Observation: Impediments to Moving Up
 

One of the issues that we have discussed on this forum is: "What criteria are involved in helping refs in "moving up" the officiating ladder?"

We have cited issues such as "years of experience", "familiarity with assignors", "performance evals", "managing your arbiter", and a ref's ability to exercise "discerning judgement on the 'gray areas' of game management"--among other factors. However, at a recent association meeting--one of the panelists raised this question: "have you ever noticed any of the High School State playoff or NCAA refs with facial hair, beards, or mustaches?". The group of us attendees paused, then there was a collective faint "...ummm no" response. The panelist then said that "NCAA refs and their leaders all said that they do not want anyone on their crews with facial hair." And, furthermore that this was an accepted norm/restriction.
So, given this issue of grooming--do you think that the same bias/discrimination inheres with keeping good junior high & high school level refs from advancement? (i.e., just because they have facial hair is there such oblique discrimination in-play ?).

Looking the part goes a long ways in determining opportunities to move up. I work in government finance, and I expect my staff to look the part. When I have a job opening, if someone shows up for an interview with fluorescent colored hair, or a nose-ring, or even multiple earrings, no matter how good they looked on paper, I'm likely going to hire someone else.

facial hair has always been a no no. Maybe a nicely trimmed beard, but I haven't seen it. In the end with officiating cream rises. Know the rules. Know how to communicate with players and coaches. Be in the right spot, and most importantly KNOW THE GAME.

I hire at the varsity level for 22 (soon to be 24) high schools and I hire people with beards, glasses, and other no-nos at other levels.

(1) This is HS basketball.
(2) I want the best play-callers and game managers.
(3) This is HS basketball.

It is highly frowned on in our area. I think it is RIDICULOUS, but then again, my day job only allows a small mustache anyway. I prefer to wear a neatly trimmed beard, I really prefer the look I have with it as opposed to clean shaven or mustache. Plus, my wife prefers beard too but job won't allow it.

I have heard on pretty good authority that the staff at the Missouri State final four have razors on hand for officials who show up with facial hair. Silly silly crap to worry about if you ask me


I wish I had a cool signature

I love this attitude. Having a beard has no bearing on whether or not an official is good.

That said, almost nobody I work with or see working higher level games in my area has facial hair. So it's a When In Rome situation for me.

I let my beard grow during the offseason until I work camps/clinics/HS summer leagues.

I shaved for the winter the night before my first high school game.

+1. And agree with Rich, shouldn't matter at the HS level. But I would say that if you have aspirations higher than HS.....well you never know who might be in a gym observing you on any given night. Enough said.


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The only facial hair I have ever seen on any official at the high levels are Black or African-Americans and that is only a mustache that is groomed very neatly. No beards or sideburns. And usually the hair is conservative and short or balled.

At the high school level you will see more variations, but for the most part officials that work a lot of high level high school ball look just like a D1 or NBA official when it comes to grooming.

Peace

I was at a game this weekend where one of the officials on the other court had a beard and longer hair that wasn't styled at all.

Quite frankly he looked like a bum on the street.

To me, that would just draw unnecessary attention to an official who had that appearance. I'd like to avoid that, so while I like having a beard, I go without it during the season.

Facial hair is a big deal for one of my assignors (happens to be biggest assignor in the state) who got on me last year for some 1 day old stubble I was wearing. A dude from down south showed up with facial hair at the state finals and was whispered about, but the state administrators didn't seem to care. Depends on the ref I guess, most old school guys don't like it.

What do the officials who work the level you aspire to reach do in regards to facial hair? Once you get to that level and are established, then grow facial hair and create the new standard.

I am a big fan of Rich and his comments.

Remembering our Interpreters meeting: "When doing HS games, use HS mechanics. When doing College games, use College mechanics."

Be passionate about your profession and always work on improving, no matter which area you are focusing on.

We've beaten the facial hair horse dead, so let me shift gears. I invite a discussion about wedding rings to begin. Thoughts?


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They are considered jewelry, so the players are not allowed to wear them . . .

Wedding rings are the only jewelry acceptable to wear that can be seen.

Peace

'Cause The Players Gonna Play, Play, Play, Play, Play (Taylor Swift) ...
 

Great answer.

At an NCAA Women's camp: "Don't do anything that the players can't do - palm the ball while you're waiting to give it to the thrower, wear a beard, wear jewelry - including your wedding ring . . ."

While it might be strange...I can't imagine there's a rule in the NCAAW book against players having beards

And I was certain that comment was coming, from someone. Still, the underlying principle has served me well.
Another example of the application of that principle is that I used to be able to easily clear the net, when it got hung up on the rim, by jumping up and hitting it with my hand. After negative comments, that I was "showing up the players" I no longer do that, but ask that a player clear the net, by jumping or hitting it with the ball.

Because I do so much mentoring, and teaching/training of younger/less experienced officials, I stress that our goal is to remove, do away with, eliminate any thing that a supervisor/evaluator may find objectionable. It is an extension or practical application of that principle. In other terms, it is the "when in Rome . . ." idea.

I get what you're saying. Were those comments though coming from assignors/evaluators?

Got Arthritis ???
 

For me, the good old days. Now, where are my keys?

I wear my wedding ring. I don't see how rules governing the players has anything to do with me. They are also not allowed to wear a whistle around their neck.

True!!

Also, slightly off topic...but I've seen NFL quarterbacks play with their wedding rings on. I would never play a sport with a ring on...but I have no problem with officials wearing theirs.

Players can palm the ball.

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I wear a beard in the offseason, and keep clean shaven once the season (football, basketball, or baseball) starts. Which basically means I get to have the beard in June, July and the first half of August (I don't work summer baseball), and for a couple of weeks between seasons.

Used to wear a beard in my first years of doing football, until a few of the "guys I look up to" gave me the "I'm not saying you need to get rid of the beard, but..." talk.

As for wedding rings... I take mine off if I remember to do so before i get out of my car. Not because anyone around here cares, I do it because my ring is a bit loose on my finger and I don't want to accidentally lose it during a basketball (or worse, football) game.

Only some, particularly on the women's side as was the focus of the camp he was referring to.

I once heard that same thing and it was in the context of not appearing to be showing them up with something many men can do but many women can't.

Without a wedding ring, and facial hair; you may get more attention than you want from high school moms...

What assignor really cares about a wedding ring?

I take my wedding ring off because when I watch games in person, I always get distracted by the wedding rings of officials working the game. So I do it purely for my own personal reasons.

I worn goatees a few times for HS games. One time a college supervisor who had just hired me was in attendance and he made it clear I better never do that for one of his games. :o

So that brings up the other thing about wearing facial hair at HS games, you never know who might be watching. If you have college aspirations, working HS games sans facial hair may be the prudent business decision.

The difference is that at the HS level assigners are looking for officials (not enough officials). At the college level, they are choosing officials (too many officials).

It's similar to the "all black shoes" argument. It doesn't affect how you call the game, but it might affect your ability to get a chance to call the game.

:confused:

I wear my wedding ring so that someone in the crowd thinks, "Someone actually married that @$$hole!" Lol.

And so the hot moms know they are going to have to really impress me, haha. Totally kidding in the last one btw. :D

Exactly.

And if you live in a large area like we live, those slots are not as plentiful either when you consider the actual number of games compared to officials available. So those choices are also made the same way a college assignor will make with the same considerations for things like facial hair and things on your shoes.

I am sure Rich has a different demographic to choose from than a more populated area.

Peace

I assign officials from three metropolitan areas. I have 348 varsity games to fill this year and the number will be going up.

My criteria wouldn't change based on suddenly having twice as many people to choose from -- mainly, cause I think some of these criteria are complete bullcrap.

Playcalling, communication, and game management, in that order. Nobody gets extra points for being from a certain demographic, being clean shaven or looking like an official on an officiating supply poster. As long as I'm doing the job, that won't change.

OK, but here those things would matter. And they matter to the schools, who ultimately are the ones that hire you as an assignor.

I know an assignor that had a league and when he only hired guys outside of the general area of the conference, they fired him and found someone else.

Peace

They matter only cause people (assigners or other officials) tell them they should matter.

I've never once had a coach comment on his own on facial hair, for example. I'm willing to bet it would never happen.

Well that is actually not true in my experiences. Coaches know who the fat guys are and the guys who are not from their area.

I do not disagree that the main thing people should be concerned about are if you get plays right, but that is often not the case. I know that if we have a Chicago team verse a Rural area team, it is not unusual to hear a complaint by one of the participants if none of the officials are either from those areas or have never been seen before. That is not all on the officials, that is the paranoia of the participants. And that can be a problem even if the officials get everything right.

In the case of the assignor I referenced, I never heard the issue was the play calling ability of the officials. Actually he assigned many officials that were playoff guys, but he did not concern himself with the fact he had a rural area for many of his teams and they wanted to see "their guys" on some of their games, whatever that is supposed to mean.

Peace

Has anyone detected a correlation between officials who don't particularly care how they conform to standards of uniform, appearance, and conditioning and officials who aren't particularly concerned about beneficial mechanics, good on-court habits, and "taking care of business" adequately before and after assignments?

With the exception of one coach who complained about everyone, I had two complaints about officials the entire 2014-15 season. 38 programs. Let that sink in.

It's HS basketball.

People need to realize this is HS basketball, not a smaller scale version of D1 basketball. I take my assigning seriously, but I'm serving the HS game.

People who? It's assignors who are imposing these standards, not officials. So your statement and derision needs to be towards your fellow assignors and not those of us who are doing what we need to do to keep getting games.

OK, but what does that have anything to do with what we are talking about? It is likely that HS basketball in your area does not care about those things. But they care about all kinds of off the court things here.

HS basketball is not void of worrying about things like how an official looks or if they can keep up or if the officials are used to working bigger schools (Usually city and suburban schools) compared to smaller schools (Usually rural and smaller and less ethnic areas).

And I can tell you the top guy that went to the University of Wisconsin (Madison) came from the suburbs of Chicago (Lisle, IL) and the assignor to his conference very much considered who worked that conference based off of all the things we talked about. If he didn't, he would not have a job, considering that the league was a private school league of Catholic schools and often played teams from the city in non-conference shootouts where teams from the suburban area played city teams. The demographic of the officials right or wrong mattered to those schools and those situations.

Peace

And those are the standards that others set for their professions in other aspects of society. There are jobs that do not allow facial hair or certain grooming styles. Officiating is not unique in this area.

Peace

Two complaints the entire season. Assignors around here get more than that every night there are games.

I have heard assignors actually talk about the things they hear from schools and those situations often have nothing to do with play calling.

Peace

Some assigners act as though their jobs are always hanging by a thread. If that's the case, why have the job?

I am a firm believer that a coach needs to pick his spots. The one coach that complained every game? The coach that NEVER complains and calls me almost sheepishly -- who do you think I listened to more closely?

Basketball is only a small part of what I do for our group of schools, after all.

When I get a complaint in any sport, I ask for the film, by the way. Without me seeing what they're complaining about on film, how do I know if they have a point or not?

Great assignor. I would like to work for you. Not that my current assignor isn't any good. I actually like him a lot. Well I have 3. 2 out of 3 aint bad.

As an assignor, what percentage of games do you work in your leagues?

I have an assignor who schedules himself to whatever he can take when he is not working a higher level game. Is this typical or a rarity?


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This year I'm working 6 games, mainly to watch newer officials.

Next year I'm working zero.

If I'm asked to find crews for non-conference games I'll occasionally work if I'm open. But I pick those carefully....

I'm getting paid well to assign the league. I don't need to work it as well.

Thanks for an interesting, timely topic. Especially since it comes from a fellow Kansas official. I'm 38 and have never had facial hair. After the end of last year's season I grew a beard for the first time. Found out I love it. Had no comments through baseball. I was wondering about basketball since nearly everyone I call with (HS V only no college) is clean shaven. At our area meeting I already had one comment and a few weird looks. Besides the beard I've lost 40 pounds since January and worked on my game. I'm in the best shape of my life. I want to keep getting better and maybe do college some day. Seems silly that facial hair will hold me back but it sounds like a very real possibility.

The beard will hold you back from the college game. At the high school level, the 40 lbs weight loss offsets the beard.

I'm half joking about the high school part... As you can see from the thread, it varies by region and by assignor. From my experience, these things all play some role but the extent it will impact you varies by a lot of other factors. For most high school assignors these are more important than your facial hair: Dependability, availability, communication, play calling and rules knowledge. "Looking the part" often gives people the impression you can do the above things well. It might not be true, but that "eye test" is often a reality. If you're overweight, wearing a beard, have long hair, etc you might not pass the eye test and then the other criteria doesn't even matter because you've already been crossed off the list. Of course this is totally dependent on the number of games to be assigned and the number of available officials. Supply and demand plays a major role here.

In my association I can think of just three officials who have facial hair. All were established and calling mostly varsity when I joined...I have worked with two of them this year. That tells me I "caught them" in the pecking order of assignments.

Is it because I got real good very quickly? As much as I would like to think so...probably not the reason.

Are their work schedules and or blocks limiting their assignments? Maybe...it can happen.

Is the assignor holding facial hair against them? Don't know, but it is curious.

As for jewelry, I do not wear my wedding ring. I mentioned it in a conversation with my wife right after I started officiating. She smiled and said "Pull the ego back. Do you really think someone from the stands or a young girl is going to try to pick you up while you are calling a game?"

During my single days I did have some luck in that department, and I was in my 40's. :D

Don't call it luck.

Smile and know you're the best looking guy on the court. :p

Fool Me Twice ... I'm An Idiot ...
 

Fool me once ...

https://forum.officiating.com/basket...tml#post524238

Fool me twice ...

https://forum.officiating.com/basket...tml#post524302

Never was a third time.

I've always worn my wedding ring and nobody has ever said a thing about it to me. Shrug.

No one has ever said anything to me, it's a personal decision for me to take it off. Not everything is about somebody else saying something to you, sometimes it's just your own choice based on what you like or don't like.

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Absolutely and you're also not telling others to take them off. I have no problem with you choosing not to wear one. My comment was directed towards those that are saying to take them off.

For those of you who officiate Men's College Basketball or aspire to, the following is from the 2015-16 Officiating Manual:

Page 32, Article 5. Emblems and Jackets
A. Wrist watches, rings, chains, necklaces, and other jewelry shall not be worn.

Short story: The observer in my area was very keen on an official's uniform appearance. Last season during a post-game evaluation with the crew, the observer asked why I didn't wear my wedding ring during the game (because he knew I was married) and I simply replied, "It's not allowed to wear while we officiate on the court."

My assignor told me one of the reasons I advanced to the conference tournament was that I complied with the uniform regulations of not wearing my wedding ring.

Question:
When advancement to the next level is so competitive with other officials, why do something voluntarily that is against regulations that could hinder your advancement?

I do not think wedding rings are exactly included in that area. For one I know many supervisors that like people that are married and I do not think they want you to take it off because it is technically jewelry. I know D1 officials that were their ring and it does not hurt them. I think that section is about some random ring that someone might wear.

Peace

I'm watching the USC / UCLA game and one of the officials didn't get the memo that wedding rings weren't allowed.

And of course I thought of this thread.

The big take-away here is getting to whatever the next level is for you. At some point what separates one official from the next is very minor. Court appearance and grooming standards may very well be the difference. Find out what is acceptable in your area. Two officials I work with on a regular basis are advancing in women’s college basketball. To include an invite to Patty’s camp this coming year. Both of them are extremely fit, have zero facial hair, and yes take off wedding rings. Even though it wouldn't be a concern in any of our HS games they do it because that’s what they do in college (muscle memory). IHSA has other ideas here in Illinois. If fitness and physical appearance mattered state finals official wouldn't look like that. But I'm not telling anyone who officiates in IL anything they don't already know. Even something as like how tall you are can matter. Both of them are under 6ft, so there is hope for us all.

P.S. One is African-American and one is Caucasian

Are those state finals officials in position and do they make the correct calls?

Unless you are an assignor, I don't think you can identify what the criteria is for moving up the ranks. It's usually the people who aren't moving up as fast as they think they deserve that provide guesses as to what it takes to get there - and usually there are a lot of sour grapes in their guesses. I don't pretend to know why certain people move up and others don't. Around here, female officials move up exponentially faster than men. Do I know why or where that's coming from? No. Do they deserve to go to State 4 years after they started officiating over a guy who has been reffing for 15 years and is just as good? That's not up to me. I used to get upset about these things, but I don't anymore. These things are being decided based on factors I was not provided and no one asked my opinion. If I had stayed in Oregon, I would have likely gone to the State Tourney by now. I will never go to the State Tourney in Texas. That's life. All you can do is work hard, go to camps, be seen by as many influential people as possible, listen, get better, and hope you've impressed the right people.

Not everyone looks at a play or situation the same. But all things being all things; the answer IMO is NO more often than it should be.

My grapes aren't sour.

I never said I was an authority on anything. I merley offered the opinion that all things being equal little things matter. Take that for what you will. As for a female with 4 years of experience making it to a state final? If she and the 15 year guy are equally proficient, why not? Basketball is a diverse sport and the officiating should reflect that. If she isn't ready, or not equally qualified then that's a different conversation all together. Their will always be those who feel slighted by the system no matter what your profession. My comments were not geared toward them.

I think these are the things one needs to ask at the HS level. Is it fitness that keeps people from being in the correct position or is it a lack of training or ability?

I've gone to games this year where the officials look like they've fallen out of an officiating catalog and could go run a marathon. And I've said to people I'm with -- I can't wait to see this guy work -- he *looks* like an official! And within 30 seconds, I go "Oh, boy" as I watch the person ball-watch, back-pedal, and drop anchor once he gets to his "spot" in the front court. And as the T, that's sometimes in the backcourt.

But even I'm guilty (for a couple of minutes) of judging a book by its cover. But that doesn't last long for me.

I agree with all of that. Which is why in my original statement I said "At some point what separates one official from the next is very minor". I'm not referring to a guy who looks great on paper, and $hit on the court. I have worked with many who talk a great game, and are immediately exposed once the ball is tossed.

How do you get exposed immediately once the ball is tossed? Minus a bad toss I'm sure most have done once in their career.

I can tell if someone can referee a couple of times up the court. Then from there you will prove my feeling by your actions after that. Officials that a properly engaged in the game it is obvious from the start. Things like looking off ball, moving appropriately when the ball is moving (while not always watching the ball), observing the competitive match-ups in their primary.

Usually there is a process to just get a call right. You might get a call right and I might not believe you knew why you got it right and just guessed right.

Peace

Exactly right. Sometimes a blind squirrel finds a nut.

For me, I look at movement in the L position. If a person drops anchor there, I know he's not engaged. This is true as well for T/C, but for me it's easier to pick up with a lead.

You have to be joking? I can't believe you took my statement that literal?

Partially. Maybe you had some insight I didn't.

If you ever watch officials with an NBA ref, they'll say the same, as will most college supervisors. They can tell within the first few trips up and down the court whether that official may have something special. The impression left after those first few up-and-downs plus a few whistles will determine whether or not they want to pay more attention to an official.

Just received a reminder from our association of the Officals' Performance Standards, which are used for postseason assignments. Regarding appearance:

10. Appearance, Fitness, Conditioning
• The required NFHS attire/uniform is being worn and all officials are wearing the same style of shirt.

• The uniform fits well and is clean and pressed.

• Shoes are primarily black and polished.

• No visible jewelry is being worn (other than a wedding band/medic alert).

• Weight is appropriate for his/her height.

• Projects strength and an athletic appearance.

• Demonstrates the physical ability to move into proper position on the court.

• Moves at the appropriate pace for any given situation.

• Mentally and physically keeps up with play during the entire contest.



Here's the full document if you're interested.
https://ighsau.arbitersports.com/Gro...0Standards.pdf

Another thing that is not discussed often, but really advancing is also doing all those things and proving you can handle the bigger stages. If you cannot handle a big rivalry game or a game that has high profile coaches and players, people are not going to just give you a State Final. You have to at least in Illinois probably work for a lot of different people and prove yourself in tournaments, big conference games before that becomes the norm in your schedule. It took me a long time go get the so-called better games until I worked with a lot of different people and showed I could handle those situations. Yes getting calls right matter, but you also have to prove yourself to coaches when they yell at you and everything is not solved with a T. You have to be able to communicate or know when to stop communicating with coaches. It is often the things you do that have nothing to do with calls that can help and certainly hurt you. We have many official that can get a block/charge call right but when questioned about it, have no idea how to talk to a coach and have not earned the respect of the coach to say anything.

This is the same reason you see the same guys on TV all the time, because the coaches trust them and do not get calls about those official's calls often. But if they put a new guy in that spot, they might just start complaining about those calls more often. Since the IHSA was referenced, that is the process that people want to see you prove here. You might have a good schedule for one assignor, but do you have a good schedule with all the other assignors? Are you working the big games in other conferences? Are you working the better tournaments in the area? Or are you working the start up tournaments (for the officials) as your Christmas schedule? And most of all, why is an assignor going to use you over a guy that the coaches trust and do not have complaints about? Are you a good partner? Does an official that has been very experienced have to babysit you during a game?

It is so many things I hardly have time to cover them all, but it is not always about a call. Even if you are big, you might have to do some other things to prove that will not be a constant problem.

Peace

Interestingly enough, I see coaches at their best behavior at state finals. They're on TV and they know that every move they make is going to be seen and scrutinized. It's harder many times to work those coaches in the 3rd or 4th rounds.

When we worked our state game 2 years ago, neither coach said a word to us the entire game...and it was a 1-2 possession game the entire way through.

Quite often the biggest impediments to moving up have nothing to do with basketball or physique. A good friend - and an amazing official - lives in a small town in Alaska. Nearest airport is about a 3 hour drive away, and then flying to any major college towns is another 5 plus hours. He's not going to get many D-1 contracts regardless of how good he is...another good friend has a job that requires him to be on call (transporting federal prisoners) and available on short notice - again, going to impact whether D-1 commissioners want to hire him.

In Washington, some atrocious coach behavior (I heard two coaches confronted each other at the division line, though it was third-hand) drove an extreme emphasis on coach behavior and coaches' box enforcement this year.

Great points here. Everyone has the ability to call a great game as you move up the rankings. I've seen some great JV/V officials who just start folding under the pressure when you blow your whistle and then wonder if any sound came out. :D