Can an NCAA Basketball Official Work Both Sexes?

[IncorrectCall]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

JRut, is the application process to CBOA on the East Coast, or to whatever the women's equivalent is, just a formality? If I apply to both men's and women's conference staffs, go to both sets of camps, and somehow get hired by both staffs, I can't work both?

AFAIK, Tim Ebersol assigns both men's and women's basketball for the Capital Athletic Conference, so would he react negatively if I showed interest in doing both? Would the men's assigners look askance at me if they know that I went to women's camps, and vice versa?

You have to "pick" which side you are going to do by "picking" which camps you are going to go to. You don't go to both.

Also, if you "pick" men's side and can't cut it (after 3, 4, 5 years of camping), the stigma out there is that men try to make the switch because they think it will be "easier to move up". So, something to keep in mind.

[SC Official]

Originally Posted by IncorrectCall

You have to "pick" which side you are going to do by "picking" which camps you are going to go to. You don't go to both.

Also, if you "pick" men's side and can't cut it (after 3, 4, 5 years of camping), the stigma out there is that men try to make the switch because they think it will be "easier to move up". So, something to keep in mind.

I've heard this before, but I've also heard of women's assigners being grateful to have former men's officials try out for their staffs due to the perceived greater challenge of officiating the men's game. Not saying whether that's true or not, but I've heard both sides.

As for the stigma, it’s not necessarily false. Despite the fact that the average woman moves up much faster than the average man on the women’s side, most people would tell you that, all things being equal (which obviously they’re not), advancing on the women’s side is less competitive.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by SC Official

I've heard this before, but I've also heard of women's assigners being grateful to have former men's officials try out for their staffs due to the perceived greater challenge of officiating the men's game. Not saying whether that's true or not, but I've heard both sides.

I would believe that first part, because unfortunately there are more quality Men's officials working games than the other way around IMO. So what happens is most of the top officials usually try to go to the Men's side first and it is a default that they go to the Women's game if they cannot get through the tunnel.

Peace

[rockyroad]

Does the Big Sky conference still have people working both sides? I know they did for a while, but am out of the loop now.

[johnny d]

Originally Posted by rockyroad

Does the Big Sky conference still have people working both sides? I know they did for a while, but am out of the loop now.

I don't believe so, and if I am not mistaken that is one of the reasons why they changed assignors on the men's side not many seasons ago.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by johnny d

I don't believe so, and if I am not mistaken that is one of the reasons why they changed assignors on the men's side not many seasons ago.

And I know this is hard to believe for some, but women's coaches often do not want officials that work Men's games. We had a D3 assignor that I once worked for that would put people on conference games of both sides. He was fired and one of the reasons I understand that to be the case was because of him not caring who he put on a game regardless of gender. There was also JUCO league that I worked that the assignor would do the same sometimes, that did not go over well in that conference either.

Peace

[ilyazhito]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

And I know this is hard to believe for some, but women's coaches often do not want officials that work Men's games. We had a D3 assignor that I once worked for that would put people on conference games of both sides. He was fired and one of the reasons I understand that to be the case was because of him not caring who he put on a game regardless of gender. There was also JUCO league that I worked that the assignor would do the same sometimes, that did not go over well in that conference either.

Peace

That's some messed up version of affirmative action at work there :X. If women's coaches don't want men's officials on their games, then good female officials will be less able to work men's basketball, and the discouraging status quo of officials being assigned by gender will continue :sad. This will suck for officials who are on the fence/ have no preference as well. Maybe attitudes will change in a few years, but how would one choose, while a choice still needs to be made?

[ilyazhito]

Originally Posted by JRutledge

And I know this is hard to believe for some, but women's coaches often do not want officials that work Men's games. We had a D3 assignor that I once worked for that would put people on conference games of both sides. He was fired and one of the reasons I understand that to be the case was because of him not caring who he put on a game regardless of gender. There was also JUCO league that I worked that the assignor would do the same sometimes, that did not go over well in that conference either.

Peace

Why do women's coaches not want officials who work men's games? Are they afraid that their players would be hurt if the officials use the men's standards to officiate women's games (advantage/disadvantage vs automatic calls)? IMO, if an official can keep the differences between high school and college straight, he can keep the NCAAW/NCAAM differences straight. Besides, some states have different rules for boys and girls (NY has girls play by (modified) NCAAW rules, whereas boys play NFHS, and some of the shot clock states (MD,CA,MA,WA) don't have a 10-second count for girls), so if an official came from such a state and had to remember the differences between boys and girls rules and mechanics, what is to say that he can't do the same for men's and women's games at the college level?

I'm not denying that the games are different with respect to rules and mechanics. However, there are many similarities as well (both now use a 30-second shot clock, both discourage rotations late in the shot clock, and there is not an action which is a foul in women's basketball that is legal in men's, or the reverse, different terminology notwithstanding).

For the record, I now have a slight preference for men's basketball, after watching videos of both men's and women's officials in action, and seeing that the men's officials appear to have cleaner mechanics and higher playcalling percentages. But I would not object if I was assigned to work both flavors of college basketball.