Can an NCAA Basketball Official Work Both Sexes?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by ilyazhito

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.

The games are not only different, they are played differently. They are executed differently. The philosophies are different. A high school girls basketball game is very different than high school boys game and why even at that level in my state many people (assignors, coaches, administrators) do not want officials that work both often. And just so you know you are not likely to ever be assigned to both at the college level. Heck, you going to a Men's camp and if you say you work Women's basketball, that might eliminate you from consideration at that camp for assignments.

Again this is one of these things that is not our rule on this site, it is one that has been well established before many of us started or the way it was in our careers. High school ball may not have that same standard based on where you are at, but I work entirely a boys basketball schedule in two states and often the better officials work those games consistently. Just the way it is and I doubt that is going to change unless the number of officials just fall off, which they have not in my state. But then again you cannot make officials take games they wish not to work on many levels without consequences.

Peace