Board Ratings And Rankings

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

My question is: why are JV officials rating Varsity officials? I don't think I'd be real comfortable with a 2nd year official rating me.

How many years of experience would an official need before you would be comfortable? There are some great basketball scouts who never could play a lick. Similarly, you don't have to be a great official to recognize officiating talent. In our group, officials are allowed to take part in the ratings system in their third year. It has never been a problem. What would be a problem is to label those officials as "JV officials" and only let them be rated by the "varsity officials." That would smack of a "good old boy" system and would tend to limit advancement and protect the status quo.

Z

[ChuckElias]

Originally Posted by zebraman

How many years of experience would an official need before you would be comfortable? There are some great basketball scouts who never could play a lick. Similarly, you don't have to be a great official to recognize officiating talent.

No, but you do have to at least understand the rudiments of quality officiating. I'd be willing to bet that 98% of second-year officials don't know enough about positioning, mechanics, or judgment to give an informed rating of an official in a high-level varsity game. So either pick an arbitrary number, like 5 years of experience, or say that Varsity officials are only rated by other Varsity officials.

What would be a problem is to label those officials as "JV officials" and only let them be rated by the "varsity officials."

I'm not suggesting that at all. JV officials could be rated by any official who works JV or higher. It just seems to me that a 2nd year official isn't qualified to rate a Varsity official. JMO.

[zebraman]

Originally Posted by ChuckElias

So either pick an arbitrary number, like 5 years of experience, or say that Varsity officials are only rated by other Varsity officials.

I'm not suggesting that at all. JV officials could be rated by any official who works JV or higher. It just seems to me that a 2nd year official isn't qualified to rate a Varsity official. JMO.

I have no problem with requiring an experience factor like years of service before an official can participate in a ratings system (although five years seems quite long since I've seen some great third-year officials) . But when you start saying things like "only varsity officials should rate other varsity officials," you run the risk of creating something of a "good old boy" system where the top guys always rate each other high and keep each other high. That makes it pretty hard for a great young official to break into that group.

Z