Hi,

During the first part of the winter for the last 3 years I have been Refing JR and SR Girls HS volleyball. It is not required we wear stripes for this and we stand in basically the same spot for the whole game.

Personally I like wearing stripes and I like playing basketball. So this year one of our local ref.'s took me under his wing, everything he did he explained so I could learn.

I read through the FIBA official rules and FIBA guide for 2 person Refing. It is being arranged by my school for me to take a class and write a test next year so i can become registered. I am looking forward to this.

Right now I am 14 years of age and in the 9th grade and already I am officiating grade 12 students, It takes allot of self confidence for me to blow my whistle against older kids but in the long run officiating is a fun part of sports for those of us who always got picked last for the team or not at all.

I live in Canada and things are a little different but I really enjoy reading all the posts here. Hope so see you again soon,

Take it from a senior . . .
 

A freshman should not be officiating seniors. I can just see now if one of my school's 5 foot naught 9th graders called a fifth fould on one of our 6 foot 5 seniors:
Ref:"That's your fifth."
Player:"Are you sure?"
R:"Yes."
P:(Towering over, and drawing back his fist) "Maybe you'd like to do a recount. . ."

Bottom line - stay out of HS ball until you've graduated from HS. (Imagine the conflict of intrest - you're reffing team A and B, and depending on which team wins, your school will/will not go to a tournament, etc.)

Wow, Mark. Sounds like you guys have some seniors that need an attitude adjustment. :)

Ref_007 has obviously proven he can handle these games or he wouldn't be allowed to work them. By no means am I saying a freshman should work HS varsity, but if it is an intramural league with everyone accepting the officials, I say go for it!

I think it takes some serious courage for a younger guy to get on the floor with these players. Kudos to the young Canadian!

Ref007... It is admirable that you have been selected to work High School Games, but I sincerely question the judgement of the "game administration." This is not in their (or your) best interest. In my honest opinion, the only thing you should be doing at HS games is observing the veteran officials and learning from their game management techniques.

In Wisconsin, you will not be given Certification until your 18th B-day. This is a guideline based on past experience. I do not have a problem with you getting "Floor time" but it should be in an environment that lets you develop your skills, just as the players do.

Best of Luck!

Nick-best of luck in these games! I take it that these are not varsity games since you said that you are not certified. I think that this is a great way 4 you to find out if you really enjoy reffing basketball!!! Let us know how it goes!!!

Nick,

The decision to let you officiate is the school's and if they are fine with it that's cool! Hang in there and learn all you can. Be the best Ref you can and have fun!

My age....
 

1st in Canada we don’t have Varsity sports.

2nd I may be 14 but I am 6 feet 2 inches tall and 170Lb. In general the Sr.s do not question me.

I ref only home games, No Units or Tourneys. I sign the score sheet as the Umpire (Or Second Ref.) I only call Traveling, Double Dribble, Back and over (Return to the back court). The others i call if the lead ref does not see them.

I do not officiate Jump Ball's But i do officiate Free Throws. I play the opposite side from the score table although i do know how to read the score sheet i am more comfortable not doing so.

Yes, Sir!
 

So, kiddo, how much IS the family grocery bill each month? :p

Re: My age....
 

Do you mean all high school players play "mixed" regardless of grade level?

Do basketball officials up there work sort of like hockey officials, with the referee responsible for calling fouls and the umpire acting like a linesman and only calling violations (yeah - I know hockey has recently changed that somewhat)? Is that why you only mention calling violations? If that's the case, why don't you call all of them, then? As to reading the scorebook, the best advice I can give you is to learn to read upside down.

Lastly, what province are you in? I thought one (Ontario) uses NF rules and the rest have switched from FEEBLE (FIBA) to a modified NCAA system.

Mark,you are correct. Ontario uses NF rules. BC uses modified NCAA rules( no shot clock i think is the only diff... help me out BC.....)
the rest are using FIBA, with some slight modifcations....
some provinces allow any number, whereas FIBA only only 4-15 are permissable.
And In Canada, we do have varsity sports
we just don't use the same terms:
in Ont we use
midget- grade 9
junior- gr. 10, and 11.. anyone under 17 before sept 30
senior- gr's 12 and 13's... anyone under 20...

In B.C. we use CIAU Men's rules. We do use a 30 sec shot clock. For all intents and purposes our rules are almost identical to NCAA Men. The closely guarded rule is different- Within 3 ft, in front court-aggressively guarding.
As far as 007 is concerned he/she must ref the whole game not just parts of it and no, we officiate exactly the same as you in the States- we are not modified hockey refs as someone has suggested.Keep up the good work 007 and remember the GAME is the only true evaluator- if the Players, Coaches and Fans accept you at a certain level then you belong there. If you are consistently harrassed at a certain level by all the above then maybe you should move down a level. ALL officials should take this self evaluation technique under consideration from time to time!!
Good Luck 007 I have a feeling you may go a long way!!!

Self-Evals...
 

If I listened to fans (rabid parents) and most coaches, I would have left the game within the 1st season.

I think feedback from other officials is a far better approach to determine what and where to improve.