[oatmealqueen]

Originally posted by ChuckElias

OMQ, I certainly did not intend to give offense by my comments. But how can you be taken aback by the fact that lower quality games are used as a training ground for higher quality games? Do 7th/8th grade teams expect to get the best varsity officials? No. Those are games that are given to less experienced officials to prepare them for high school ball. Do NBDL teams get Jake O'Donnell or Hue Hollins or Violet Palmer on their games? No, b/c even tho the games are just as important to the players (probably moreso, since they don't have huge guaranteed contracts) the quality of ball is lower and it's a perfect place to see if less experienced officials can handle the game.

This is not a girls ball/boys ball thing. It's just the way it's done.

They might deserve it, but they don't need it in my area. I'm not saying that some officials are "too good" to do the games. (I still do my share of 7th/8th grade games.) But if you've got the top two boys teams playing on the same night as the top two girls teams, then in my area, the better officials need to be at the boys game.

With all due respect, OMQ, and I mean that sincerely, I don't need to do girls games in western MA. I'm not going to improve my officiating skills or be challenged mentally in 99% of the girls games that are played.

Do the teams need my experience? Maybe. But the game would go just as smoothly -- most of the time -- if it were officiated by two very good JV boys officials.

Now, please, please, please, do not take my comments to be more than they are. I am not denigrating young women, or minimizing the importance of women's sports. When I work a HS girls game (I did 9 this season, including a regional semi-final playoff game), the girls get 100% of my effort and attention. I still hustle, my mechanics are still sharp, I treat the girls with nothing but respect.

All I am saying is that, most of the time, where I live and ref, the highest quality officials are not required to ensure a smooth-running and fairly officiated girls contest.

Chuck

Chuck,
I am not offended by your comments at all. It was my way of giving you a compliment, as I feel that ALL games deserve the best officials. I also may have misread the thread about 'training ground'. Certainly there are many games that should be used for that.