Can an NCAA Basketball Official Work Both Sexes?

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by SC Official

Not in response to anyone, but I know multiple women's college or former women's college officials that I'd much rather work high level boys HS games with than some of the men's/former men's officials I see. The idea I hear sometimes that "you can't go between genders because the games are too different" is ludicrous.

Well if you do work doubleheaders and you are forced to work both genders, then that is a different situation than officials like our area that are not forced and often not asked to do both genders. We have boys assignors that will not use primarily girls officials for varsity boys games. And we have enough officials in basketball, this is not even an issue. And if you work any other level, you will not get officials out to work both either. Games of both genders are rarely held on the same night.

I think working both is hard and as I said before it is not about it being hard, but understanding the cultures of both. I have said before that the culture of girls basketball is much different than working boys basketball. And I am sure that contrast is much different if you are not seeing the same game on the same night. It may work better in areas like yours, but in mine, this is often a disaster. Because many boys officials are used to a faster, higher and stronger game. The coaches do not want you calling any little contact that takes place that seems very acceptable in girls games. And girls officials are usually older, slower and not as experienced. Just heard of a story of a kid in college being hired by a big-time assignor in college and he barely stopped playing HS ball himself. But someone thinks that is a good idea to work college, which will help him work a HS schedule for girls he would never see that soon on the boys side. Not saying he could not do it, but there are more of those stories in women's college than I ever hear on the Men's or boys side of basketball (around here).

Originally Posted by SC Official

We work doubleheaders in South Carolina, and the best officials (including the college officials) that I work with are equally adept at both genders. The only ones that are competent at girls but overmatched in boys are the old farts that can't run and should have retired 10 years ago.

I might work one basketball game a year on the girls side. I had two last year only because I worked in another state too for the first time last year. It was like working in a foreign country when I did a girls game. Girls coaches complained about the silliest stuff IMO. One team/coach thought there was so much trash talking that it was bothersome to them, where that interaction would have been not even a notice in many boys games I have worked in the past. And every time a girl would dribble through three people and lose the ball, you would have thought we committed highway robbery by not calling a foul when no defender did anything wrong. And all of that IMO is because they see officials that overreact to things that if you called to that extend

Originally Posted by SC Official

Quite frankly, I appreciate when I work with crews that will enforce FOM and the automatics and not ignore them because "it didn't affect anything." And the women's officials are better at that.

Well when I work with Men's college officials at the HS level, this is hardly ever a problem. They are used to and have been calling the game that way for years. It is the mostly HS officials that sometimes struggle with this, but this has been done for so long at the HS level, it is easy to call the game now IMO.

Peace