Officiating in the ABA, update

[ilyazhito]

There was a thread back in 2010 about officiating in the ABA, and the biggest complaint about the ABA was the inconsistent pay (officials had to ensure that they were paid before starting their games). The league was also called "glorified rec ball", which I would say is accurate from watching video footage of more recent (2017-18) ABA games.

The user tref also said back in 2010 that the ABA was being cleaned up. Has that been the case? There was a combine for officials in San Diego in 2011, but does the league still recruit officials this way? I would be surprised that one of the cons of the ABA is an uneven quality of officials, if officials were hired from a combine, and presumably evaluated for competence before being hired, but maybe the combines no longer take place.

Do any of you know Tom Chichester, the ABA Vice President and Director of League Officials? Does he have a good track record and reputation as an official and/or assigner? I'd like to know, because it could make the difference between eventually working in the ABA as an interesting and somewhat lucrative side gig, and forswearing any type of non-organized (scholastic, collegiate, affiliated professional (NBA/WNBA/G-League)) basketball.