help a total newbie get started

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by totalnewbie
Hi. I'm interested in starting officiating and really could use some tips on the best way to get started. I have read posts here and noticed a really friendly and supportive community so I decided to suck it up and ask this total newbie question.

I live in Las Vegas. I'm a District Attorney, so I dont mind making tough calls or being yelled at I'm 6'5". I played HS ball in California and played in various city leagues in LA (fairfax high) and Orange County and some here in Vegas. I havent played competitively for two years (since birth of daughter) and I really miss playing. I'm 37 and I dont really want to mix it up with 18 year olds who just want to jack 3s all game so I thought officiating would be fun. I did some "stand in" officiating in various leagues in Vegas when they were down a ref and my team was not playing. I loved it and frankly cant believe I never thought of this sooner. I also like the teaching aspect. I think kids really learn from having rules they have to play by. Maybe that's the DA in me...

So....all that being said...

Where do I start? HS Frosh games? Rec leagues? Are there national associations I need to be a member of? What should I try? What should I stay away from?

I cant seem to find good Nevada info. The southern nevada official's assoc. site seems dead. I saw "Nevadaref" on these boards but couldnt email him directly. Nevadaref, if you are out there and read this you (or anyone else who might want to) can email me directly at [email protected].

Is there a book that is the "bible" of officiating?

The good thing about being a newbie is that I know I know nothing and am happy to take advice and learn from all of you.

I'm not looking to "advance" to college. I wouldnt mind doing nothing more than doing HS games. I dont need to make money doing this (but a little spending money wouldnt hurt either). I just want back in a game I love and thought this would be a good way. You all seem to have such good experiences, I thought I would ask.

Given my above described situation, what do you all recommend?

Any advice is appreciated.

Clark Peterson, a total newbie in need of help.

DA in Vegas, eh? I'll offer some advice but I may need you to return a favor at some point...

You might want to call some HS AD's to learn about any local associations to join. Might also contact local CYO/rec leagues, more than likely they have a list of officials they use who can contact to get you started. The goal is to find a local organization that offers training and a network for meeting other officials and getting games.

Where I'm from associations are affiliated with IAABO (Int assoc of approved basketball officials - i am a blind official to others ) but I don't think IAABO is required in Nevada. Go to their web pages (iaabo.org I think) & look around, there are usually some rules tests you can try your hand at there. Referee Magazine offers publications on mechanics, you can find them on amazon. There are generally 4 rule books: National federation of high school (NFHS), NCAA, pro and fiba. You'll want to get a nfhs set of books since most ball at & below varsity HS use these rules. You can go order it over their web pages - you know about google, right? . You can download a free pdf version of the ncaa rule books from the ncaa web pages, it is largely the same as the NFHS rules except for some details that should not really concern you at this point, in any event the ncaa book does list where they are different from nfhs rules. I think the pro rules are available to download, I wouldn't worry too much about them, or for that matter fiba rules either.

If your goal is to get good at this then you'll need to work lots of lower level games. Games & games & then more games. The only way to get the bad calls out of your system is to, well, get the bad calls out of your system. Learn the rules, for a lawywer learning rules should not be a problem. More than likely you'll start working rec leagues & frosh or jv HS. Some folks work the adult leagues, I didn't do a lot of that. I understand there is a severe shortage of officials in Vegas, I expect if you're in shape and apply yourself it won't take you too long to get some HS varsity games. When that happens you just might find you've changed your mind about doing some college games


Good luck!