Teaching a Sports Officiating Class-need assistance

[mick]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee
Methinks that the developmental program of the....wait for it...SEC needs to teach some of their students how to develop a thick skin. And a sense of humor.

Youth is often wasted on the young.
Of course, since the young haven't had time to make as many mistakes as I have, when being criticized, teased, or corrected, some haven't found the usefulness, security and comfort of saying, "Oops!"
mick

[tomegun]

What does it really mean to be in the development program for the SEC?
Do you get games in one of the conferences or do you just get "invited $$$$" to the camps.

Mark Dexter, what school are you teaching at and what board are you going to work on this year?

[sleebo]

Brandan,
I think it would be neat for my students to get your perspective. I don't know that it would be all that possible for you to come talk to them in person, but perhaps you have some articles, etc. that you have written about your experiences as a high school-aged official. I notice that you have been writing for officiating.com. Do you have anything that I might present to them and have them read? I could then lead a discussion about how it would be different to be an official as a high school student, how it might benefit you to have gotten such an early start, possible stereotypes, etc. Thanks for your help.
*As for the other 'debate', someone took a cheap shot, I fired back, and now we need to just move on. No harm, no foul...

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by sleebo

*As for the other 'debate', someone took a cheap shot, I fired back, and now we need to just move on. No harm, no foul...

Before we move on. I'm kinda interested in the answer to Tom's question. I don't believe that you answered him.

You said you were in the SEC development program? What exactly does that mean?

1) Are you a current member of the SEC staff?
2) How does the SEC track your development? Do they assign you games at the college level-- i.e. junior college, D1,2,3 etc- and evaluate your progress at those games?
3) What ongoing training is the SEC providing you with? Who is responsible for your training- an SEC staff member?
4) How does one qualify to become a member of the SEC development program? Are you scouted and then asked to join? Iow, what are the requirements and qualifications needed to enter the program?
5) Is there a certain experience level required before you would be entered--i.e. regular season varsity high school experience for a certain number of years, state high school play-off appointments,small college schedule, etc?
6) Does this program actually assign games to you? At what levels?

Not a cheap shot. Just trying to understand the program.

[rainmaker]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

Methinks that the developmental program of the....wait for it...SEC needs to teach some of their students how to develop a thick skin. And a sense of humor.

And besides, the sarcastic comments were directed at Brandan, not sleebo, anyway!

[Mark Padgett]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

Before we move on. I'm kinda interested in the answer to Tom's question. I don't believe that you answered him.

You said you were in the SEC development program? What exactly does that mean?

1) Are you a current member of the SEC staff?
2) How does the SEC track your development? Do they assign you games at the college level-- i.e. junior college, D1,2,3 etc- and evaluate your progress at those games?
3) What ongoing training is the SEC providing you with? Who is responsible for your training- an SEC staff member?
4) How does one qualify to become a member of the SEC development program? Are you scouted and then asked to join? Iow, what are the requirements and qualifications needed to enter the program?
5) Is there a certain experience level required before you would be entered--i.e. regular season varsity high school experience for a certain number of years, state high school play-off appointments,small college schedule, etc?
6) Does this program actually assign games to you? At what levels?

Not a cheap shot. Just trying to understand the program.

Hey - at least he can spell "SEC"!

OK - that was a cheap shot.

[Mark Dexter]

Originally posted by Mark Padgett

Hey - at least he can spell "SEC"!

OK - that was a cheap shot.

Quick! What's the number for 911?

[Mark Dexter]

Originally posted by tomegun
What does it really mean to be in the development program for the SEC?
Do you get games in one of the conferences or do you just get "invited $$$$" to the camps.

Mark Dexter, what school are you teaching at and what board are you going to work on this year?

I'm teaching back in Northeast Connecticut. For basketball, I'll be IAABO Board #8 (Eastern CT) and for football, Eastern Connecticut Football Association.

[refTN]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

Before we move on. I'm kinda interested in the answer to Tom's question. I don't believe that you answered him.

You said you were in the SEC development program? What exactly does that mean?

1) Are you a current member of the SEC staff?
2) How does the SEC track your development? Do they assign you games at the college level-- i.e. junior college, D1,2,3 etc- and evaluate your progress at those games?
3) What ongoing training is the SEC providing you with? Who is responsible for your training- an SEC staff member?
4) How does one qualify to become a member of the SEC development program? Are you scouted and then asked to join? Iow, what are the requirements and qualifications needed to enter the program?
5) Is there a certain experience level required before you would be entered--i.e. regular season varsity high school experience for a certain number of years, state high school play-off appointments,small college schedule, etc?
6) Does this program actually assign games to you? At what levels?

Not a cheap shot. Just trying to understand the program.

To answer the question:

You start at what they call the launching pad of the SEC camps which is IIOC. It is not about the money. You go there the first year, if you are good enough they will invite you back, and from there if they like you enough that year and last year they put you on scholarship and you go to these other places and ref more games. From there if you are good enough or they think you have potential, you get a contract by a conference in the SEC umbrella. From there you either climb the ladder or you don't.

This is how I have understood it. I could be wrong. I, like sleebo, am in the development program and hope to progress. Hopefully I can make it to the top along with sleebo.

#1)No
#2)They don't until you get college games
#3)I really don't know the answer to this one
#4)You just have to be seen by someone in the program. I got lucky, my mentor is an OVC official.
#5)No set amount of exp. required. We had a guy with us this year that was as green as you can come. Straight out of the box.
#6) They assign your college games.

Like I said earlier. I am just going on what I heard and how I percieved everything at camp. This might not be how it is.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by refTN
[/B]

You go there the first year, if you are good enough they will invite you back, and from there if they like you enough that year and last year they put you on scholarship and you go to these other places and ref more games.
[/B][/QUOTE]What exactly does the "scholarship" entail? Iow, what exactly do you receive as part of this scholarship?

What "other places" are you talking about? That's kinda confusing. They're sending you to these "other places" and it sounds like you're being assigned games there also, but I don't really know what that means. What level games are they assigning you to- MS,high school JV&Varsity,higher levels...? Are you being evaluated/trained/critiqued at these "other place" games?

[refTN]

Originally posted by Jurassic Referee

You go there the first year, if you are good enough they will invite you back, and from there if they like you enough that year and last year they put you on scholarship and you go to these other places and ref more games.
[/B]

What exactly does the "scholarship" entail? Iow, what exactly do you receive as part of this scholarship?

What "other places" are you talking about? That's kinda confusing. They're sending you to these "other places" and it sounds like you're being assigned games there also, but I don't really know what that means. What level games are they assigning you to- MS,high school JV&Varsity,higher levels...? Are you being evaluated/trained/critiqued at these "other place" games? [/B][/QUOTE]

By "other places" I mean officiating camps like one in Las Vegas that SEC is affiliated with. They have one in Orlando and one in Indiana. You're not being assigned games, you're working games for the camps and there are evaluators and instructors there.

As far as I could gather the scholarship entails the payment that it would cost to go to these camps.

[sleebo]

1) Are you a current member of the SEC staff?
2) How does the SEC track your development? Do they assign you games at the college level-- i.e. junior college, D1,2,3 etc- and evaluate your progress at those games?
3) What ongoing training is the SEC providing you with? Who is responsible for your training- an SEC staff member?
4) How does one qualify to become a member of the SEC development program? Are you scouted and then asked to join? Iow, what are the requirements and qualifications needed to enter the program?
5) Is there a certain experience level required before you would be entered--i.e. regular season varsity high school experience for a certain number of years, state high school play-off appointments,small college schedule, etc?
6) Does this program actually assign games to you? At what levels?

1) No. One gets invited to an SEC camp (usually IIOC, but you could leap-frog to Orlando or Vegas, as a buddy of mine did). From there, you are evaluated for entry into the program. It is similar to most college gigs. You get a few games in a particular conference your first year. If you handle yourself well, your schedule will be a little nicer the next year and you may pick up another league or two. (There are about seven or eight conferences under the SEC umbrella, ranging from NAIA to D1) Over a period of time, you have the opportunity to work your way up. For instance, the guys who got picked up by the SEC this year and worked non-conference games for them have been in the program about 7 years or so. They started with NAIA ball such as the Peach Belt or Florida Sun and worked their way up through the A-Sun and OVC as well.
2) When you work in the conferences under the SEC umbrella, you will always end up on someone's game film and it will get back to Guthrie and the other supervisors. Also, the SEC has observers that show up unannounced to do evaluating.
3)We underwent extensive training at IIOC. We spent about four hours on the first night alone just going through a glossary of terms that the SEC and NBA use in talking about plays. Also, we watched a lot of game film at camp. Once you are working games in their conferences, there are weekly training tapes that must be watched at the game site by the crew as one means of pre-gaming. You are also expected to watch and break down every game tape that you are a part of.
4/5) One must be reccomended by someone who is already in the program. I am fortunate that I was something of a mentor to an individual and he got to know a current SEC official, who got him to an SEC camp. The next year (this summer) he passed the blessing on to me. So outside of the reccomendation, there are no qualifications for IIOC. Were they to put something in place in terms of an experience requirement, it would be a shame. If you disagree, look at folks like Leroy and Zach Zarba. Zach, for one, has not even been officiating for 10 years and he is in the NBA. That has a lot to do with the fact that Coach Guthrie gave him a shot when he did not have a lot of experience. Leroy (current NBA referee) did not have hardly any experience when he first went to a camp and caught the eye of Hank Nichols and some others. He was still pretty 'green' when he was brought to Coach Guthrie's attention as a prospect.
6) The SEC umbrella assigns games all the way from NAIA to DI. As all of us that went to IIOC this year, I am just hoping for a foot in the door and an invite back there next year.

[Jurassic Referee]

Thanks for the information. I think I got it right now. It's sounds like it's pretty much the same as all of the other league summer camps around the country. They evaluate the campers and the ones that show some promise or catch someone's eye might get a further shot later on to show what they can do.

Good luck to both of you. Our avocation needs all of the good, young officials that it can get. At all levels.

[Jurassic Referee]

Originally posted by sleebo


From there, you are evaluated for entry into the program. It is similar to most college gigs. You get a few games in a particular conference your first year.

Forgot to ask.

You said before that you were already in the program. Congratulations. What particular conference have they got you working in this year?

[sleebo]

I will be working in the SCAC- it is an NCAA D3 conference. I am just pumped to have a foot in the door, really. Aside from that league, I will also be working in the KIAC, which is an NAIA conference that includes several schools from Kentucky.