Moving up to the next level

[Mark Dexter]

I've always wanted to referee college basketball players, and I finally got my chance last night.



Except I was officiating them in an co-rec indoor soccer game.

It was one of the oddest experiences in my officiating career, especially considering I usually see them when I'm the scorekeeper. (I joked that the coach is ticked at me enough for that, so they better not get hurt.)

They actually played rather well, but fatigue got the best of them and they lost 7-4. The game was, coincidentally, 40 minutes long, but without media timeouts the guys got really fatigued. They also had some trouble adjusting to the fact that, in soccer, once a foul is called, play can start up immediately. (Ended up leading to a goal, but that's another story.)

Now - does this mean I can put college basketball on any officiating applications?