Can an NCAA Basketball Official Work Both Sexes?

[Raymond]

Up through this season, a particular D2 conference in the mid-Atlantic was notable for officials getting assigned to games on the wrong side. Hopefully there will be separate supervisors hired so that problem will go away.

In practice, you need to pick a side and pursue that path. You can't compare it to the NBA/WNBA/G-League path because they all utilize the same rules, court coverage, and mechanics.

[ilyazhito]

SC Official said: "Not a chance. Choose which path you want to go and be committed. If you decide to switch, I’ve always heard that it’s easier to go from men’s to women’s than vice-versa (just what I’ve heard, I can’t attest to that)."

Is it not possible to work both because the games are on the same day? If that is the case, I would understand. What are the advantages of officiating men's basketball over women's basketball? What are the advantages of officiating women's basketball over men's basketball? I am male, so I don't believe that I would be fast-tracked within women's basketball as would a female official with a similar background. Is there a particular reason why the people you heard told you that it is easier to go from men's basketball to women's?

JRutledge said: "For one I think working both have different standards and if you are good at one, you are not likely good at another."

What are the "different standards" that you are referring to? Is it more mechanics, or do officials tend to call fouls/violations different in M basketball vs F basketball?

To any current college officials on the Forum, which side did you choose, and why did you make that choice? On a different note, who is the women's equivalent of CBOA on the East Coast, if anyone?

[SC Official]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Is it not possible to work both because the games are on the same day? If that is the case, I would understand.

Has nothing to do with games being on the same day. Has (almost) everything to do with the fact that once you get to the college level, assigners (and coaches) don't want you mixing. It doesn't matter how competent you are at keeping rules, mechanics, and philosophical differences straight.

Whether you think it's fair or not is a different discussion. But you're not going to be a pioneer, so you might as well choose a side and be completely devoted to it.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

JRutledge said: "For one I think working both have different standards and if you are good at one, you are not likely good at another."

What are the "different standards" that you are referring to? Is it more mechanics, or do officials tend to call fouls/violations different in M basketball vs F basketball?

Anytime a girl falls there is a reaction as if they could not have fallen for no other reason but something illegal done to them. It hilarious the times I have had a girl's coach go nuts on a play where a boy's coach would never even raise their voice. It really appears that there is still this attitude that girls are not athletic, so when they do things or things happen to them it is like "We have to protect them" mentality, where a boy is told to "Get up and stop complaining." And I am talking about from a coach or fan perspective, not from the official's perspective. And when you do not call every little touch a foul, then you are somehow letting too much go or not calling the game right.

I remember I had a coach that now coaches boys basketball, go nuts on a play where his shooter only was touched by the jerseys rubbing together. The shooter did not fall, have their motion altered by any contact, let alone illegal contact and he acted like his girl got murdered. He has since moved to the boy's side as a coach and never complains about that kind of contact.

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

To any current college officials on the Forum, which side did you choose, and why did you make that choice? On a different note, who is the women's equivalent of CBOA on the East Coast, if anyone?

I worked women's college first because I was asked to work college. I did not like it as I never imagined when I started officiating doing girls or women's basketball. So when I finally got hired on the Men's side, that is where I wanted to be or saw myself being. One of the main reasons I did not like women's basketball were the officials. I would work with guys that did not have a clue or the courage to call a simple foul.

I will give another example. I worked a Division 3 scrimmage once with an official in the early 2000s. It happened to be 2 man at the time with a long time official, but a guy newer to college basketball at the time. In the first half of this scrimmage which was only 18-minute clocks between two teams, we had 6 fouls. I called all 6 fouls and probably 4 right in front of my partner because he would not call a girl getting completely knocked down. Then this official had the nerve at halftime to say to me, "It looks like we are calling a different game." I was like, I am done working women's games if this is the mentality of the people I am working with. And I believe a couple of years later I stopped working women's college altogether after getting hired in a Men's conference. The guy was so incompetent that he guess thought that calling less was better and could not find a single foul in a 2 man game. I might not call much in a 3 person game, but I do not think I have ever not called a single foul in a half in a 2 man game and with a shot clock.

Peace