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Old Sat Jan 05, 2008, 01:12am
daveg144 daveg144 is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Southwest Ohio
Posts: 86
Interesting topic. I work HS boys and girls (and a few lower level women's college) games. Obviously there is a difference in speed, physicality and airborne action between boys and girls (and men & women in college). As others have said, you learn to adjust overall between the two. However, a boys game between two very small, rural schools (or private schools) is usually played at a very different pace than urban and large schools. Not that the small schools don't have physical, high-flying fast-paced games, but typically, there is noticeable difference. If you go from the small school Friday night game to a big school showdown on Saturday, I think the difference is huge (even though both are boys games).

You have to prepare for the difference before the games (just as you might if you're switching back and forth from boys to girls).

I enjoy working boys and girls games. Let's face it, a competitive, well played girls game is usually a lot more fun to work than a 30 point mis-matched boys game, right? The point is to enjoy the games you have been assigned for what they are. In any season, you're going to have some great games between two very competitive teams. You're also going to have a lot more mismatches and lopsided affairs than the great ones. Most games are not particularly close (and often not well played). However, we are there to call these games fairly and to the best of our ability. As someone else mentioned (and the man who I took the officiating class said every week), the game you're on is the most important game in the world to the players that day. They deserve our best effort.

With all that being said, we still have to do what works best for ourselves and if you feel that working girls games hinders your ability to work higher level boys/mens games, then don't work the girls games.
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