Chuck has done a good job in eplaining some of the benefits of being a member of IAABO. I would like to add more information.

One: Any basketball official in the world can be a member of IAABO. It does not what level of basketball you officiate. H.S., college, WNBA, NBA, FIBA, amateur, or professional. That means if you live in an area where there is not an IAABO Board, you can be and Individual Member.

Two: When someone asks me to explain what IAABO is, I like to use the analogy of professional and technical organiztions in the engineering profession. (I guess that is because I am a structural engineer.) I compare organizations like NASO, NFOA, and Officiating.com to the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). The NSPE is a professional organization. The NSPE is concerned about the condition of all engineers regardless of their disciplines. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) are technical organizations. A technical organizatio is concerned about a specific discipline the engineers that practice that discipline.

IAABO is a technical organization concerned about basketball officials only. Another technical organization in sports officiating is the Amateur Baseball Umpires Association (ABUA). I consider local officials associations (LOA) that are sport specific to be technical organizations.

I hope that this as not muddied the waters pertaining to garote's question.


But my advice to all officials no matter what sport they officiate is that they should belong to organization such as NASO, NFOA, and Officiating.com for the same reason that I am a member of the NSPE. I also advice them to belong to sport specific organizations such as IAABO or ABUA for the same reasons that I belong to the ASCE, ASME, and SEAOC (I have a B.E. in both civil and mechanical engineering and practice structural engineering).

Belonging to these various organizations give officials (engineers) the opportunity to avail themselves of the educational and professional opportunities that organizations offer. And at the vary least the membership dues are tax deductable.

I am with you on this Rich. That is what I love about where I live and officiate. We can work for who we want to. The "associations" are there for our training purposes only, they cannot and do not assign games. If you choose to work with a particular assignor, it is based on their "attitudes" on how you are as an official that gets you hired. Very much like D1 conferences. Of course it benefits you to work for certain assignor to work for another assignor, but you do not have to if the assignor has their own evaluation system. We still have the politics, but it does not matter if a particular assignor really wants to hire you and thinks you are ready for his conference varsity games.

Peace

...That is what I love about where I live and officiate. We can work for who we want to. The "associations" are there for our training purposes only, they cannot and do not assign games. If you choose to work with a particular assignor, it is based on their "attitudes" on how you are as an official that gets you hired. Very much like D1 conferences. Of course it benefits you to work for certain assignor to work for another assignor, but you do not have to if the assignor has their own evaluation system. We still have the politics, but it does not matter if a particular assignor really wants to hire you and thinks you are ready for his conference varsity games.
[/QUOTE]

Same in Massachusettts (at least in the southeast). Our IAABO Board is there for training new candidates, on-going education for members, rules interpretations, membership in HS Association, etc. The board does not contract with schools or youth leagues. The leagues have their own commissioners who are hired separately. Some commissioners are IAABO members and referees, but not representing their board in this assigning capacity. They may hire refs from any boards of their choosing.

I'm not sure about the commissioners' attitudes to get you hired, but politics definitely play a part in getting games. We may work for any commissioners. There are no (formal) evaluations and no tier system for moving up, or number of years experience required. There is a vast array of ability on our HS varsity courts: 1) old vets who are fixtures but haven't improved for twenty years, 2) new guys who have been moved up too fast and aren't really ready, and 3) people who have put in their time, kept up on mechanics and rules, have five or more years of JV experience, and are excellent varsity referees. Then there is another group: those that fall into category 3 above, but are NOT getting varsity games. There are a few assignors who want quality, and make an effort to find refs who have potential and work with them to improve and advance. Others just want bodies to fill games, especially in subvarsity contests. It's "who you know" when it comes to these guys.

Hiya Nine:
 

Do you ever work north of Boston? Email me, if you like.

In Texas, IAABO is virtually invisible. I think I saw an official wearing an IAABO logo one time (out of 4 years) during a summer league. TX high school interscholastic competition (athletic and non-athletic) is governed by an organization called UIL (University Interscholastic League). UIL rules state that officials working any boys or girls varsity contests must be a member of a chapter of TASO (TX Assoc. of Sports Officials). There are some exceptions if TASO officials are not available in a high school's area. But, for the most part, in TX, if you want to work a high school athletic contest you must belong to a TASO chapter. Dues for this year were about $50 (local) and $60 (state) which also includes insurance, rule and case books, etc., and training by the local chapter.

I do not know how my Nov. 08th posting at 09:10pm was reposted at 09:32pm, but I have tried to delete the second posting of it but it is not working.

I guess the third time is the charm because I finally got the second post deleted.

It appears that my post has been deleted. Would anyone like to take credit for that or should I chalk it up to the ghosts that seem to have infected this board?

Rich

Texas has an IAABO board in Houston. I don't know what they call but it isn't UIL. In Colorado IAABO Board 4 had the monopoly on high school officiating. Jr High was not under the umbrella of CHSAA so they could use what they wanted though most games were IAABO officials.

If you don't live in an IAABO area, then the only reason to be a member is if you plan to one day move back. I let my membership drop.

I do like the way IAABO mails you a NF rule book, case book, and officials manual in one binder.

[Edited by Tim Roden on Nov 9th, 2003 at 10:50 PM]

Here in Georgia, we've gotten no real benefit from being part of IAABO. Our board is strongly in favor of letting them go, and Georgia High School seems to agree.

I accept that fact that in many areas, the only way to receive assignments is to belong to a local association.

But the benefits that one gets from membership in an technical association whether it be a national one such as IAABO or a local officials association is proportionate to what you put into the association.

If one were to make up a list of what a technical association for basketball officials should provide for its members, I hope that providing assignments would be low on its list of priorities. High on an LOA's list of benefits should be education: rules, mechanics, and ethics/professionalism. A LOA should also be proactive in the education of non-officials: scorers, timers, players, ATHLETIC DIRECTORS and COACHES!! And a LOA should be defending officials against unprofessional practices by athletic directors and coaches. I would hope that an official would not have as his primary reason for belonging to an officials association is to receive assignments.

Virginia, VHSL, specifically states that IAABO membership is not required in the sate. Moreover, the test is mot a replacement for the NFHS/VHSL sanction test and one is NOT ALLOWED to wear an IAABO patch when one is wearing the VHSL patch.

This being said, I am a member for the insurance, the 3 in one book, and the good feeling I got when I passed the test. Those who don’t know, it is a 50-question test that is more like the casebook than the NF test.

It sounds like you are more than a rank and file member of IAABO. What is your relationship with IAABO?

Yes, I am a member of IAABO. In fact I am member of several IAABO national committees. I am also a member of ASCE, ASME, SEAOC, and NSPE, as well as NASO and Officiating.com four local basketball officials associations. One does not have to be a member of an organization's national committee to reap the benefits of an organization's membership. As I have stated before, you get out of an organization what you put into it.

[/B][/QUOTE]

Yes, I am a member of IAABO. In fact I am member of several IAABO national committees. [/B][/QUOTE]Which ones, Mark?