Can an NCAA Basketball Official Work Both Sexes?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

Is it due to the style of play, or is it due more to expectations of how boys games should be called vs girls games, as JRutledge said? Or is there a different reason?
I'm interested to know, because I don't have a strong preference for either men's or women's basketball yet.

Again who works women's or men's is not always your personal choice. Just like Raymond pointed out, there are people that have done both, but that is not the norm or their choice. Someone has to hire you first of all and if you are hired with one side, the other side will likely not give you a chance in most areas. I started out as a Women's college official and had to give that up when moving to the Men's side. Many small school supervisors are former or current D1 officials and they tend to not allow people to work a gender if they are working the other side, which means they have to hire you.

Also, the biggest hurdle I see in calling women's ball compared to men's ball is the simple fact that above the rim is very prominent on the men's side and it is hardly there on the women's side. The athleticism is different and the speed of the game can be very different. I know many men's officials that still do high school stop doing girl's basketball alone for that reason. The expectations are different even though people here or in our community often do not want to admit that fact.

Peace