Opinions Sought
 

I have been officiating HS basketball for 16+ years. I have worked all classes, boys and girls, conference tournaments, and I am regularly assigned games during the district tournaments. I have also been to the state tournament as an alternate. I have worked with officials who have more experience than I at the HS level. The majority of these mroe experienced officials also work some form of college basketball (NAIA, D1, D2, D3, junior college, etc.) These officials are telling me to make the jump to college ball. One of their reasons is that it will improve my game at the HS level. What is the opinion of the officials here who still work both levels?

I am currently a HS Official and I am trying to make that jump too. I have been to D1 camps the last several years and hopefully will go to Nike on next year. I am currenly doing some college scrimmages and trust me, it does help you in HS. I gave me a big boost in confidence as well as a better understand. You will see a major difference if you start moving towards the college level. Just beware that when you start moving in that direction, you will leave others behind and it may cause some to assume that you think you are better then those who choose not to move. Good luck and stay humble.

Officiating college ball will almost definitely help your officiating at the HS level. I'm very confident of that. But if that's your only reason for moving to the college level, I don't think it's worth it. There are other ways to improve your HS officiating. You can go to camps that are aimed at college officials. They will teach "college-level" techniques and philosophies that you might not hear otherwise. You can find a buddy who does work college ball and go to his/her games and ask LOTS of questions.

Working college ball is a MUCH bigger time commitment and usually involves a lot more travel than HS ball. (My longest drive for a college game is 3.5 hours. My longest drive for a HS game is 40 min.) Additionally, I'm required to be at the game site 1.5 hours before tip-off. So if I have to drive 3 hours to Vermont, that's 6 hours of driving time, plus 1.5 of sitting at the game site, plus 2 hours for game and shower.

Plus you have to attend meetings for college ball which may not be very close to you. My pre-season meeting was a 2-hour drive each way this year, and the meeting itself was 3 hours. So your whole Sunday is shot. And since I couldn't make my "local" meeting this year (due to a scheduling conflict), I had to go to an alternate meeting, which was 3+ hours away. This is all for a D3 schedule, BTW.

If this all fits into your lifestyle, and you feel excitement over "moving up", then absolutely go for it. I'm not trying to discourage you. And it will definitely help your HS game. But if you're only doing it to get to a state final, I don't personally think it's necessarily the best way to go. I would instead invest in some high-quality camps, spend 2 or 3 weeks over the summer to polish my game, and let my supervisors know about it.

On the other hand, if there's a Juco league in your area that doesn't require a lot of travel and time commitment, then that's something that would definitely be worth looking into. There's nothing like that around me, but other areas of the country may do things differently. If so, that's what I would aim for.

Again, I would in no way try to discourage you if it's what you want to do. I just want to give you a picture of how things work around here so that you can have a little more info before making a decision. Good luck with whatever you decide.

I've heard that Nike and Adidas are getting out of the camp business. Have you heard differently?

SperlingPE - I absolutely agree with everything Chuck said.

And, he said it so eloquently, too.

I'm just glad to hear that after 16 years, you still think you need to improve and are willing to do what it takes to do so. Great attitude! Good luck.

I think everyone should always think that they can improve, otherwise you remain stagnet.

Good Attitude.

Good Luck.

This is the version with Ron Jeremy instead of Jack Webb.

Here I was, giving you props for being so eloquent, and on your very next post you come up with a Ron Jeremy reference.

I expect that from The Crustaceous One. ('Ol Crusty?)

I have been quietly moving up the college levels for the last few years and as Chuck said there are considerations such as time commitments that are important. However for me, the adrenaline that comes from the higher level of play makes up for the disadvantages. This season is my first at the CIS level which is the highest level for Canadian universities and so far it has been a great experience as we started this weekend with a pre-season tournament.

It was just a matter of time to come up with a wise remark. Of course we all don't walk around with the Webster in our back pocket. you do know that stunts your growth..

Of course not. Of course, some of us have an education and know how to spell "stagnant" without running to the dictionary. :shrug:

Yep, I agree. It would also inhibit my social life if I walked around with him in my back pocket.
http://image.com.com/tv/images/proce...df/7e/7649.jpg

I don't know Chuck. I think "carrying around a dictionary in your back pocket" is a pretty good excuse for being stunted. I've never heard a better one?:p

My success is not based on spelling. I have enough education for me to be a very successful executive in an engineering firm. Engineers are not known for how to write or spell. We engineer. I probably stooped to your childish level by even giving you as much information as I have..

P.S. Education by no means make you any better than me. or anyone else. What has your big education gotten you?

Peace to you Good Sir.....

Lighten up VA. He was joshing you, and you got all prickly. He doesn't joke with people that he doesn't respect -- it was a compliment!

I are a enjineer to. Langwich skills are very overated if yuo ask me, no reeson why an enjinere would ever need to <s>komu</s> <s>cummu</s> <s>comun</s> talk good.

I aresn't an enjenier...eye be just a teechur, but eye thinks eye kan cumunikate real gud two...maibe REFVA kneeds two moov bak to that uther bord an stai ther...

Back to the original post: moving up, as Chuck said, will definitely improve your officiating ability...however, one point to consider is the difficulty (at times) moving back and forth between different philosophies of calling the game. Things that are "let go" in the NCAA game are supposed to be called in HS games consistently...I have never found it to be that big of a problem, but I know several close friends who stopped doing HS games because they couldn't - or wouldn't may be a better word - remember the distinctions between the two games!

REFVA -- even if you didnt mention you were an enjunir I could have figured that out by your lack of a sense of humor...cuz I thought the reference to Ron Jeremy was very poignant and funny.

Stagnet -- good one Chuck. This was an offshoot (mind the pun) of Dragnet, that wonderful po-leece drama.

Point well taken! Sorry for my actions..

Whoa there, Tiny Tim, I disagree completely with that.

I worked in several different engineering disciplines over the years, including industrial, plant, design and process. Let me assure you that writing and spelling are as important to your job as anything else that might be involved, and usually more so. If you make a mistake in a contract proposal due to bad/wrong writing/spelling, it could cost your company thousands/millions of dollars. And your secretary sureasheck isn't always going to catch all of the missing nuances of your mistakes either.

Engineers are known to be as anal as hell when it comes to writing or spelling, as they relate to their job.

JMO obviously.:)

No, that was Ron Jeremy.

What happened to Mr Potato Head?

You are correct, but we have tools available to us such as spell check, Thesaurus and other such tools. When we deliver contracts we have people double check and triple check. I come to this board to enhance my knowledge as a referee and should feel comfortable to express my thoughts; I should feel comfortable to post my thoughts and not get berated or corrected for my spelling. I want to learn and hopefully add to the posting.

I want to be part of the group and not be an outsider. I also would like to be corrected for refereeing abilities. I just want to feel comfortable to express without being judged. Some of posting at times doesn’t even make sense; you don't see me poking fun at them. IMO

I guess I need to be less serious.

1) Yup, and that's exactly why I said writing and spelling sureasheck <b>is</b> important.

2) You weren't being judged. And a lot of us have poked fun at others here because of spelling/grammar mistakes. I've been on both ends of that one too. Nobody means anything by it, and nobody is really that serious about it either. If we can't have a little fun with each other, then who can we have fun with?

JMO.

You're missing the point. You don't need to be serious all the time, you don't need to never be serious. You just need to know when to be serious and when not to. When Chuck made a comment about "stagnet" he wasn't insulting or judging you. He just thought that the incidental misspelling brought up a funny image in his mind, and he was sharing that. It had zero to do with your reffing. If you want to be a part of the in-group, you have to recognize when you're being included. Your apology for "your actions" is a good start. Now continue from there, by seeing the humor in the misspelling of stagnet, acknowledging that and moving on.

And by the way, I completely agree with what you said on the actual topic of this thread.

"I think everyone should always think that they can improve, otherwise you remain stagnant. " And I expect Chuck, Dan, JR, and everyone else on here would agree, too. Otherwise they'd have disagreed with the content, and not just joshed you about one little typo.

Understood, And Yes I didn't understand his comment and took it personally. Sorry to all.

I accept when I am tooottaaally wrong!

Okay, well forget the whole "insider" thing, then, because we're all a bunch of #$%&*(*&%$# who can't handle it when we get corrected about anything. At least, according to a few coaches and several parents I could name....

Thanks for the opinions and humorous discourse.
I am not worried about the logistics. There are two NAIA conferences nearby and a junior college conference close by. The officials that I have worked with have suggested my name to the conference assignors. I guess it is time to pursue this at least for my improvement.

I forgot to ad that I am an engineer as well.

Then good luck. It's probably too late for you to get games for this season, tho, isn't it?

Now that's funny right there...:p

Once upon a time there was an engineer,
Choo-Choo Charlie was his name we hear...

Sorry. I think I might need some of Padgett's meds now too.

Anyway, like I said before, I agree with all of Chuck's comments. I might add another thought or two about the differences between HS and college. Last season, I had a HS game on a Friday night, and a college game on Sat. afternoon. The Fri. night game happened to be at a small school that co-ops their football with another school, so they celebrated homecoming at this basketball game. The gym was packed, banners everywhere, conference game. The atmosphere was wonderful, and our crew had a good game. Our check was for $40. The next day, I had a juco women's game where there were 20 people in the stands. Sometimes the only sound you heard was the squeak of the sneakers. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and I walked out with a check almost 3 times the amount from the night before. The only reason I remember this was because after the game, one of the coaches asked me why I still work HS ball. The night before was the perfect example.

Working college, at least for me, has definitely helped with my experience. But sometimes, there's nothing like the rush that comes from working in that packed HS gym.

Remember this is coming from a guy that will never have the opportunity to work at the college level...started doing this too late in life to have any chance past HS varstiy.

I think there is only one reason an official should attempt to make the jump from high school to college officiating...you want to. (I know that is grammatically incorrect :) )

As others have said, there are ways to improve the quality of your high school work without working college. If you WANT to work college ball, go for it. Either way, good luck.

You are not allowed to post an ad on this site. Spam alert! :eek:

What?

Anyway, it is too late to get any games. However, I am going to get to work some jv games this year with some of my more experienced colleagues to help transition to the college level.

How will that help your transition to college ball?:confused: You're working with a completely different rulebook in a game that's being officiated (hopefully) with a completely different philosophy too.

The jv games are jv college games.
As far as different philosophy, that may be partially true.
However, the rules are college rules.

I misunderstood your post.

My bad.

Nevermind....

Lame attempt at humor. Sorry I tried to add that.