Just wanted to say thanks to all who provided advice and answers to my questions about the PIAA basketball test. I passed and am sending in my New Member Chapter Affiliation Form today!!!

thanks again!!

Linda

Congradulations. now your the expert.

thank you!
 

I WISH! I am very excited about starting to ref games but nervous too! I have reffed games when I worked at basketball camps but not an actual game!
Anyone care to share their reffing wisdom with me, oh wise ones??? :)

Relax, have fun and be teachable. Find a mentor and hang on.

Yea, shoot the coach :p

Congratulations! You're in for a lot of fun. This is a great game!

My advice would be to get your mechanics and positioning to the point where they are "automatic" as soon as you can. Once you reach this point, you can mentally focus entirely on the game and not worry about... is my arm straight? am I in the right spot? did I blow my whistle loud enough? is that Mel Gibson in the stands?

Good Luck :)

One thing that JeffReff forgot,
Get the rules down so you can see them in your sleep. You must be able to react to the plays, not think about what you saw and then blow the whistle--it is too late!
And finally, work as many games as you can; at any level. This will let you see more situations which don't happen a lot. But you will remember them when they re-appear again.
Good luck!

thanks everyone!!!
 

Thanks for all the helpful hints! I am looking forward to this experience. It is going to be a change because I am very use to looking at the court from the player's perspective. Can't wait to start!!!!!!!!!!

I would add one more thing! Bookmark this site and the McGriff site. Everything you're going to see has already been seen by someone else. And chances are, we've talked about it on one of the two boards. Check the boards 2 or 3 times everyday, even in the off season. You can't just crack a book in October and stick it back in a drawer in March. You have to stay on top of this stuff year round.

http://www.gmcgriff.com/refonline/ww...asketball.html

Yes do as many games as you can. Standard does not really matter at the start but watch what the players are trying to do.

Once you start to read the game you will be on your way.

Read and re-read the rules

As a woman in this business, who is starting to find her footing, I would like to give this advice, which you may or may not need depending on your personality. Dont let the men intimidate you. Period. This goes for partners, assignors, coaches, players, dads, and any other men. If you have not learned yet in other areas of your life how to not back down to men, this is the time to start practicing. I am not saying that you need to be arrogant or obnoxious. But there are plenty of men who automatically deduct 50 points from your credibility score simply because you are female, and you need to be firm and confident enough that you send the message, "Your deduction does not affect my game." I think this is why I T more coaches than most of the refs do. I finally asked a woman I know here that is very, very good at reffing, and she said, yes, she T'd a lot of coaches in her first few years. She doesn't have to now because people know and respect her and she lives up to her reputation. I know another woman ref, who has T'd very little, but her personality is different and she wins coaches over by being very and superior -- and she also is very, very good.

But the most important thing is develop confidence quickly, and project it copiously. This will help you more than anything else.

Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of officiating. BBRef offered some good advice regarding checking this group often. I usually check it first thing in the morning at work -- helps to be the boss! I remember my first "official" game as a referee (14 y/o boys in a rec game), and I was nervous as all get out, but I survived and I really enjoy officiating. I work a lot of HS ball and rec ball. I am in the northern VA area and we have leagues all year long. Our A and AA girls (smaller schools) play Fall Ball, so our scholastic program starts the first week of Sept. Anyway, congratulations and welcome.

I started in early 2000, here's what I found....

Get your first game in as soon as possible, and make your calls loud and sound assertive, then everyone else will have confidence in you.

Do as many games as you can, if you do twice as many games as everyone else then you'll have 2 years experience in your first year.

People who enjoy doing something love to talk about it and share their experiences. (Hence this board!) When you ref with someone experienced, ask them things!

Slow Down
 

I'm suprised that no one has yet mentioned this on this thread. The first thing you need to do is SLOW DOWN! Take your time becase play is not going to resume until you have completed your job. Hustle on the foor to get good position, but when you have a foul or violation take your time. Get to the reporting area and STOP. Before resuming play it is a good habit to make eye contact with your partner(s). Slow down, relax, have fun and....oh yeah, SLOW DOWN!;)

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I appreciate all the advice. Here's another question...
I sent in my form to join a chapter... do I just wait to hear now?

pester them.
 

fern2340,
Give 'em a call.
Treat it like you're lookin' for a job.
Ask 'em "Wazzup!". Ask if they are having meetings or games.
Be enthused.
mick

Re: thank you!
 

Watch the little things, they might have a big impact on your game.

1. Make sure all your equip. works and or fits properly. You can't concentrate on the game if your clothes don't fit, your whistle is broken, or if you have to hike your drawers up everytime down the floor (as well as lokking like a schmuck to ad's). And I know this sounds silly, but if you tie one shoe tie the other. Nothing drives me crazier than having one shoe tigher than the other.

2. Get to your game early and get your head in the game. Relax and get in the right frame of mind for a game. I pick a rule at random and I read it. A great pre-game helps as well. Don't let others interupt your pre-game. This will happen when you work JV. The varsity officials will come in and gossip, concentrate on your game. Ad's will want to come in and dump games, I just ask for a list of dates so I can get back to them.

3. Make a check list and double check your bag before you leave. Nothing worse then leaving yur pants, shirt, shoes etc. at home. Which leads to 4..

4. Never, and repeat back, NEVER let anyone else pack your bag. No matter how well intentioned a love one might be, they will forget somethng. Trust me. My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time surprised me by packing my bag one day when I was running late. The surprise was on me when I had no stripes.

5. Start breaking your shoes in now. Get a feel for how they fit, and if you will need insoles for the season. Your feet are your biggest asset, but can become your biggest nightmare if you neglect them.

Re: Re: thank you!
 

Brian, great list! I would only add that your bag should
have 2 of everything, including spare shoe laces,
aspirin (or your favorite pain reliever), antacid
and a few safety pins. Zippers rarely break, but
it only has to happen once for you to want it to
never happen agan!

Thanks for the list Brian!!! Some great tips I am going to remember! I learned the hard way about double-checking your bag when I played. Went to an away game and guess what-- no shoes!!! Had to have someone run to the local mall to buy a pair! I got back to school and my shoes were sitting on top of my locker mocking me!

Ok, here's another question.... uniform/equipment? Do they have these at any Modell's, or other sports store? I need to get cracking on this... anytime I need pants it takes a while to find my size (my legs are too long!)


Thanks again everyone for all the helpful info!

Linda

Funny story told at the state clinic last year. An official had his paints break just before halftime. The offiical telling the story happened to have his girlfriend in the gym that night and she always carried a sowing kit on her. At halftime she went to the locker room and sewed the paints back up for this guy's partner. The moral was, bring a spare pair of pants. He didn't want to see his girlfriend in your paints again.

Good point about the zipper. I had that happen in a volleyball match one time. Luckily I could hide on the stand.

As far as pants, there are those who love pleats and those who don't and those that like belted and those who like belt-less or sans-a-belt pants.

Me, I am a pleated with belt kind of guy. I buy polyester dress pants (to tell a family secret though, they are 95-5 polyester to rayon) at Sears they are relativly cheap and I like the fit and look. Plus I think they are cooler (both temp wise and look wise) than the true polyester pants. You will just need to keep trying on different pairs, until one works for you.

On a side note, when are they going to let us wear shorts like most every other sport?

First, I wear black compression shorts when I ref (I know, that was more than you wanted to know). That way, if my pants split a little, it's virtually unnoticed. If the split is really bad, I change to a pair of black sweatpants I carry in my bag.

As to what pants to wear, we must wear beltless with slash pockets preferred, no pleats. Most guys get Sansabelt, but I found some in the Penny's catalog that were on sale for 2 pair for under $40. The only problem is that the pocket linings are white, so if you keep a token in your pocket that you move for possession, the lining might pop out when you're moving it and it looks bush.

BTW - I use a roll of mints for my token. My partners are grateful and insist the roll be used up by the end of the game. :)