Hi, I am not an official but a player. I joined this board to listen to the "other" sides point of view. I have a lot of respect for officials because I know how difficult your jobs are. Now that I have graduated college, I am looking into becoming an official. Does anyone have any information/advice on becoming an official in the Philadelphia area?

I'm a first year ref, and I was clueless as to how to go about getting 'an education.' I started out by talking with the AD at the local high school, who, three phone calls and three different people later, eventually put me in contact with a vetran official who teaches a pretty informative class. It was easy, took about 20 minutes of my time, and I'm not sure how else to do it if you don't know anything about becomming a referee (which I didn't) ;)

I am curious about where to start officiating or where can you look after you have chalked up some experience. I am in the military and have been officiating on base, but I am interested in getting out there in the real world too. :)

STARTING UP--
 

DHODGES--- What base are ya located at???

Re: STARTING UP--
 

Davis-Monthan, AZ

Re: Re: STARTING UP--
 

Ok sorry I can't help you out there. GOOD LUCK!!

Re: Re: STARTING UP--
 

Arizona Interscholastic Association
7007 North 18th Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85020-5552
602-385-3810
602.385.3779 - FAX

http://www.asaa.org/

Perhaps what I did will work well for you. Pick up the business white pages and find the numbers of local park and rec departments for neighboring cities/towns in relation to where you live. Give them a call and tell them that you are interested in officiating some games for them. Take as many as you can.

The games are not always very good, but you will meet other officials that have been in the high school game for years, some even college. Most will be willing to help you out by giving you contact names for local official organizations and other game assignors. One thing you may learn about this business is that your contacts often determine whether or not you get any games.

One more thing on a minor note, doing park and rec games pays fairly well, expect between $14-22/game. But, your mechanics will most likely never improve if all you do are these games. My advice is try to use park and rec games as a stepping stone for higher level games. And definitely have fun.

Hope that helps.

Best place to start would be http://www.PIAA.org in PA.
You can register for exam there and you will recieve rule book, sample tests etc.
After passing test in PA. you have 15 days to affiliate with a local chapter in your area. (You will be provided with appropriate contacts)
Local chapters will oversee yor training. They usually provide clinics, peer-mentoring etc.
Most likely they'll start you off with grade school, AAU, and rec leagues, and you should be able to work up from there.
GOOD LUCK

Thanks Mick and Reffingrook82.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I am very excited to be getting started.

Add'l Advice
 

Seek out clinics that address depression.... I called my last contracted games of the season on Friday.... I am having severe withdrawal pains..

Williebfree, you are correct. Pack a lunch, it's a long off-season. But hang in there, perhaps you could start some sort of 12 step program for basketball officials going through withdrawal.