One Man Game
 

Today, my partner didn't show up and I had to do the first half by myself. Have any of you guys ever had to do a game by yourself and what are the "proper mechanics" for a one man crew?

I've never had to work a game by myself. However, the best mechanics I think and heard people do is to work from free throw line to free throw line. Also, just do the best you can. The coaches will hopefully understand.

I've done it - not much fun.

FT line to FT line side line away from the benches. Try to get the coaches to help with the other side line. If they disagree and you can't see it, it's a jump.

Had to do it on Tuesday when I got the call at 1 seeing if I could cover the freshmen game, my partner would do the JV and then we'd both do the varsity...trouble is the official that was supposed to work the 2 games with us didn't show.

I did 3 quarters of the frosh game alone, and ended up doing all 3 games...boys games to boot...55-53, 62-58 and 93-73 oh what fun! I'm in better shape than I thought.:p

I work it like I do trail...FT line extended to high by the center circle. Get where you need to be for the play, and sometimes you have to guess on the results of contact that you weren't in position to see...hate to do it, but game control trumps getting a good look when you are alone.

I agree on both counts - had to do it twice so far this year due to partner being late..........

Two years ago had to do it and I won't ever again. I did exactly as stated above free throw to free throw. under the board it was getting a bit rough, didn't see it and had one guy throw an elbow to the gut, fight broke out. had a couple of broken noses. I will not expose myself to any liabilities. My assignors know it. Although most of my games now are School ball and everyone shows up for that.

What tonyp said.

I had to do it last week in a boys freshman game. Fortunately it was a very easy game to call. Some of this has already been said,

• work FTL to FTL, kind of a cross between working T and C. You're going to have to work the arc agressively when the ball goes into the far corner.
• Work the side opposite the benches (you can see the table, subs, and you get the coaches out of your ear).
• Communicate, communicate, communicate. If everybody involved knows clearly what happened, and what will happen next at every whistle, it helps a lot.
• Involve your table crew. Let them know what to watch for on last-second shots and that you may come to them. If they know you want their help, they can be surprisingly helpful at other times. Because the only scoreboard was on the wall behind me, I missed that we'd gotten to the bonus in the 4th quarter. When I reported the seventh team foul the table not only informed me that we should be shooting, but who my shooter was.
• Administer free-throws from the T/C, like in the days of yore
• On throw-ins, get to where you need to be to see well, then bounce the ball to the thrower. Even if the throw-in is on the base line.
• Don't be afraid to bring the ball over to "your" side of the floor for a throw-in.
• Figure out how you're going to handle OOB calls on the far side. I had two in my game I couldn't see. The first one I asked the players who touched it last. The second I went with the jump ball. I'm not crazy about either option. (Nor am I crazy about having handled this inconsistently.) Next time I'll decide ahead of time how to handle it, and stick with it. But you may get some milage out of the old whistle, stop clock signal, pause, and watch to see which direction the players go.
• During pre-game warmups and halftime, I stayed at the halfline on the bench side of the floor so I could handle questions from the table and coaches (like "Should we wait a few more minutes for your partner?")
• Make intelligent trade-offs. Watch the ball, and try to watch one play ahead of the ball. But accept that you'll miss quite a bit.
• Pray for a sudden power outage ;)

How about work the game opposite of tableside and instruct the table crew to take some ownership on OOBs? - since they are part of the crew.

There are two schools of thought on which side to work from

1) if you are working the same side as the coach you pretty much have the same angle as the coach so when you call something it looks like what they saw... The drawback

2) You can see the table better and what's going on if you work opposite the table (substitutions etc) because you dont have your back to the table...


I have done both, luckily not very many.....I think it is what feels easiest for you to work on the floor..

I've done tons of rec games solo in my career (the most recent one yesterday). I always work FTL to FTL and alternate sides. On free throws, I always work trail.

I really think it would be easier to get one of those elevated volleyball officials chairs and set it up at the division line. I am serious.

I have done a ton of them, very rarely are there any problems. I think the coaches and players know you aren't going to see everything. For the most part they are realy great games to call. I would in some instances rather do a game alone as opposed working with some of our fellow officials.

Work hard and no one will complain and sometimes you can even get both game fees.

Opening night. There are two schools within 12 miles of one another with the same name. [some guy left both towns money to build schools] 20 minutes before game time as my partner & I are heading up to the floor, a knock comes on the door. I open it and the guy asks,"Are you Greg?" "No," I replied. Then to my partner, "Are you Greg?" "No", he replied. "Well, I am supposed to be working with Greg tonight at ______. Uh-oh. Am I at the wrong _____?"

Greg, I figure, at least started his game solo.

The last one-official game I did was one I was scheduled to work with Mark....and Mark has never missed a game!! ;)

I guess I have worked it tableside because of what the one poster said about you are seeing what the coaches are seeing and you also have a good view of the line they have. I always thought it would cut down on the whining. But I have no proof that it does.

I've also found that whenever you zig to get into position they are going to zag and you will not be where you can see the play. So don't get too frustrated because no matter where you move to try to see you will be blocked out of something.

Also tell them that it's you associations policy that you get both checks.:D

I actually had one time they did hand me both checks. But it was a junior high set. Made for a decent night.