Just curious on what the percentage is of the people here that have played basketball at any level compared to those who have never played. Do you notice a diff. in officials that have played compared to those who have never played? I may be opening a whole new can of worms here but I think its a good question.

In my younger days I played pick-up basketball but never played in any organized leagues. I don't think that having played helped me in officiating, but it certainly gave me the incentive to get started as a referee and continue with it. I'm very glad that I did!

I played HS and intramural in college. Probably about what 99% of the country does.

I played Post Office.

I played high school and 1 year of JV college ball...I think the people that have played the game have a little easier time early on but after a year or two it would be pretty negligible...

The players that were not that good and had to work hard and learn the game make good officials, but I've seen a lot
of the star players that have had a rough time. Every call is on the defense, they tend to call it the way they wanted it called as a shooter.

Played in high school and played pickup some since then.

I would think it would give you a different perspective, but I doubt it would make officiating easier. Officiating isn't easy (you may have heard that somewhere ;) ).

I believe that it helps out having played. You know have a feel for the flow and things like that. I am not so sure that it makes you better or worse depending on how good you were. I was an above average player and I believe I am an above average official (although it may be a myth that I am above average at anything).

The funny thing is that this year at the state tournament, I officiated with one of the officials that worked a lot of my games when I played. It was pretty cool.

I played in high school and 2 years of JC. I think it helps because I "grew up" on a basketball floor and am more comfortable there than anywhere else. I think having played helps me do a pretty good job of determining what contact matters and what doesn't and in seeing early when a player might be getting frustrated. That being said, I have worked with some amazing partners who never played organized basketball in their life.

Z

I noticed Haywoode Workman was working in the NBDL ...he was with the Pacers in the 90's I believe.

There's are two things that are certain, in my opinion:

(1) If someone says you must have played in order to be a good ref, that person is a former player.

(2) The player referenced in #1 is full of it :)

I think a former player will have an easier time getting HIRED, like this person in this article.

Woody is a great guy. Always played hard. I covered the Pacers back then, and he was always a pleasure to deal with. I wouldn't be surprised if he worked very hard to be the best official he could be.

There have been cases of former players in a sport becoming officials/referees/umpires in the same league(or another sport), I'm sure. I can't think of the names off the top of my head, but I know there was a former AFL player who became an NFL official (at least one) and baseball players who became umpires. Cal Hubbard, I think, is a Pro Football Hall of Famer and a Hall of Fame baseball umpire. I could be wrong about that, but I'm too lazy to look it up.

I think if you have played, and paid attention to what was going on around you, you can learn new functions like reffing and coaching quicker than those who have not. Your awareness of what is happening is much better if you have had it tuned through playing high level ball. I do not have the higher level playing experience, and I had to learn things as a coach that are natural to some players.

But not all players know how to coach, or even know these things that I have learned. The most outstanding players generally seem to suffer when dealing with the mere mortal players and trying to get the most out of these players. They may have gotten by with less than perfect fundamentals because of their athleticism. And they may or may not want to learn things from a new perspective.

Over the long haul, I don't think it matters. If a player comes in with the intent of actively learning, he/she will probably move quicker than the average non-player with the same goals.

I never played.

Those that have played and were smart players that took the effort to understand the game simply have a head start in officiating. Their ulitimate ability depends on a lot more. There's no reason why someone who didn't play can't be as good or better with a work and effort.