Reffing women's basketball

[socalreff]

It is somewhat frustrating to see women moving up way faster than they would if they were men on the men's side. Around here, a lot of them are set up to fail because they get picked up to do college games far before they are ready.
I've seen officials who have lots of potential but don't have their foundation in place before they're thrown into the fire. There seems to be a perception that everyone wants to see women officials in the women's game. However, I've talked with plenty of coaches and players who are immensely frustrated by this philosophy --- specifically, having officials on their games that are not ready to be there. Most of them say they prefer men on their games because the men they get are usually more experienced and better prepared by the time they get to the college ranks than the women. There are obviously many exceptions and I am no way saying that men are better officials than women. I've reffed with many many outstanding women officials. I just wonder if any official is ready for Div. 1 in their 2nd or 3rd year of officiating. I've seen it around here with women but never with men.