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Originally Posted by Freddy
Having read through all the thoughtful and wise responses solicited by your original inquiry in this thread, have we given you enough to go on? Get any responses that you especially appreciated and can incorporate in your article?
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I really wasn't looking for anything new to incorporate into my article since my article was specific to my local association. I was just curious about expectations for officials in other local associations:
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillyMac
The purpose of my post is to satisfy my own curiosity regarding what many of you expect of your local association members, not in terms of rules knowledge, and mechanics, but in terms of the "little things" that make your guys not only good basketball officials, but also good association members. I'm looking forward to hearing about what is expected in other associations.
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One thing that I found very interesting, mainly because it is so "foreign" to me, was the idea of car pools and assigned responsibilities, driving, snacks, mileage, etc. Those concepts just would never work here. The way our geographic area is set up, the longest drive that anyone could possibly have is one hour, even during a congested rush hour. Most drives are less than thirty minutes. We have over 325 officials, and about seventy high schools, and officials either come from work, or from home, thus we have lots of permutations. On weekdays, I always go directly to a game from work. Other guys have more flexible day job hours and often will stop at home to get their "stuff" and kiss their wife, and kids, before going to a game site. With these conditions, the stars have to align themselves in such a rare way for a car pool to exist that in thirty-one years I have only carpooled about a dozen times. Probably less. It kind of reminds me of the Red Sox teams of the past, twenty-five players, twenty-five taxis (twenty-five six packs of Bud Lite, twenty-five buckets of Popeye's chicken).
Regarding the fact that we allow subvarsity officials (not cadets) to evaluate and rate varsity officials, it's been that way for at least thirty-one years. We recently took a close look at our rating, and ranking, system and one recommendation is to not allow inexperienced officials to evaluate, and rate "up".
Regarding varsity officials getting to a site early, and junior varsity officials staying late at a site, we've been doing that for at least thirty-one years, and it's been working well for all but the last several years. Our local board used to be all about education, that is, officials helping fellow officials became better at officiating scholastic basketball. Nobody ever questioned why they were at the site early, or why they stayed late at the site. We just did it to improve our association. The most common phrase heard in the locker room was "So? What did you see out there tonight?". Partners asked this of each other. Varsity officials asked this of junior varsity officials. Junior varsity officials asked this of varsity officials. Now, we just don't hear that enough anymore. The rapid influx of new guys over the past several years has changed the way we do business. Many of the new guys want to just "get in, get out, and get paid". There's really nothing wrong with that, especially in the economic climate today, it's just that it's not the way that I've been used to.
Regarding our business casual dress code. Back when I was a cadet official, we were expected to wear dress shoes, dress slacks, a dress shirt, and a tie to games. We were even encouraged to wear a sports jacket to our private prep school games. The switch from shirt and tie to business casual has been a welcome change that has brought us into the twenty-first century. Not taking a shower just didn't ever seem to be an option. Coming to a game in uniform, or leaving a game in uniform, just wasn't ever an option. These weren't options because we never wanted to give anyone (athletic directors, principals, coaches, players, parents, fans) the impression that we just wanted to "get in, get out, and get paid".