Mens Rec - First Time
 

First year official, did 40 games, from 4th grade thru JV. Much more confident now than when I started. Looking back, I definitely let some Freshman and JV coaches complain too much, missed some T's. Those were my first 8 games. Still haven't issued a T.

I accepted two last minute games today, at a Boys/Girls Club, not knowing the level. Just found out it's mens rec, ages 40+. I know on this forum several have said mens rec is a major pain. I don't want to be pessimistic, but I feel my first T may come today. . .any tips?

Only if you need to, don't go into the game feeling like you are going to have to tee someone up. If you look for it, you will easily be able to issue it. Men's leagues can be a pain, but have a lighter attitude yourself and talk to the guys if a guy crosses the verbal line bang him.

If you do issue one stay calm, let your partner know what is going on and calmly report it to the table and let your partner administer the free throws.

I feel with my men's league games I go in with a lighter attitude than I do my high school stuff and I find myself not being as stressed out as I used to doing men's and have been doing the same league for 4 years now.


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Welcome to the world of Men's Wreck. :rolleyes:

Yikes, would have turned in assignment

I don't like the idea of turning in games unless you absolutely have to.

For example, I changed jobs right before last season started, and the new job could accommodate my ref schedule for all but two games (which were both around 2 months away). So I had to decide between not doing those games or creating a problem at my job (aka "what I do to make a living"). Easy decision, but I hated doing it.

And assignors, at least those around here, absolutely hate when you turn in games. I actually have one assignor who will not assign you to future games no matter what excuse you give him for turning in a game. And it just so happens he assigned me one of the two games I turned in. Oh well. :)

Really? That's outrageous....and I can't imagine how he/she could actually get away with strictly in practice. Stuff happens, and your excuse is absolutely valid.

I wonder who that is (no, not asking you to say here). I do some games on the boys and girls suburban side, and have had to turn back games this year to both. Didn't get blackballed...yet!

Played in a similar league when younger. I felt pity for the officials then. I eventually quit the league when the stupidity trumped the "fun" we were having.

Some adults are out there to have fun and exercise. But in some leagues, there are players that think they missed their calling to the NBA, and claim they got fouled on every shot they miss, and later complain when you call a foul on them, etc.

I tend to talk to the adult players more and say "nice shot" or complement them on playing good defense when they don't swat at every shot attempt thinking they can block them all without committing a foul. Having said that, some men's league players are certainly not adults.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gWxHFMog9w

3:06 is my favorite part of the video.

I think all Rec players have been almost all those at one point or another. I stopped being try to dunk guy years ago. Bad for my image. Very funny video. Made me laugh bc I just started playing some pickup a couple times a week in the early morning. Thanks for the laugh

Unless you are taking a high profile assignment above your experience level first-year officials should not be turning down games. Your goal is to see plays and you see really weird plays in men's rec and middle school and girls ball.

Thanks for posting Rich. Great stuff for anyone who's done a Men's Wreck League!

"Foul"

"Dude, you're 6'6", get under the basket!"

The only advice that I will give is get the details of any potential game BEFORE deciding to accept it. I would want to know the date, time, location, level of play, game fee, travel fee (if any), and my partner (2-man) or partners (3-man).

If the assignor won't provide all of that info, then he can find someone else.

I agree 100% with this. But since this is my first year, I am pretty much accepting everything that comes my way, to get more experience, and to show the assignors that I am willing to hep them out.

But you are right, a lot of those details were a surprise to me when I got to the gym. Turns out it wasn't 40+, it was 17-20. Fee was half of what I was expecting, and the biggest surprise was that it was NCAA rules! I had only done HS, and rec with local rules. My partner was also surprised at the NCAA rules. When I accepted the game, I asked the assignor to send me a link to the local rules. He said that I would find out at the game. If I had known it was NCAA, I could have looked up the differences between NFHS and NCAA ahead of time. (that chart in the NFHS book)

Anyway, the games were OK, very athletic kids, kind of like AAU quality, a lot of trash talking, but very little defense!! LOL
And no T's by me (2 by partner).

That's the unfortunate part of where I officiate... Assignors have plenty of options.

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Never accept any game without knowing what your fee is. It shouldn't be a mystery. This is a business.

I wonder -- how was the assignment communicated? Was it with Arbiter or another tool that showed a game fee?

You should know particulars before you accept a game. I know I'm piling on.

You lucked out then, at least in terms of what you could've been dealing with. This age group is not the source of the men's league horror stories you've heard so often.

You can pile on, I'm still learning! My first 40 games were all Arbiter, with fees shown for most. These were the first games I ever did just by text.

What were you paid? For games like this, I'd expect no more than $25 each around here.

Good guess! $25 it was. I had been getting $58 for Freshman and JV, and $50 for 5th thru 8th grade travel, so I just assumed......Oh well!

Rec ball pays considerably less than organized school ball. Some of us don't work much at all, partially for that reason.

I love it....

My favorite is "Mr. Pants Guy". It's 110 out here? Why is he always wearing pants?

Don't worry about it too much... I'd say that 90-95% of things are the same as High school... I can only think of four things that would be different that people would probably know off the top of their heads:
1) restricted arc under the basket (which you probably didn't have on the court anyway)
2) three-point line being farther out (which probably wasn't marked that way anyway)
3) 30-second shot clock (which you probably didn't have)
4) game clock stops after a made basket under 1:00 in the second half (which may not matter if it's a running-time game, as most rec games are).

Had a similar situation a couple years back when I agreed to work a semi-pro football game... found out just after we arrived at the field that they were "using 100% unmodified NFL rules". As officials we took that to mean "ok, we need two feet inbounds for a catch, and the clock doesn't stop on a first down inbounds, but other than that, just call the game like you would anywhere else". Nobody noticed the difference.

All four of your assumptions were correct!!