Can an NCAA Basketball Official Work Both Sexes?

[ilyazhito]

In high school, there is no such thing as a "boys official" or a "girls official", unless your state has separate boards for boys and girls basketball (such as NY State: Boys boards are IAABO, Girls are through NYSGBOA).
In college, most officials are assigned to either the Men's Basketball staff or the Women's Basketball staff for each conference.

However, is it possible for a college basketball official to work both sexes? If so, how would I go about doing that? I know that men's and women's basketball are different games, and have different rules and mechanics. If any "double duty" officials exist, they would have to switch rules and mechanics for each game, but if it can be done between college and high school, then I believe that there is no reason why an official can't switch between men's and women's college games.

For the record, I am a high school basketball official with three years of experience, including one year of sub-varsity (Freshman/JV) and two years of middle school basketball under my belt. I live in MD and call basketball for Board 12 (MoCo public and private MS, MoCo Rec and I-270 League) and MBOA (DCIAA and WCAC Freshman/JV, Alexandria Rec). I have also worked intramural basketball for UMD RecWell, to practice my 3-man mechanics. My short-term goal is to work varsity games for MBOA next season, my medium-term goal is to become a college official at the junior college or DIII level, and my long-term goal is to become an NBA/FIBA official, if possible.

I believe that working both sexes would make me a better official, because men and women have different styles of play and different tendencies. AFAIK, many NBA officials go through both the WNBA and the G League before they are hired to the full-time staff, so high-level women's basketball experience would be beneficial. This is because the NBA uses concepts from both men's and women's basketball (NCAAW has the Lower Defensive Box, which also appears in the NBA). However, many camps are either for men's officials or for women's officials. What would I need to do to reach a high level of officiating competency for both sexes? Does CBOA (College Basketball Officials Association) assign both men's and women's officials, or would I need to join a separate organization to work women's college ball?

I know that it is a bit early in my career for me to ask questions like this, but I want this thread to be out here for the benefit of other officials who are faced with making a decision between working men's or women's college basketball (or both, hopefully).

Thank you!