Can an NCAA Basketball Official Work Both Sexes?
In high school, there is no such thing as a "boys official" or a "girls official", unless your state has separate boards for boys and girls basketball (such as NY State: Boys boards are IAABO, Girls are through NYSGBOA).
In college, most officials are assigned to either the Men's Basketball staff or the Women's Basketball staff for each conference. However, is it possible for a college basketball official to work both sexes? If so, how would I go about doing that? I know that men's and women's basketball are different games, and have different rules and mechanics. If any "double duty" officials exist, they would have to switch rules and mechanics for each game, but if it can be done between college and high school, then I believe that there is no reason why an official can't switch between men's and women's college games. For the record, I am a high school basketball official with three years of experience, including one year of sub-varsity (Freshman/JV) and two years of middle school basketball under my belt. I live in MD and call basketball for Board 12 (MoCo public and private MS, MoCo Rec and I-270 League) and MBOA (DCIAA and WCAC Freshman/JV, Alexandria Rec). I have also worked intramural basketball for UMD RecWell, to practice my 3-man mechanics. My short-term goal is to work varsity games for MBOA next season, my medium-term goal is to become a college official at the junior college or DIII level, and my long-term goal is to become an NBA/FIBA official, if possible. I believe that working both sexes would make me a better official, because men and women have different styles of play and different tendencies. AFAIK, many NBA officials go through both the WNBA and the G League before they are hired to the full-time staff, so high-level women's basketball experience would be beneficial. This is because the NBA uses concepts from both men's and women's basketball (NCAAW has the Lower Defensive Box, which also appears in the NBA). However, many camps are either for men's officials or for women's officials. What would I need to do to reach a high level of officiating competency for both sexes? Does CBOA (College Basketball Officials Association) assign both men's and women's officials, or would I need to join a separate organization to work women's college ball? I know that it is a bit early in my career for me to ask questions like this, but I want this thread to be out here for the benefit of other officials who are faced with making a decision between working men's or women's college basketball (or both, hopefully). Thank you! |
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).
And just for the record, there are multiple states where officials are free to work only girls games or only boys games for high school. Multiple posters on here can attest to that. |
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You could do that in Oregon, but you wouldn't get any post-season assignments. One of the requirements for state playoff eligibility is that you worked at least 3 games of each gender. The reason for that is that the tournaments are dual-gender...the same officials work the games for both the boys and the girls from the quarters to the finals and they don't want a person's first boys/girls game of the year to be one of those. |
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Sports officials registered by the OhioHSAA and MichiganHSAA are independent contractors and are free to accept and decline regular season assignments as one sees fit. An official can choose to officiate only boys' or only girls' or both during the regular season. Officials may choose to be considered for only the boys' tournament or only the girls' tournament or both tournaments as long as they meet the number of games officiated requirement for which ever tournament(s) for which they wish to be considered. MTD, Sr. |
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There is such a thing and it is bad when a girl's official works boy's games. The coaches will point that out much of the time. I worked one girls game this past year as a favor of a very good friend. I would not be called a girl's official by any means. Peace |
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. |
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? |
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I like to think I'm good at calling girls games despite the fact that I prefer boys (South Carolina officials work G/B doubleheaders 99% of the time). However, I refuse to call a foul every time a clumsy high school girl falls to the ground like some officials, coaches, and players expect me to. I call advantage/disadvantage in girls and boys games and not every snippet of contact. |
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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. |
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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. Quote:
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 |
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I know some are going to disagree. Even the last possession there are many officials that wanted a foul (that work girl's games) and the ones that work either higher level college or men's games, tend to think there was no foul by the Notre Dame player. The expectations are just different. Peace |
I tend to struggle more with girls coaches -- mainly because I call plays the same in boys and girls games. And as JRut said, a lot of the girls coaches think contact = foul.
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But I'm with you. I call advantage/disadvantage in girls and boys. I don't officiate the presence of contact or lack thereof except when it comes to the automatics. |
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Peace |
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