What makes a great official?

[AK ref SE]

I wasn't sure how to state this question! But I would like to hear opinions on what you all think. I have had an oppurtunity this past week to watch a good Adult tournament(55th year). They bring NCAA Dl refs up for this tournament. Because of local politics(we do not use any in State refs).
I have seen some good officiating. This is my point! I do not mean this in any bad way. They miss calls, just like we all do, I think many of us have the same judgement, same knowledge of the rulesas they do!
So if you were a NCAA assignor! What traits would you look at when picking between Official A or Official B.??

AK ref SE
(Just curious!)

[rainmaker]

I can tell you what they have that I don't yet, but hope to acquire someday:

POISE: Never, never lose control of self, or of game.

CONFIDENCE: As Padgett says, "Sometimes wrong, never indecisive."

PHYSICAL CONDITION: Olympic speed sprint after sprint after sprint -- even in the last two minutes.

PRESENCE: The personal power to control emotional players, coaches, and the occasional out-of-control fan.

CALM: The courage to laugh gently at the silly, or childish. The self-contained quietness to avoid a shouting match, or a media flourish.

There is a woman here in Portland, who is not up to D1 yet, but will be soon, I'm sure. She embodies this all for me and I have been studying her style and her psyche. When the coach steps out onto the floor to scream at her, she calmly looks up into his face (She's not real tall), she puts a hand on his shoulder in a motherly sort of way, and she nods gently. Then she says a word or two, and walks away. When I see her do this at times that I would undoubtedly explode, I feel I have had an epiphany. It isn't just the rules knowledge, the mechanics, or the political push, although she has all that -- but so do many others. She has this huge quiet cloud that brings out the best in everyone and it makes such a huge difference.

How do I get it? That's a whole nother question.....

[BigDave]

Officials at all levels blow calls. That's no secret. Great officials are great because they have characteristics that are hard to teach. Patience. Confidence. Poise. Charisma. Passion. Personality.

I'm a big believer that a person's officiating characteristics are just an extension of themselves. If you are arrogant off the court, you'll be arrogant on the court. If you are a genuine, pleasant person from day to day, that will also be projected as you officiate. These are just two examples of my "theory".

Bottom line is either you have "it" or you don't. You can strive to improve with hard work and desire and you will definitely get better, but to attain the "great" status, that is determined long before you put on the stripes.

[Tim Roden]

I say the one thing the grat officials have that most of us don't have is a sense of humor. They can laugh at themselves. They have a passion for the game that drives them to improve. They work well with people. They can make that rookie official feel like he belongs on the same court with them in one breath and calm down Bobby Knight with the next. The other thing is that they are ready for the worst thing in the world to happen at the least expected time. And they still have all the characteristics listed above.

Originally posted by BigDave
Officials at all levels blow calls. That's no secret. Great officials are great because they have characteristics that are hard to teach. Patience. Confidence. Poise. Charisma. Passion. Personality.

One more thing that many of these " great " officials do is ... Have fun. The single most important mechanic that was taught to me by an official who is 84 years old and still doing HS varsity games, was to have fun. Once I could enjoy the game I am working it made a big diference. I'm not saying that I don't still get a few butterflies before a game, I think when I don't feel the "tingle" I don't have a good game. I try to go into each game with the thought that this game is for the kids first, and for me second. Everything and everybody else comes next. All the other qualities are important too, Like Big Dave said, your off the court personality is also important, if you can't have fun in life it's hard to have fun on the court. Just my opinion.