New Ref Here
 

Hello everyone, I have been a long time baseball umpire and decided to pursue officiating basketball this year. I am in the middle of my training, and so far it is understanding the rules, roatations, and signals. Regarding uniforms, it was suggested that we just buy a starter pack and go from there. In my area, first year officials can only do middle school and sub varsity games, so they say do not worry about spending huge amounts of money on apparel. In saying all this, I was looking for more guidance. Does anyone have any online resource suggestions that can further my training, and what does everyone suggest I purchase apparel wise? Thanks in advance.

Welcome!!!
This site is a great place for training. But the best place is a local clinic, as you can get immediate feedback.
I buy most of my equipment from Honigs, as they are local to me. My suggestion is to buy quality apparel and equipment and to cut back on the amount of items. Also, you should be able to hold off on the jacket until you are ready for varsity games.

Welcome to the forum again.

I would say that you want to buy enough uniforms so that you do not have to constantly be inconvenienced by cleaning your uniform. You will make a lot of money or enough to buy a couple if you need to. It is a lot cheaper than baseball for sure. You could buy 3 or 4 uniforms and make that money back in one week.

That being said, this site is a good starting place. There are a lot of people that have access to other resources. The Facebook page for Basketball officials are good as well. But as stated one of the local place is where you should start. Any online resource is something to pick up as an addition to what you are doing locally. NASO also has a lot of very good videos, books and resources to help you get better as well.

Hope that helps a little.

Peace

Welcome to the avocation!
Here's some various answers to questions you asked.
We've been telling our new officials to go to an online site that has a "discounted starter package", like here: Discounted Starter Package. Check with your local association for any uniform specifications necessary to include in your order, like a certain width of stripes on shirt, patch, etc.
Shoes are up to personal taste. Many have Reebok Zigs. Others' perspectives can be gleaned from various previous posts. Do a forum search with "Shoes" as keyword and survey the opinions of others as you choose.
See if your state has any online resources to tap. I'll let others chime in with online sites that can help you.
Get an NFHS Officials Manual, the 2015-17 edition that just came out, available at National Federation of State High School Associations, the Fed's online rulebook site. Be sure to check with your association regarding any variations they have from Fed mechanics and rules and signals.
Ask your local assigner who s/he recommends you go watch for several games, hopefully someone you can ask a lot of questions of after the game. Maybe ask your association for a mentor who can give you individual instruction.
Hope that's a start. Other's responses will either be forthcoming, or do a forum discussion search for "new official" and see what others have answered to this very popular and frequent forum question.
Again, welcome!

You'll need to buy a stick to deal with coaches and a baseball bat to deal with parents.

What you didn't tell the new official to not forget the first rule??

Seriously though, welcome! Officiating basketball is a lot of fun (at least for me it is). I've always found that when just starting out, or trying to move up, the best way to train is to get reps. You can watch all the videos you want, but nothing will substitute for live reps.

Work hard and have fun!!

Welcome to the better forum! I've never bought a starter pack so I can't recommend that but it could work. When I started out I bought some things from a local store with basic Smitty gear but I returned most of that stuff and bought stuff online. I like Purchase Officials Supplies cuz they have treated me well with all my orders and returns.

You say you are trying to learn the "rotations". I think you mean "switches"; rotations are what happen in the three-person system when the ball is in play and the Lead rotates to the strong side. Switches are dead ball actions based on who call the foul, where the inbound is, etc.

Let us know if you have any questions!

Learn the four requirements for a backcourt violation, and if you need any help (or headaches), check out the other thread. :)

Tabletop Session on Video
 

Though not the most professionally produced thing out there, we videotaped our association's New Officials Mechanics Tabletop Session last night.
Disclaimer: the two segments of this session feature the entire meeting which lasted 1-1/2 hours -- not for the casual viewer, for sure. But for someone hoping to get a taste of the basics for mechanics and positioning and movements to make out on the floor, this might be a helpful resource. And the price is right, after all.
A link to the two segments of this session are at:
Two Person Mechanics Tabletop Session
Any problems accessing it by that link, let me know.

I don't think I've listed that in quite a while and we have quite a few new participants, so here it it.

The first rule of officiating: "Tuck your whistle in your jersey BEFORE you take a leak." :eek:

BetterRef.com - Know the Rule. See the Play. Make the Call.

60 Seconds on Basketball Officiating

NBA Video Rulebook this one is really good for looking at plays and it has voice-over, however you would have to ignore the section on travels, and the restricted area plays.

If your state gives you access to Arbitersports.com, the NFHS Central Hub also has some great training videos on it.
http://nfhs-basketball.arbitersports...t/105407/Video