh, crap, it's going to be a disaster because they don't know HS basketball."?
Let me be the first to say I don't have an answer. And I've been on both sides of these issues, so I'm pretty much confused as to what's best. I was curious as to what others feel about this.
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This is why I work only Boy's games. I do not want to have to make these many choices like many officials I know have to make. There was a guy that worked a State Final last year and complained because he did not get a Boy's assignment which in his case would have been impossible to work two places at the same time. And for those that do not know, Girl's playoffs take place first in our state and state by class. So the Class A starts one week and the Class AA follows the next. So before the Boy's playoffs start, the Girl's playoffs are in full swing. So if you want to advance on the Girl's side, you likely might have to give up working up Boy's post season at some point. The problem that I see is that can eliminate you from getting other opportunities because you are not making yourself available for what may or may not happen in the future.
Also because of some of what I have stated the state was looking for around 20+ Girl's assignments because officials would rather work Boy's games or college games instead of working Girl's post season. It is also not uncommon to have an official that has hardly worked any Girl's regular season games that did not put in for Girl's playoffs, but were available when the state called to fill some dates. It is not just about what you did during the year. You cannot work if you do not want to work.
Peace