Women Refs in the NBA
 

Very good story on espn.com about a woman ref who started out working youth league games, then over-came the barriers of sexism, male hubris, and all to become a top level NBA ref. She even said that after her games, there's always moms and young daughters who are lined up and giving her "high fives" as congratulations for making it that far and being a model of what a girl can achieve despite stringent barriers. I thought this story was great motivation for pulling more young folks into reffing games bcz according to NASO, the average age of basketball officials at the highschool level is 56 years old!

Good Official ...
 

Whether it was me as a high school basketball player, or me as a middle school basketball coach, or me as a high school basketball official, as long as someone was good official, it never mattered to me what gender they were, or thought they were; what color they were; where they worshiped, or didn't worship; where they, or their parents, or their grandparents, came from; or who they shared their bed with.

One exception, my younger daughter played basketball from middle school through high school (even played a little in medical school) at a very high level, including helping her AAU team win an international tournament in Spain, and never had a female official work any of her games. I wish that she had some female officials as role models back then.

Wow, could you provide a link? I'd be glad to read that story. I'm on board with any female official getting promoted to higher levels as long as they are good at what they do.

Here you go: https://www.espn.com/espnw/story/_/i...espn:nba:index

All I got to say is, all the recent female hires for the NBA were in the G-League for 3 years, according to their bios on NBRA. Recent male hires in the past 3 years? 3 years, 5 years, 7 years, hell one guy at 12 years.

I'm not saying they don't belong there, but it's clear that they're looking for a certain type (which is fine). And as a minority who has taken full advantage of affirmative action, I'm cool with it. But let's not paint this as if it's not "social work" according to McCutchen. Adam Silver said the other year that he wanted more female refs, and they got them. End of story.

The NBA recently changed its mindset about how long they will develop officials in the G League before they give up on them as being NBA prospects. If they are not ready in 3-5 years they're not going to make it anymore.

The person who was in the G-League for 12 years is a personal friend of mine. At one time he was told his chance had passed. I was very surprised when he got hired full time after spending so much time in the G league and WNBA. His story is not going to happen anymore. Just like you're not going to see people like me anymore who didn't start officiating until 37 and got hired into D1 basketball at 45.

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I stand corrected. Thanks for the info.

I guess the best/most efficient route to becoming an NBA ref is to just "decide and commit" early in your reffing career and bypass multiple years of high-school and college reffing. Their process is so standardized that it can be done by joining up with G league and slogging through their clinics and games, instead of doing HS and or NCAA reffing as apparently those are not "stepping stones" towards an NBA reffing job?

Moved Up The Chart With A Bullet ...
 

I'm not sure, but I believe that we have a Forum member whose two children did pretty much what Kansas Ref described, going professional (G League, WNBA) at a very young age.

For the record, it has been some years that it was required you officiate a lot of anything else but in their system. The NBA is not looking for experienced high school officials to work games and then they hire you through their system. They feel they can train you in the ways of their system and if you have the talent you will advance. It has been that way for some time now. It is becoming more and more like that at the college level as well. Some guys are getting to D1 with less than 5 years under their belt and one of the reasons is they will acclimate you to the system or ways of doing things and put you in situations to succeed.

Also, it is not like high school basketball is helping foster higher-level officials either. Some of the best officials I know are younger and they cannot even sniff varsity or tournaments because they are not around for a decade or more. Why would I work a game for $65 when I can get games for $185 to $200 for some small college basketball games?

Peace

Never Looked Back ...
 

Back thirty-five years ago, I had some colleagues who worked both high school and college who tried to recruit me into their world of DII or DIII basketball. For many reasons I decided not to go that route, mainly due to travel.

It may be different today, but those Connecticut guys who worked small college games back then were assigned all over the Northeast, from Maine to Eastern Pennsylvania.

I couldn't imagine me traveling such distances in Northeast winter weather.

I had family with three kids, and a day job as a middle school teacher and coach, so I decided to stay here in my little corner of Connecticut (longest one way drive is fifty minutes, average one way drive time is about twenty minutes) working little high school games.

I never looked back.

Funny you mention this...
 

This was my EXACT mentality until this past year, when I decided not to officiate due to the pandemic. And now, after skipping what would have been season #21 of HS and #8 of small college, I'm thinking less about the money and more about time with my 2-year-old son. If someone needs the income, different story. But for someone like me, who was working a 50/50 college/HS split of about 35-40 games a year, I can drop my college schedule and the additional commitment that comes with it (camps, film study, on-site 90 minutes early, 2-hours in the car each way, etc)...and it'll cost me maybe $2k at most.

Everyone has their priorities.

They worked HS and lower level college games with me. So did their cousin who is now an NBA official.

You don't just "join up" to the G-League. The NBA has scouts who attend HS and college games, camps, and higher level AAU type tournaments to see officials who are on the radar. The NBA also has all sorts of Grassroots camps to identify talent.

The NBA does prefer getting their hands on officials before they been indoctrinated by the local vets with bad habits. If you are athletic and can run very well, they figure they can teach you how to officiate.

My HS commissioner and his top trainer are NBA officials. They really don't want the longtime, grizzled vets imparting too much advice on the up-and-coming officials who have potential to break into the NBA or D1 basketball.

Air Bud ...
 

I didn't mean to imply that they started in the G-League, or the WNBA, but they seemed to go professional at a very young age. I only became an online friend of their Dad a few years ago and maybe I got the wrong impression regarding their age and amateur experience. Dad's seems to be a nice guy and is a good online friend, but please don't tell him that I said that. By the way, he's not the third best official in the family, it's his lovely wife, or the dog, and you can tell him that I said that, he's heard it from me before.

This.

Because often the "advice" you get from high school officials who have been "doing this for 30 years" is quite frankly, garbage.

I have worked all the State Finals I can work at the high school level, so working high school is fun and has appeal, but not the end all be all. I want to do some other things in my career. Certainly not about the money, but I would rather work a college game over an hour away and make 3 times as much than working a high school with less accountability of the participants and more accountability for me and my partners. I just like the challenge and so do others. And when you are in your 20s with not the same family dynamic in your life, those checks matter.

Peace

I rather spend one night driving a couple hours for $190 then spending three nights driving 30 to 45 minutes for $65 a pop. A night working high school ball, no matter how close to home, is still a night away from loved ones.

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Exactly. Justifies staying away from home. And some of those games are much more than $200 as well.

Peace

Show Me the Money ...
 

Those checks also matter when one has a family. A know a lot of guys that use their basketball fees for golf, poker nights, fishing/hunting vacations, sports season/regular tickets, or casinos. One colleague has a separate bank account just for his basketball money, it's his money, not his family's money.

While I had many reasons to officiate, for the first thirty years (teachers were not always appropriately well paid in Connecticut) one main reason was to support my family, especially the kid's college fund. It was just about the only reason I worked recreation/travel basketball for all those many years.

You're correct. I missed reading my three kids bedtime stories, and left the busy and hectic bath/bed routine solely to my wife four, or five, weeknights a week from early December through early March for my kid's entire childhood.

But it was actually the Saturdays and Sundays that kept me away from small college basketball. I couldn't imagine spending an entire weekend day away from the family, and missing my kids participate in basketball, gymnastics, indoor track, drama, or dance, especially after being away most weeknights.

Wow. I save my officiating money in a separate bank account (makes it easier for bookkeeping). But then the vast majority of it gets spent on our family vacation. I justify the nights away from my family by taking them on a trip for a week every summer. :)

When I first started officiating my High School association only paid us at the end of the season. So every March I would take that money and first pay off all my credit cards.

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Money (Pink Floyd, 1973) ...
 

Approximately half of the school systems (high schools and middle schools), here in my little corner of Connecticut use ArbiterPay, and I elect to get the money in the form of a direct deposit into my checking account rather than as a check, or a debit card. I let the money accumulate in ArbiterPay all season long, occasionally checking to insure that I was paid, and only transfer the sum total into my checking account at the end of the season, like a giant balloon payment. Part of the money usually goes to my tax accounting firm, Dewey, Cheatem and Howe. Some of the rest usually pre-pays (gets me a discount) my lawn maintenance company (fertilizer, insecticide, herbicide, lime) for the upcoming season.

I wasn't a big fan at first, worried about ArbiterPay having my bank account information and Social Security Number, but I'm now a fan, although I still like opening up my mailbox and occasionally finding a nice surprise check from non-ArbiterPay school systems.

You are still a fan after the all the security breaches they've had? After the last one, I had to change my bank account number and I ordered one of their debit cards to limit my exposure from their ineptness as much as possible.

I don't get paid by ArbiterPay very often, but I move the money to the debit card ASAP and find an excuse to spend it shortly after that. It's bad enough they have my SSN, they aren't getting another bank account number for me for somebody to hack.

And there are non-money reasons for choosing college over HS, as well. Even at lower levels.

At the top of my list, the coaches are smarter and better-behaved. And they are used to getting penalized when they misbehave. I have worked with countless HS officials who wouldn't call a T if their life depended on it. So I end up cleaning their mess.

Old Dog, New Tricks ...
 

So my initial worries were not unfounded. And I thought that I was just being an old man not wanting change and being afraid of technology.

Have to go now and yell at neighbor kids to get off my front lawn. I may have to turn the hose on them.

Again at the end of the day, it is personal what you do or what you enjoy. You can do whatever you wish with your time. My point again is if I am going to be away for the same amount of time, I would rather make a much bigger check. Even in a D2 league I work those checks are like 5 times more per game. They were much needed this past season when the COVID situation changed the entire season and I got to work doubleheaders in one league and was gone on a Friday-Saturday. My wife loved those checks.

Also, only Saturdays are really common for college games and those games are much earlier than high school games might typically play. So I will be home in the early evening as opposed to later in the evening on a Saturday. Either way, my family can come with me too, which they have on several occasions. My wife does not mind or make a big deal out of it. Then again I am not working 6 and 7 nights a week like many of my counterparts who seem to never stay home working every level imaginable. That is not me at all. I only work Boys varsity basketball and Men's college. Four nights a week is not unusual and the other days I am home. My wife realized a long time ago that I have a passion for this and feels it is good for my overall mental health to officiate. So I am not fighting these battles at home for what I do in officiating. A good part of the spring and the summer is for them. And even if I officiated then, it gives us some money for other things. It is a win-win.

Peace

Date Night In Connecticut ...
 

Back before we had kids, unlike many of my colleagues who hated Saturday night high school games, I liked them, and actually let my assigner know that I liked them. My wife would come with me to the games, and we would go out to dinner afterward, enjoying out of town restaurants that we would normally not go to.

Since my kids graduated from college, with my mortgage, and car, paid off, I no longer officiate for the money. I wouldn't do it for free (because of travel, rush hour traffic, meetings, politics, uniforms, equipment, fees, dues, etc.), but I do it because I have passion for basketball officiating.

With chronic orthopedic problems, I have limited myself to middle school games over the last three seasons, and to prepare for a certain more painful future, I've taken a very active role on my local board's mechanics training committee.

I can see paying annual board dues well into the future, even if my only job is to sell raffle tickets before board meetings, and attending the annual banquet, catching up and shooting the breeze with my colleagues, and yanking their chains (my local colleagues have a reputation as being expert ball busters, if somebody doesn't say something bad about you, they don't like you). I'll stop paying my annual board dues when they pry my raffle tickets, and my banquet open bar gin and tonic, from my cold, dead hands.

How's that for passion?

Yep, that is the number one reason I always want to work a college game on Saturday rather than a high school game. High schools schedule their Saturday games at night, while almost all of my Saturday college games are in the afternoon.


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Yep, since I no longer officiate because I need the money, which is the original reason I got into it, now I want to work games that I enjoy working and give me the most satisfaction.

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And you work with officials that are better trained, understand the philosophies of the people they work for and you do not have to discuss things that you do with high school only officials. That is not to say that you cannot have issues with college officials, but if I am the Referee on the game, I can answer directly to the supervisor and fill out an evaluation of all the officials I work with that night. They know this so they follow what is the protocols or might get called on it by either the Referee or the Supervisor wondering what took place. More accountability IMO.

Peace

Could you give an example? I've seen HS officials make marginal calls on fouls and violations, reward offense-initiated contact, and expect calls with bodies on the floor. Are those the things you are referring to?

On a different note, I am on board with good female officials advancing. The problem is when they are promoted because they are female rather than due to ability.

People have been getting promoted within the officiating ranks, as well as denied advancement, for reasons other than their ability or competency for decades upon decades.

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Affirmative Action ...
 

While I like the idea of affirmative action for any underrepresented minority, I may have some issues with the specifics of automatic promotions for just being an underrepresented minority. I am 100% behind targeted recruiting of underrepresented minorities, but once in the system, promotions should be based on performance and ability, not on anything else (regarding gender, IAABO, from the international level down to the local level, has such a recruiting program in place).

I'm a semi-fan of the NFL Rooney Rule, a policy that requires league teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs, even though there is no hiring quotas, or hiring preferences, given to minorities, only an interviewing quota. At least ethnic-minority candidates get a foot in the door at interviews. The only problem that I have with it is that hasn't worked that well over time.

For me, it's a complex issue, with many layers to peel away from the onion, for example, if a private (maybe even a public institution) college or university wants to increase the number of minority students (race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age, sexual identity, economic status (class), background (urban, suburban, rural, foreign born), etc.) because the administration sincerely believes that a more diverse student population will benefit all its students, both during their education, and after graduation out in the real world, as well as being a big "draw" ("We welcome everybody, we're very diverse, we get our students ready for the real world, etc.") that may increase overall student enrollment, both minorities and non-minorities, something that all colleges and universities are now struggling with, I'm pretty much all for it. Only pretty much because isn't that in itself a form or racism, sexism, or some other ism? Can "reverse ...ism exist? Is there something unfair to the rich, white, straight, Christian, American, boy who, while very deserving (grades, test scores, extracurricular activities, recommendations, etc.) doesn't get into his first choice college because a minority student took his "spot"? I wish I had the answer, but I don't, because I'm not smart enough.

Exactly, not sure why people are upset now? Most officials that get hired by a lot of other reasons at all levels. Nothing new, but when it only benefited certain people it was not a problem. IJS.

Peace

Might be the case with your coordinator/gender. I've worked more Saturday D3 women's games with a U2 that has no business being on that game, other than the fact that he/she was available. I'm all for women advancing, but any official needs to see more that 3 seasons worth of plays before being put into a college environment, IMO.

Any female with an inkling of talent will get into women’s college basketball and move up very quickly. Not saying that’s right or wrong but the stakeholders in women’s basketball have made very clear they want women officiating those games.

There are some clowns on the men’s side but generally you will get exposed quickly if you can’t handle the college game, and the coaches won’t put up with it. HS officials get away with all sorts of stuff that would earn you a short stay at the college level.

Men’s college officials certainly have no room to complain about women getting opportunities at other levels/genders.

People that don’t realize officiating is not a pure meritocracy have been living in the weeds.

This is not a Men's college issue with what women work Men's college basketball. There are other issue with Men's college basketball and it is not the amount of women getting those opportunities.

Peace

In case you didn't realize, I was actually agreeing with you.

And there still are not that many women in men's college basketball. Only two work a significant amount of Division 1. And honestly, why would any woman with talent go the men's route when the money is the same on the women's side and the opportunities are so much more vast?

Challenge ...
 

Didn't say you were disagreeing with me. Just stating that the issue is not specific to one side or the other. I am just addressing that there are many officials that are around that look different than the actual players getting high-level opportunities. I was making a larger point, not just about gender. Sorry for the confusion.

Peace

I've met a woman or two who thought there was a glass ceiling to break, but I've also met a lot more D1 women (and men) who said the main reason not to do men's was "Why work 5 years in D2/D3 when I can make D1 in 2-3?"

Honestly, would you apply to work at a job with an uncertain promotion rate and pays you in $100s while another job with similar skills is giving anyone with a modicum of interest and talent $1000s?

If you never desired to work the other level, why does someone have to settle. I get no enjoyment out of watching women's basketball. And for the record, there are D1 officials that did not take 5 years to work Men's basketball. It is all about perspective and willingness.

Peace

When I first started refereeing in PA, I was told by an AD, "I wasn't experienced enough." I had been working in the state of IN for 5 years and transferred by license to PA. He pointed out the two varsity officials and said like these guys. One he was old friends with and had about 15 or more years in, the other guy was my age and had been officiating 2 years. I looked at him and said, "yep, got to have that experience." I never worked another game for him at any level. Once he was gone, I was good to go.

Favoritism has been around since people have been around. It never ceases to amaze me people think it only occurs when it's a minority getting an early opportunity.

I don't think that favoritism occurs only with respect to minorities getting early opportunities. That said, there should be a line between recruiting and supporting minority officials, and promoting minority officials solely because of that status (without reference to criteria such as evaluations, camp attendance, varsity/playoff experience, etc.). Favoritism occurs in other contexts as well (nepotism is quite common in officiating), and probably is there to stay, whether we like it or not. That said, I would be willing to work with any official good enough to do the job, whether they be male, female, or extraterrestrial.

There is a major conference in this country that hired officials that either had graduated from one of the schools in the conference or had direct ties of coaching or playing with individuals in that conference. And I am not at all talking about basketball. Look at the NFL and see how many sons of former NFL officials there are working? And for the record, there are not women or Black guys in those situations. And football is a sport that literally does not have the camp system or evaluation system that basketball has to evaluate you onsite or during games. Football is often a recommendation or someone that is in power asking you to work college football.

I worked D1 baseball for a very brief time and the only reason I got my first game at that level was because I worked a basketball game with a person that is at the time a Minor League Baseball Umpire. That person is now at the MLB level for several years now. That person worked a basketball game with me in like December, we got along very well. That spring the Minor League Umpire's Union went on strike and many of the those umpires were working college games to get some games and income. Well this official could not work the Sunday of a series and he called the assignor and gave him my name and I worked my first D1 baseball game as a result. That D1 Baseball supervisor was also the basketball supervisor of that very same conference and even did not charge me to go to his camp before he was fired from both positions a few years later. I had a window then to maybe get looked at seriously at the D1 level and all of it was because my original relationship with a guy that is now an MLB Umpire and I just happened to get along with him and had a side conversation about my baseball background. He never saw me work a single baseball game. I benefited from a nice interaction from a person moving up the ladder and having the right contacts. That is how many people get opportunities at all levels of officiating.

Peace

I have told my kids many times, it's very important to make good impressions and be respectful because the contacts you make when you're younger will help you as you get older.

Eye On The Prize ...
 

For me, probably not. But some people like "pie in the sky" challenges, especially those with well paying day jobs, or those who have a spouse with a well paying day job, so they are free to chase their "side job" dreams without fear of financial hardships.

As has already been well covered in this thread, a lot of components go into one choosing a career, or side job (like officiating), with money and ease of advancement being only one of many components.

As I was about to graduate (B.S.) from college, I was highly recruited by two major oil corporations to work as a petroleum geologist (they were so desperate for geologists that recruiters actually came to our college). Lots of money was offered, but I would have to move from New England to either Alaska, or Louisiana.

Instead I chose to become a science teacher, at a time when there was an overabundance of teachers and an underabundance of teaching jobs (out of literally several dozen resumes mailed out, I only got six interviews (four interviewers didn't actually have any open positions at the time, they just wanted to meet with me because I graduated magna cum laude and they wanted to keep me on their radar in case an opening became available, one wanted me to go to summer school to add chemistry to my certification so that I could teach high school chemistry and coach basketball and baseball), and only two job offers, both less than ideal. And this was at a time when Connecticut teachers were grossly underpaid (I had to work summer and part-time jobs during the first twenty-five years that I taught).

There are too many reasons for me to detail all the reasons why I chose a teaching career instead of a much more lucrative career with an easier path to get a job and advance in the petroleum industry, but I obviously didn't chose teaching because of the money or the guarantee of getting a job.

Since junior high school, I always wanted to be a science teacher (but I admit that I was tempted to become a geologist by the easy money and an easy job waiting for me after graduation).

Again, people have been and still are getting ahead that way. Examples of criteria that trumped what I or others did on the court:

-- in a position to award an intramural contract
-- grew up and went to school with a prominent local official
-- played softball
-- worked in a certain profession in their full-time job
-- worked for a certain employer
-- able to provide a business service to the association

And those criteria most often involved people who looked like the person making the decisions because they came from the same circles and backgrounds.

But discussions about "drawing a line" are only brought up when the criteria may be related to demographics.

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Sour Grapes ???
 

- A star high school, or college basketball player, with a name recognized and well known in the state.

- Originally from the local area, with a social, or professional, network already in place.

It wouldn't be with a bullet, but I probably would have moved up the ladder a little faster if I hadn't moved all the way across the state before I became an official; away from my high school teammates, friends, coaches, teachers, neighbors, etc., several who became basketball officials. When I first started, I could count the people that I already knew on my local board on the fingers of one hand.

I also moved from the original area to a new area. I went to everyone's camp to get noticed and got opportunities when I worked harder than others. And still there were guys that got opportunities simply because of who the grew up with or that their dad was also an official all over the place. I still got to some places but no one just gave it to me either. And I was willing to do things that others were not willing to do. I know many people that were not willing to go to uncomfortable situations at all. They stuck to where they were and they had more success. It was just hard to miss because I was willing to go everywhere.

Peace

This was me. I knew everyone back home and was already getting varsity games in my local area after 5 years, this was back in 1991. Once I moved and didn't know anybody, I virtually had to start all over.

This was back when most of the AD's scheduled their own officials and I was the new young punk who wanted to move up too fast and needed to learn his place.

A Foot In The Door ...
 

One good thing about IAABO, I believe that moving from one local IAABO board (even out of state, or out of country) to another local IAABO board guarantees one a foot in the door with the same type of assignment schedule from one's previous local board. But it's only a guarantee for the first year. After that, one falls under the "up and down the ladder" guidelines of the local board and the whims of the assigner, so one better make a good first year impression.

Things get complicated if one's IAABO membership lapses (a year, or two, off to move one's domicile, and to start a new day job career) before joining a new local IAABO board (I was on a grievance committee tht dealt with such a scenario).

Unlike the Pope, and Supreme Court Justices, one isn't a working IAABO member for life (with a few honorary exceptions).