Observations
 

I work in a pretty big Assoc. We have 120 HS and about 300 refs. I always stay and watch the V game after my Frosh/JV doubleheader.

Two nights ago, middle of the pack boys game. The V refs consist of a very experienced,in shape top dog and a young, slick,good looking up and coming stud. Did a great job in a tight contest. They looked great.

Last night middle of the pack GV game. Both teams battling for a playoff spot. Both V refs were at least 40 lbs overweight. One when trail barely took 2 steps past the division line. Neither moved very well. Appearance wise they looked just horrible.

All 4 teams play summer ball.All 4 teams ,I assume practice the hour / hour and a half a day. The girls seemed to want to win as bad as the boys teams. They all put in the same time and effort.

This is a pattern I see all season long. Would the world as we know it end if the girls , once in a while, got thrown a bone and had refs that weren't candidates for stomach stapling surgery ?

What kind of job did the tubbies above do? You didn't say. We've got some guys in my association that are overweight too. That doesn't equate to being a bad official though imo. Some of 'em can plain flat out referee. I've also got some slick, good looking studs that scare t'hell outa me some times too.

They don't dictate that in the college game. It's a matter of fact that men's officials work men's games only and women's officials work women's games only.

(I really don't want to hear from you if you work a full schedule on both sides. If you do you are the rare exception.)

Around here (as in a lot of areas), the boys game always follows the girls game during double headers. I'd have bet there would be a push to get this changed more so than bothering with which night the teams played.

In our area, each assignment is a double header. The only exceptions are if a school does not field a team in that particular category. VG-VB play at one game site while JVG-JVB play at the other site. It has been like this for many years. Some conferences (usually smaller schools) play all four games at one site and one night. On these nights, the JV games cut quarters down to 7, sometimes 6 minutes per. No reduction in pay. Good night to call JV games.

The tubbies were okay. I probably shouldn't have used weight as the main point of my point. Or something.....I'm confusing myself. What I mean is the girls around here get the average refs. The only time I see top dog refs on a girls game is if it is a high profile game or at sectional playoffs. I would like to see more of the top dogs ref some of the girls games. Once in a while.....

I believe that Title IX serves a purpose. Thats all I'm trying to say , I think....

Must say something about your abilities then if you're watching THEM work a V game.

Are you trying to be as offensive as possible in your post?

Many local guys choose not to work girls games. My schedule is about 85% boys and if it were 50/50, I wouldn't be happy. You can't force guys to do something they don't want to.

I think we are overreacting a little bit here. You cannot make people who are independent contractors make them work games they do not want to work. If you do that, there will be a backlash on some level from the officiating community. I feel confident that this will never happen.

Peace

How else should I present this ?
 

No i wasn't trying to be offensive. I was just trying to present what I saw. I guess I could have said I saw a girls basketball game where the 2 refs had a genetic predisposition to being 50 lbs overweight which lead them to having a physical impairment to getting no more than 3-5 feet past the division line all evening when they were the trail official. But due to their eyes receiving a assist from these glass things that wrapped around their ears they were able to get great angles from over by the scorers table.

Someone wrote on this board once that officiating isn't rocket science it's a specific set of skills. I am well on my way to acquiring these skills. Truthfully, I would personally be embarrassed to show up to officiate looking like they looked the other night. My point was and still is you just don't see ,very often, officials looking like this on the boys side of things.

In our Association you start getting Varsity games no sooner than 5 years . I have 3 years so no Varsity for about 2 more years irregardless of how crappy or great an official I am.

In our area we have 1 assignor for 120 HS. They assignor uses the Assoc. to find refs. My observation is that only the top 10 % or so get to chose what side they work on, 35 refs or so. The rest of us take what the computer spits out or get handpicked for other reasons.

In VA, we have at least in my region

Mon: some games could be either boy/girls
Tues: FR/JV/VA, girls/boys either home or away
Weds: some not much
Thurs: Fr/JV girls or boys home or away
Fri: Vars double header
SAt: not every week but some Boys /girls Var double header

And my point was and still is that how an official looks does not equate in any way to the way that an official does his job. I have seen some absolutely great NCAA officials who like a <b>Before</b> ad. I have seen statuesque pretty-boys who just aren't very good at all, and disappear when the negative evaluations start coming in. I know some very slow officials who still know how to get into good position and also how to maintain that good position. I know some fast officials who are out of position more often than they're in position.

Iow, you can't judge officials on appearance imo.

Lucky Girls
 

No doubt. I realize that there are numerous things that go into being a good official. I realize that there are good officials who look like the before ad. I also realize there are pretty boys who are not so good officials.

Maybe I missed the boat on this one. Maybe our area is the one that sends the best officials to the girls side and make the boys play with the pretty boys. In our area none of the before ad officials are doing college, but the pretty boys seem to be.. I'm just thinking in our area the girls are really lucky then. The girls seem to be getting all the before ad officials, until the playoffs, and the assignor is sending the crappy pretty boys to the boys games.

Seriously, putting the whole weight thing aside. Boys get better refs than the girls. I see it in action. For whatever reason thats the way it is. And i don't like it nor do I think it's right.

Here's a politically incorrect take on it:

It takes a better official to work HS boys varsity than it does girls.....in every state I've lived. The ball is faster, the players are more athletic, and you have to employ advantage/disadvantage with a far keener eye in boys games. When I work girls games, I get many more coaches who want every bit of contact called as a foul and typically coach behavior is unpredictable and more likely to result in me having to take care of business than when I work boys games.

If someone more politically correct wishes to put a better spin on it, go right ahead. But officials shouldn't feel forced to work girls ball just cause they want and like working boys ball.