This is my concern. We are in need of officials in our area. I normally get a least one or two new recruits a year. My first year...... I recruited two and they both dropped out. They stated the so called "Varsity officials" did not make them feel welcome!
The next year..... Recruited one.... same end result, and basically the same reason.
This season I'm 50-50. I have one that is sticking around.
Despite the same feeling!
I ran into the same brickwall when I arrived!

How do you all treat the newcomers?

AK ref SE

I know what you are saying and it is very true many times.I am in my fourth year and if I hadn't already done another sport I would have quit my first year.I had a veteran official tell me before my first or second game that I better cover my lines and make all my calls because he was tired of carrying new officials!I do my best to help new officials and make them feel welcome and ii sure hope none of us forget where we came from.By the way that bitter veteran quit after that year.

I would love to blame veterans for this, but.....
 

I really cannot. I think that in my state, if these schools do not change their ways, new people will never want to do basketball or any sport for that matter. If we cannot get paid for at the time we do the game, how are people going to be able to support this habit we all call officiating. I still have not gotten checks from games that I did for football season. I try to use my officiating money to pay for gas and any other expenses I need. If school districts want to treat us different than any other citizen that does a job for them, then they need to officiate their own games. But this is my opinion.

In my area, we have a fairly intense 5-week training/orientaion, similar to driver's training. Then we pair them up with mentors who can help clarify structure, politics, and other off-the-court stuff.

IMHO - In these times of stretched capacity, I think associations must schmooz and hand-hold the newbies to ensure they stay with it. We should treat them as if they are doing us a favor, not the other way around, because it is true.

I do feel that......
 

there is a lack of teaching and "real" mentoring by older officials. Many veterans see new officials as competetion. That is a shame. If veterans were to be more concerned about improving themselves and not worrying about what the next guy is doing or not doing, we might have better officials across the board. It is really sad, and we can cause most of the problems in this area too.

In Portland, I think we are treated really well, compared to what I am hearing from you-all. We have class every Wednesday for the entire season for four years. Our "commissioner" (assignor and big-daddy) makes a great effort to know us all by name in about three weeks. He keeps track of our capabilities and keeps us from getting in over our heads. And gives us partners who will work with us and treat us right. I hate to think what some of my partners from last year were saying about me after the game, but to my face they were uniformly encouraging, helpful, and respectful. Except for one guy, who isn't in the Association any more. All my class mates say the same. So if anyone wants to know how to do it right, talk to Howard Mayo. Find him at http://www.pboa.org.

The only thing I think could be better around here would be to have a separate little group for women. I envy some of my hoop-sisters who have their own org. in their town. This one thing made it very, very tough for me to get past that first meeting. But on the other hand, I have heard not one word of patronization or of discrimination. The leaders in our group just do not tolerate it.

Ak ref SE, I think that you need to look first at the personality of your recruits. Can they take criticism without taking it personally? We all say "yes" when asked but not too many people can really do it. Second, how are they approaching the role of officiating? Is it a job or is it a challenge that they strive to improve at?
It's easy to blame other, more experienced officials who may have been all business and not thrown out enough warm fuzzies to the FNG's. I am a rookie official in Fairbanks and am grateful to every partner I have had. Even if they didn't say very much to me I always learn from watching them. Our assignor does a good job of matching up new guys with experienced ones. We have had some good training sessions that pay big dividends as well. I'm sure most associations do the same, but bottom line is that the person has to want to be there as well as improve every day. Even if they aren't calling.

Big Sarge- I understand what you are saying about personalities! I think that most of us(Okay I will speak for myself) I did not just wake up one morning and say "I want to be an official" I had an interest and I am so thankful for my first experience. Until you actually get on the floor, you don't know how you will react. My very first H.S. Freshman game. I reffed with a Varsity official.
I was the lead.... a player got flattened to the ground..... I froze(actually everyone on the entire gym stopped) My partner yelled out to me " Do you have anything" I had this dumb look and said know "No" He said "okay lets keep playing" Halftime conversation. I was shaking my head and told him I'm a terrible official and I blew that call. His response was "If you keep with it, you'll blow hundred, maybe a thousand more calls, get over it and go on".
We need to mentor, train and welcome people into the officiating world. If someone is afraid of the new guy/gal, it may be time to evaluate ones own abilities!

AK ref SE

Both sides....
 

Clearly some people do not have the personality to be officials. It requires a lot of self-confidence in who you are while you develop the skill to have confidence in how your officiate.

The association makes a difference too. I've heard of associations where you get no help and games are assigned based on seniority. That would be pretty frustrating.

Our association works hard to welcome people, and develop them. We have classes, clinics, watch videos... But more importantly is the on-the-job-training (OJT) with skilled officials. We all work pre-season scrimmages for feedback. (These are non-paid.) Evaluators are there to offer critiques, encouragement, etc. A very critical difference is for the veterans to recognize that new officials grow only so fast. I'm sure there are a number of areas where I can still improve, and I get feedback to that effect. The feedback that best sticks, though, is that which comes with the praise for what I do that is good. Smart trainers know that encouragement does more for development than criticalness. (If nothing else, tell me what is working well so I can quit thinking about that and focus on the next step! Without any positive comments, I might still be wondering if the hand is up straight.) If I happen to do something better than usual, the good trainer will be quick to praise that behavior. (Yes, veterans varry in their ability to balance positive feedback with the critique.)

I recently worked with a newbie -- natuarlly he stunk. (Probably similar to me when I started. Maybe not much different than to me now!) Afterwards the evaluator had what seemed like an endless list of praise, then concluded with about 2 points for the guy to work on. He left motivated, and with an action list of probably all he can think about at once anyway.

Our new officials start in youth league games. The association is now asking veterans to work these low-paying youth games for at least one shift per month. The idea is to pair them with rookies and let them provide that OJT.

This year the association also negotiated with the schools and demanded 50% payment in advance of the season. I think the other 50% is due mid-season, adjusted for the changes in the first half. At the end additional adjustments are made. (I may be off in the details, the the basic situation is thus.) Since our association has the reputation of providing quality officials, we were successful at getting these concessions. Its looking like it will solve the delayed payment problems so many experience.

From the perspective of a first year offical
 

AK ref SE, You are exactly correct. You never know how you are going to react until the first time you have to put air into your Fox 40. Having played and been around the game for so long I thought it would not be that hard to make the switch to officiating.

First game, first quarter (FRSH girls) I was gripping (wet palms, mouth so dry the whistle was stuck to my mouth) and a player DD right in front of me. First, I throw my fist in the air, then blew and signaled traveling, then changed my signal to DD. The coaches, fans (parents), and everybody was on me. Fortunately I was working with a great vet and mentor. Next dead ball he came over to me and said "What the heck did you have down there? You gave me three different calls, I didn't know what was going on." Then he explained what he saw, what I should have done, and then said "Just settle down take your time and keep it simple."

What I'm saying is that your vets have to work to cultivate the FNG (thanks Sarg) into a competent offical. I know the ego comes into play from some of the vetern officals. I've had a few vets roll their eyes when I tell them this is my first year. But, I also tell them I defer to their experience and ask them to evaluate my performance at half time and post game. This seems to get them in the "mentor state-of-mind" and I have received a lot of good advice.

Also. Give your new guys FRSH and AT MOST a few JV games until they get comfortable with wearing the stripes. Nothing destroys confidence more than being in over your head. Team them up with good mentor type vets who have the patience to work with the newbie.

Bottom line is, Mentoring is the key to keeping new officals

Question
 

Why do assignors make that big of a distiction between a freshman game and a JV game? What is really the difference? Anything that is not varsity is pretty much on the same level. Why would a first year guy not be able to do a JV game? I did JV games my first year and worked with other first years officials during those game. I do not understand why (it seems like a regional thing) officals that start out are regulated to just freshman games, it just does not make much sense to me.

Re: Question
 

The other night I had a game that was scheduled to be a Frsh Girls game. The visiting school said they did not have a freshman program and that they combined any freshmen they had with their JV squad. The hosts agreed to play their freshmen gainst the visiting JV. The host team got WHACKED. Granted there are blowouts even when teams are suposedly evenly matched (one team better coached etc.) but the athletic ability in kids is tremendously different between 14-15yr olds and 16-17yr olds.

Personally I think the game gets easier to officiate when you have: 1. better athletes or 2. kids that have been under a good coach for a couple of years. I think what the assigner is looking at is letting the new official gain experience. When it comes to a rookie officiating these games, there is a lot less presure on an official in a freshman game. It is expected that the kids are still learning the game and by the same token you can say the official is still learning. This may be regional, but, you take a rookie offical here in Orlando and drop them into a 6A-JV Metro Conference game with 500 people in the stands, and it puts undo pressure on the rook to get-it-right-or-die.

I have done JV games this year and was the -R- at one game (we were both first year officials). I did the first half of a JV game the other night before my 14yr vet partner showed up. There is no way I would have been able to do this had I not first gained confidence by working some "easy" games and thanks to some good veteran guys that took time to mentor early in the season.

Star 'em out slow and let them work their way up as they gain experience and confidence.

But Mike
 

what I am saying is that Freshman games have the least amount of people at them. The players are not that much better and I feel the fewer people can be worse. You hear every comment and every objection to calls and mechanics, this is not any better than putting a young official in a JV game where you cannot tell who is saying what. I had more problems starting out at this level than I did when I did my first JV game, which was my first HS game ever in my first year. I am not saying that first year or young officals should never do them, but to start them out with just freshman games, in my opinion is not going to help them or hurt them if they do not do a JV game. JV games might be better for them because of the exposure to veteran officials. When do they get exposure to veterans doing a freshman game?

And I really do not understand the difference in school sizes either. I live in the Chicago area and we have two classes in Illinois. You cannot automatically put officials in the smaller schools in some areas, there are no smaller schools to officiate. If you have to put officials at the big schools, so be it. It is still a freshman or JV game. Varsity is varsity and I have found the smaller schools can be harder to officiate than the bigger schools. Reason being is because at the smaller schools, more people come out for the game. Or at best relative to the gym we are playing. The big cities schools, there is not an attachment to the school the same way the smaller towns have to that school. Duke Univesity is a smaller school and has a smaller arena, but do you think there would be any better place to do a game in the country than Coach K Arena (formally known as Camaron Indoor Stadium)

Difference JV/Freshman
 

I know you haven't called too many freshman games lately but here is a little reminder of what the differences are. Freshman is generally players who are still learning the game. The game is either played three hours before the varsity or an hour and half before the varsity but in an auxilary gym. This is a great place for first year officials to work on their game since the crowds are smaller and the play is not as intense. There is the problem however that since the players are not as good, the game can be very sloppy. There is usually only one coach on the bench so the official doesn't have to worry about assistance.

The JV game, I consider the warmup act. While the gym is nearly empty when the game starts, because people are showing up to watch the varsity, we will have an ever growing crowd during the game. Can be scary for the a new official. The game is usually a little better in quality so it can be an easier game to call. Exceptions do exist. There is usally two coaches on the bench so you do have to worry about assistant coaches and I have seen some ugly incedences here. I have T'd coaches more in the freshman game but I have T'd players more in the JV.

Last Saterday night I did a freshman/JV double header. In the freshman game I had a rookie partner and a third year man for a partner in the JV game. The freshman game was as smooth as glass dispite my partners mechanical problems. He had a weak signal and we worked on his mechanics at the freethrow line. He learned a lot and we had fun. Easy game. The JV game was viscious though. We had a call on a bad elbow thrown. The coaches were all over us and we had to use ever skill we knew to keep the game under control. I am glad we got the Rookie into the Freshman game and not the JV that night.

Whichever you do stick around for the Varisty. A good chance to scout out what you will be doing in a few short years and learn what this thing is all about.

If a varsity level official is asked to do a Freshman or JV game with a fairly new official. What is the attitude of the Varsity official? Do we look at this as a step down or a chance to help,train, mentor, and maybe become friends with the new guy/gal?

AK ref SE

Re: Difference JV/Freshman
 

But Tim, not a single person has made the case that suggests that you need any particular skill in order to just move from the freshman level to the JV level. I have not been officiating that long, it has only been 5 years and I do mostly varsity games. But I did a varsity tournament during Thanksgiving with two Class AA schools (Big schools in Ill.) and there was hardly anyone there. I think there were more participants on the floor and on the bench than were in the stands in a huge gym. It felt to me like an freshman game. I had to keep telling myself that it was a varsity tournament game. Now, the night after Thanksgiving I did another varsity tournament game and the place was packed. The gym was not much bigger and there was not a seat empty in the place. I did the first game and I will say this, it was a game between a Class AA team and a Class A team and the electricity was all there. The next game after mine was two Class A teams and the place was still packed. You would have though you were at Duke University with all the electricity in the building during both games, because 3 of the teams were in the area. That game was way more pressure than the Class AA tournament I did two days before. And I was doing a 3 person game in the second game as compared to a two person game in the first tournament. I was much more nervous during the second game. So why is these levels that much different other than the fact that one might have had more attentence than the other.

This is my 3rd year and Iam now getting J.V. Varsity games. I had offers my second year but turned all of them down. I did not think I was ready for that level.

I took every advantage I could to work with a experienced official during my first 2 yrs. I Kept my ears open and mouth shut. Some of the guys were a-holes and other treated me like family.

This past saturday I was scheduled to work a Frosh/Soph game. I like to get to the games about 45minutes before tip off. My partner walked into the locker room, never introduced himself to me. His first words out of his mouth were. " I only do Varsity and State tournaments games I dont do Frosh/Soph. My wife scheduled this game while I was at work. So let's get things straight right now, this is your game and dont expect any help from me. I want to get this game over and get out of here" I said " no problem sir", picked up my bag and left the gym. He worked the game alone. Their alot of things a official has to put up with from the fans and the coaches. One thing i will not put up with is a rookie or seasoned official who thinks they are better than the game itself.

Clay
 

My question is still not being answered, what skills and abilities did you feel that you did not have to turn down JV games? Now I know where I live they couple JV and Varsity game together in some cases, but do you feel that you were not experienced enough to do a JV game if called upon and why?

the reson i was turning down J.V. and Varsity was i needed to know the rules better, and being able to adjust to the coaches and the verbal abuse you get at that level. I found out while doing a ton of jr high boys and girs games, if a rule is going to be broken or something strange is going to happen its going to happen in a jr game. It is true that the Varsity games are eaiser to officiate, due to the stlye of play and talent of the players. I learned alot about the rules doing jr high that you may take for granted, and sometimes you never have to use. I just wanted to be ready so that when something out of the ordinary happend i was ready and hopefully i could remember what to do.

clay

I think you are misunderstanding the original question.
 

I am not talking about JV games compared to Varsity games. Anyone that knows better, knows that there is a difference between those levels. At least the pressure is heightened. I was wondering why you would turn down JV games as compared to Freshman games and why? Now if you were doing only JH games, that is a different story. There is a difference between JH and HS games of all kinds, but I still feel that a 1st year official is very capable of doing both if they choose to. But I feel that there is not much a JH official could not handle than a JV official, but again this is my opinion.

BTW, are your JV and Varsity games coupled together like many are in my area?

Re: I think you are misunderstanding the original question.
 

Rut,
You are correct. There really isn't as big a jump from Frosh to JV as there is JV to varsity. I work both freshman and JV and don't experience a big difference between the two. The big difference is the size of the school. Some schools JV squads are better than other schools varsity.
At first I was bent because they told me I would not get any varsity games my first year. Now I am thankful for being able to start out with JV and work up.

The bad thing about being a rookie is not so much having to spit shine Rs shoes before each game, but man! is his gym bag heavy!!

J. I don't think that a rookie official should be turning down JV games. I called my first girls JV game in the last week of december and my first boys JV game in January of my first season. They were a challenge to me. My second boys JV game was between 5A schools and my third boys JV game was between two schools that two years down the road would be class 4A and 5A state champions. I don't think I could have done them except I had Varisty level officials working with me. I think that is the key. When you put a newer official in a new situation, it is always best to have an experienced official as one of the partners. When I called a BCI game between two teams who only had 5 players who couldn't slam, my partner was a 17 year veteran. I think you should get into these games as quickly as posible but I still say, to get your feet wet, do freshman. Work some sophmore game but I think these are the toughest since these are players who couldn't make Varsity or JV.

You need to find a way to get in 100 games a year. I missed this year. I only did 87 this year because of the moving I did in June and July. I was just reading in NFOA's magazine under football, that you need to call 100 games and make 100 mistakes before your ready for Varsity. In Basketball, you need to call 100 games/year for three years before you are ready for varsity and they need to be progressively better games. 100 1A girls JV games won't help you if you arn't calling 5A Boys and Girls JV too. A 5A boys JV game can be just as much or more challenging then a 2A boys Varsity. A 2A JV game is about the same as a 5A Freshman game.

I'm a newbie (in my second season). Last year I did mostly catholic grade school games. Here in Western PA, these assignments are usually scheduled as two games; a 5th/6th grade game followed by a 7th/8th grade game. One would think that these would be fairly "safe" games for a new official to start, but let me tell you these games get WILD! It is not unusual for the gym to get packed on a weekday evening for a girls' 7th/8th grade game. Now this year, I'm scheduled for the same plus ten JV high school games. Now the crowd is not that big at these JV games, however the coaches know and expect more from you. I had my second JV game last night and really kicked a couple of calls and feel I did a poor job. I'm having a hard time shaking it off today. Anyway, about the mentoring... I have been lucky to receive much support from most people with whom I have worked. As for those who clearly were not interested in helping/mentoring, I learned what I do NOT want to do. I hope that I will always be supportive of those with less experience than I. Regarding the remark above that "some personality types are not suited for officiating"...I think that officiating can help one develop self confidence. I know that it has helped me a great deal in this area. I was encouraged by a remark given to me by a veteran official last summer when I attended a camp for "newbies". He said, "Remember, ANYBODY can become a good basketball official IF he/she wants to put the work into it!" So, I'll keep trying to improve and learn from my mistakes (like last night), shake-it-off, and move on! Just my 2 cents. Can you tell that I'm a mother of three and been stuck in the house all day with noone to talk to? Thank God for this discussion board! I'll shut-up now!

I know it is hard to get me to shut up but.
 

I have been fortunate and blessed to do varsity games since my first year. I got those games in my first year in order to cover the weather problems that we had at the end of the year. I think I only did about 2 or 3 that year and all were makeup games. My next year because I was considered good by many I did nearly 60 or so varsity games between the boys and girls. And ever since then I have been doing varsity almost exclusively. Now I say this because I feel that my improvement came from things I did off the court. I watched a lot of NCAA game on TV or in person when I got the chance. I read everything I could get my hands on like, Referee Magazine and the many other publications that they had, I watched games anytime I was not doing a game. That was rare but I had to do my best. When I did a JV game, I would always stay and watch the varsity officials. I think that this is huge to grow as an official. If nothing else you need to see the competition. You need to see what guys are doing or not doing and how it relates to your game. If you do that you will be better off. And you never know, they might tell someone about you. I know I cannot stand officials that do JV games and they do not stay, because I might be able to help you out down the line if I get a chance. Assignors and ADs ask about younger officials to other officials that they have not seen as much. Now I do not quite agree with Tim that you need to do 100 games or more because I really do not feel doing games in and of itself is going to make you better. It is what you do when you are not officiating that can be more important IMHO. I have found that my study of rules, philosophies, practices or just reading and talking to officials is just as valuable. Just talking basketball alone will make you more and more confident when the lights come on and it is time for you to perform. And those are things that have made me successful even though I could right a book on it alone.

But other than that have a great holidays everyone and a great New Year and rest of the season.

Peace out!!!

Rut-
You are absolutely correct, To move up you need to expand your vision past the game you are calling. Referee magazine is a great pub., watching the NCAA games on TV great advise to the young and old! In my area we usually have a three game night. What ever game I am scheduled for I try to stay for the night. I can learn from who is on the floor, and if it is a newer official, it can show them that you care. I will lend support in any way I can! I will only give positive remarks to the official that night. If they have questions on a call I will tell them what I saw from my angle, which of course will make a difference! Positive remarks with a something that you might want to try next time goes along ways.

AK ref SE

Rut, I don't disagree with you on what you are doing off the court. We all need to study, read, and watch others officiate. But some of us need to practice and practice and practice. If you arn't getting any feedback from the games you are calling, then you may be waisting your time.

To they guy who feels bad after calling a JV game. We all feel bad after certain games. This is where we learn the fastest. The other half of the equation is to make 100 mistakes. Make them now and don't wait until you are a varsity official to make those mistakes.

Merry Christmas.

For what it is worth... Fresh vs JV & Mentors
 

2nd yr official's comments:

I agree that Freshman games are "unique" in many ways. Here are some GENERALIZATIONS:

First, the fan base is usually very small so the new referee does not have the intimidation of a noisy "high volume" gymnasium. However, as posted before, it is more likely you are going to hear that nagging individual who insists that you're paid off by the other team or got your whistle in a cracker jack box, etc....

Secondly, Coaches at the freshmen level are often "greenies" too. This can result in very undisciplined, disorganized teams. Most coaches realize they have a lot to learn and are very mallable. However, I have seen some "greenies" who knew-it-all and it took all the diplomacy of myself and my partner to deal with his conduct. Unfortunately, the official can become the "scapegoat" for the coaches inexperience (or lack of ability).

Third, Freshman (and other lower level) games are, and should be viewed as, a learning environment for all: coaches, players, timekeepers, bookkeepers, as well as officials.

Here is an example: On Tuesday, I did a sophomore game in which the hometeam coach informed us of a "last-minute substitution" bookkeeper (Regular was sick). BTW: This coach is a notorious "hothead" who was T'd by my mentor last year for Unsportsmanlike conduct.

There were numerous Clock operation and bookkeeping errors by the student helpers. Thankfully, my Mentor (a 13 yr vet, who has worked state tourney games) had all the answers for some fairly bizarre stuff. I am convinced this could have been an UGLY scene had which would have made a couple of rookies really scratch their heads.

My mentor did a great job in the half-time and post-game conference. I left the gym feeling like I had learned a ton of info.

My two cents worth.

Re: Clay
 

Rut-- This question hits me where I'm livin' because I'm trying to break up in the JV level from freshman.

In the Portland area we have, this year, probably the top girls team in the nation, and one of the top five boys team in the nation. We also have schools where there is no budget for basketball, no JrHi feeder program, and kids who have never dribbled a ball befire they tried out(and made!) the freshman team. I have done freshman games where the score was 16-15 at the end, and games where it was 75-86 and games where it was 86-16. Yet most of us here will get about half freshman games in their first and second years, with no distinction in the level of the program. Only the very top two or three in the second year will get a few JV games, no one else will see JV until 3rd or even 4th year.

I think there are two main differences in skill needed at the two levels. One skill has to do with floor position, which involves reading the play, staying ahead of the play on the fast break, and knowing when to slide to center, or drop back, or whatever. I see a tremendous difference in the poeple I observe in who knows when to move where.

The other skill that I see makes a big difference at that higher level of play is the confidence to stand up to the coaches and the crowd and not be intimidated. JV players are "on the track" for college scholarships -- at least they think they are. where many freshmen know they will not play again after this year. Good freshman age kids play JV or even varsity, so the pressure on the ref is not nearly as great in the freshman level games.

Both of these skills are learned from experience and the slower pace of the lower level games helps us learn, so the the move up won't be quite so jarring.

Rebecca-- Sorry to hear you had a bad game. Is your e-mail working yet? Let me know about it, and your greatest game, too!!

[Edited by rainmaker on Dec 22nd, 2000 at 11:16 PM]

Julie...I had a computer "crash" and lost all the e-mail addresses in my address book. Send me a line sometime...
[email protected]