Large arena tips?
 

I'm working a varsity game today at Quicken Loans Arena. Never have I officiated in anything bigger than a HS gym with a capacity of maybe 1000 people...and even then only half full.

Any thing to look out for or be aware of?

I'm not expecting tons of fans--both teams are from out of state--but I figure there's gotta be something different with respect to the extra space...?

Your locker room will probably be the biggest difference.

Congratulations!

Apart from nerves I can't think of many bad things. I was blessed enough to officiate at Madison Square Garden in March, 2013. To deal with the jitters I told myself, "Same game, bigger gym."

Just have fun. One thing you'll notice immediately - and it's a good thing - is the court will be easy on your feet/legs. NBA courts are very forgiving. The only other thing I can think of is lighting. If they light QLA in the same manner as it's lit for a Cavaliers' game you really won't notice the crowd that much. All the lights are generally focused on the court.

Thanks Bob - should I be <b>that</b> official and take my camera with me? :rolleyes:

When I worked a HS state game on a D1 college floor a few years ago, the biggest thing I noticed were the lights. Bright, intense, focused on the court. Hard to miss them.

I have worked in VERY large HS arenas in the OKC area (if anyone has ever worked at Moore HS, you know what I mean), and I've done camp games on a single court setup in D1 arenas. Not quite the same situation as yours (congrats on a cool assignment, by the way!), but what I recall is how little I think about it once the game starts. The whistle echoes just a little bit. Other than that, I don't think you'll notice anything out of the ordinary.


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Congratulations on the assignment. Great arena.

Definitely the locker room. Nice to have a game clock in there so you know when to leave for warm ups. Better showers too. Just make sure you don't get lost getting to the floor. (my idea of humor)

Although bringing a phone on the court to take a "selfie" is frowned upon, ask a loved one to take plenty of pictures from the stands to prove to your relatives/friends you worked one of Lebron James NBA games. (have the floor logo in your picture without the kids, ha ha)

Have fun and enjoy!

When I was first starting out, I worked a game in the Roman Coliseum. The size wasn't a problem, but the lions were. :eek:

First and foremost try to enjoy the experience, not everyone gets to do these type of events.

Try to get your bearings during warmups, your visual cues are going to be different than a typical HS or small college gym.

Depending on the amount of attention on your event there can be a ton of people at the scorers table and all around the court.

There might even be a media table on the opposite side. Make sure you know which is which. You laugh but I've seen more than one guy report to the wrong table. The team benches may blend end with everyone else and guys get turned around.

With the amount of people at the table find out who your scorekeeper is early hopefully they are wearing the striped shirt to make them easy to find.

More than likely there is a large overhead scoreboard. Ignore it. Use the clocks on the baskets for your time and find the score and fouls on the ribbon boards in the arena.

If there are not a lot of people there it may not be that big of a deal and things will be comfortable. But if there are, you're going to feel nerves because you're out of your comfort zone. It's natural. No different than walking into a packed house for a varsity game for the first time. Just get your cues early and dont forget to referee.

I Wear My Sunglasses At Night (Corey Hart, 1984) ...
 

Agree. I had the fortune of working a game at the Hartford Civic Center (now the XL Center). It felt like I had to wear sunscreen.

Come On Baby Let's Do The Twist (Chubby Checker, 1960) ...
 

This is not an urban myth. My local board used to volunteer to work the Doc Hurley Classic (a Christmas charity scholarship tournament), at the Hartford Civic Center (now the XL Center). The first year we worked the tournament, one of our best, and most experienced, officials reported his first foul to the media table, across the court from the scorer's table. This probably happened about thirty years ago, and, to this day, the story makes its rounds at our annual end of the year banquet.

I was fortunate enough to work a couple of times at Target Center (Timberwolves/Lynx home court) in years past, with maybe 300ish people in the stands.

The biggest things that stuck out to me (in addition to the aforementioned lighting differences):
1) Court length: 95 foot court instead of the regular 85-foot HS courts that I usually work... after working 2 up-tempo games with 2 officials... Those extra steps made a big difference.

2) the lack of space on the end lines... you get about 4 feet to work with, which is as tight as some of the tightest HS courts but the majority of HS courts I work have significantly more space. Since I tend to work fairly deep as L, this took some getting used to.

3) Finding the scoreboard/game clock.

4) The noise... or, more correctly, the lack of noise. So few people in such a huge arena.... actually makes everything quieter. Not like the echo chamber high school gyms.

Plenty of good advice here.

Remember to enjoy it and have fun. It's an awesome experience, imo.

2-person crew, right? [emoji14]


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