After seven years, I'm hangin'em up. :(

Seven years of rec ball that is. :)

When I moved back to this area, where I grew up, I started working rec ball to get to know the "right people." It's worked out fine. I officiatd in the local youth leagues for 2 years. The AD for the county recreation dept. is a well respected official with strong ties in the local association. I talked with him about officiating school ball and he hooked me up with the local booking agent. That first year I worked all the middle school and JV games that I wanted. The second year in the association I worked a 50 game varsity schedule. It's all been good since then.

But I've continued to work rec ball. There's a desperate need for quality officials, in both adult and youth leagues. My AD friend, who is also the Referee on my varsity football crew, another dividend from rec ball, asked me to continue to work. And I have because he's helped me so much in basketball and football. He gives me whatever games that I want. If a championship game is played, I'm there. If I need to be close to home, I'm there.

But I told him yesterday, that after seven years, this would be my last year. I think it's hurting me when I walk onto a high school gym floor. The type of crap that occurs in rec ball can cause you to lose focus and see things that you should ignore in a varsity game. While you can't ignore idiots in rec ball, you sometimes have to in high school. In rec ball, you sometimes have to call out of your area, to keep someone from getting killed, or you have to call a T a bit quicker to keep the game under control.

So, after 7 years, I think I've paid my dues. My friend understands and he thinks it's the right move as well. It's time to move on. Maybe attend a D2 or D3 conference camp this summer. Or maybe just sit back and take some weekends off during the fall and winter. In any case, rec ball has served me well.

But it's time to move one.

Had me scared for a minute there, Tony!!

Tony,
That's interesting and astute that you see a possibility of "habits" forming where you don't want them to manifest themselves.

I see that also when working with partners from other levels be it an interpratation or a mechanic.

A given play causes us to react with our lightning quick reflexes in a certain manner and sometimes the "knee jerk" reponse is to go with a strange mechanic or reaction, based upon where we most often see that given action occur.

Then, too, it is near the end of a long season and lack of concentration due to fatigue and a G.O.S. meter that is reading pretty low can affect our overall attitudes and performance.

With that in mind, this "last few minutes of the season" could be a good time for us to remind ourselves to take our whole package to the game, the package we brought with us in September, or November, when this season started.

mick (only three more weeks (...sigh!))

For what it's worth, TH, I think it's the right decision. You've certainly done your part to help out the league. I made the same decision 2 seasons ago. I still do an occasional game or two to help out when an assignor is in a pinch, but it was time to give it up.

The only downside to your decision is that you may be getting an "I told you so" from Rut soon. :D

Chuck

I made that decision last year and cut back significantly,
had about 6 "rec" dates this season, all were last minute
emergencies. Glad I "got out", you will be too. It's
gonna be a while until the phone calls stop coming in, so
remember to just say no! ;)

You know Tony, I have been thinking about this myself. I had done rec ball for the past 6 years and I just can't seem to tell my assignor NO!:( He is also a good friend. I have cut back quite a bit, and I now only do games (usually a 3-game set) on either Sat. or Sun., but not both. I will also occassionally do a rec game during the week but this is rare because my HS schedule is at least 2 nights a week and is often 3 nights a week. We do see a lot of crap in rec games that we don't see at the HS level.

Enjoy you weekends off :D

Sounds like "brownpop" ain't the cure for this one!If you're not enjoying it,you shouldn't be doing it.If it's screwing up your mechanics and the way you know a game should be called,you shouldn't be doing it.Good luck with the D2&3,even though I don't think luck is going to be any kind of a factor.

My tolerance for rec players is not really an issue. It doesn't take very long for a player or a team to learn that I have a very low tolerance for bull$hit.

But my tolerance for some of the officials that I've worked with lately is even lower. From a couple of recent games with the same official:

-He failed to call a hard foul on B1 who was trying to foul to stop the clock. B1 then ate this guy up for the last minute of the game and for 5 minutes after the game was over. No T, no nothing. This official was bragging about how he ejected a player, of a different ethnic persuasion, the night before on one T. Yet, it took tons of crap from this player, who was the same race, and never said a word. Unfortunately, it was painfully obvious.

-The next time we have the same team, my partner is at T, I'm at C. B1 has come into the game and is guarding A1, 5 feet in front of me. B1 fouls A1. As I blow my whislte, so does my partner, the T from 40 feet away. I take the call. 2 trips down the floor, and it happens again, except this time, I didn't blow because there was now foul. I steamin'! At the half, I say, "Tommy, when you blow one from 40 feet away, you make us both look bad." He replies, "No, I'm gonna get him for last week!" So now, he's going to get this guy!! Evidentally, he's suddenly grew some balls! Every time B1 made any contact the rest of the game, my "partner" called a foul on him. :(

The same guy also:
-Called a foul at the top of the key in the BC, from the endline in the FC as the LEAD!
-Called 2 T's on a player who dunked 6 times during warm-ups and then didn't eject the guy.
-Called a kicking violation when the ball bounced off a player's foot.
-Called 3 jump balls on OOB plays when he didn't know who touched it last.
-Overruled the L from C on an OOB call.

Anyway, you get the general idea. And, of course, such people are unteachable. No wonder rec leagues and officials get such a bad rep.

Are you telling us that three-man officiating crews are used in recreational league basketball?

Mark T. We use a 3-person crew in some of our rec games, depending on the age of the players and their "reputation". We have one league in particular (B-18) where the rule is "3 T's on the same team" is a forfeit. Seen more that a few games forfeited -- they just don't seem to understand, and there is a lot of talent in this league. We also run a 3-person JV league in the summer to help everyone polish their 3-person skills. We do 3-person in all varsity games.

Yes sir, that's what I'm telling you. The city rec dept. here uses 3 man and pays $16 a game. When I lived in Greensboro in 1992, we were using 3 man in adult rec leagues.

Hear, hear!!

Come to northern VA. We pay $23 - $26 per official in 3-person rec game.

I like! Much better than what I make for a 2-man rec game :).

If I remember correctly, you are in the D.C. area. Why not come over to CBOA? We are always looking for officials. You would be an anomaly at the rec level -- you actually know the rules. :D

I would love to start reffing AAU/JV/Rec ball for CBOA (or any of the other associations around DC), but I don't have a car with me at college. If the mileage fee includes car rental, I'm there! :D

I really don't know how you guys do it, working rec leagues all the time. I worked a tournament this weekend and was disgusted at the level of unsportsmanship from the players and coaches. Believe it or not, didn't have many problems with the fans. The levels were from 4th grade girls to 8th grade boys and we went back and forth every game so it was a little hard adjusting from one game to the next. I was working with guys that do D-II college and high school and had coaches telling their kids how bad we were and not to worry about it. The worst team I had twice and they got into a fight after the game with the other teams coach because there girl (5th grade) bent a girls hand backwards in the shake hands line after beating them by 25. Their girls whined about every call, the assistant coach approached me during a time out and suggested I was taking the rest of the game off because they had a 20 point lead. The only funny thing I had was in the second game I had with the unsporting team they were winning by 10 in the fourth quarter, other team had the ball and girl is dribbling down the court, I'll call them team B. Team A girl reaches in across her body and I call a foul, report it and tell them two shots. Team B girl turns to me and says "but, she didn't touch me", I said "don't tell me that, go shoot your free throws". My partner and I had a good laugh over that one.

I cannot believe it took you so long.
 

I have not done a rec game of any kind sense my first year. I will not ever do them again.

But then again, I lived in an area where rec. games are basicially Men's leagues. Maybe some consider AAU to be the same thing (which I do on a rare occasion). But I would only do games that were related to schools, not some sponsor. But then again, the definition is different from on local to another.

Peace

Same here.
 

Rut,
Our Rec League is men, also.
My partner is the assignor, but I haven't worked this year.
A couple of times when offered, I told him I would work rather than see him work alone. But he's found someone to work those games.
I hafta watch <u>West Wing</u> that night anyway.
mick

Rec leagues are just the most fun, aren't they? Two Saturdays ago, I'm doing a 6th grade boys game in my local league. I've been on the Board of the league for 12 years, so I usually don't get any flak from anyone. The game was really close and both teams were 6-0 going in. Of course, coming out, one team was going to be 7-0 and the other 6-1 - duh.

Immediately after the game, a parent from the losing team came up to me and asked me if the reason I "didn't call any fouls" was because I wanted to get the game over with quickly. I just stared at the moron and then told him it would be in his best interests to leave immediately without saying another word. To his credit, he did.

This Saturday, I had the same team. This time, they won by about 12. In the last minute, one of their players with the ball was bumped near the sideline and I called the push on the opponent. It wasn't a huge bump and the dribbler had a fairly clear path to the basket (although you never know at that level what may happen), but I had been calling less contact than that a foul the entire game, so the whistle just went off instinctively.

Their coach said, "Mark, you could have let that one go." I knew he meant he thought his kid was going to get an easy layup. I stopped and stared right at the fan from the previous week and said in a loud voice, "Yeah, normally I would let that one go, but I didn't want some moron in the stands to think I just wanted to go home early."

Everyone turned to look at the guy. When the game was over, he just walked quickly and directly out of the gym. The coach came over to me and said he knew I would never put anything above player safety and that in his 5 years in the league, never had any problem with the level of contact I called, including the previous week.

I just said, "OK", because I very rarely take anything a rec coach says with any validity, even compliments.

You mean you aren't going to have some weird sitch where the refs approve a tie score, so each team gets half a victory? ;)

Re: I cannot believe it took you so long.
 

I was wondering what took so long for this post to appear! :D

Rec games can be good for young officials. My opinion concerning this has not changed. I have continued to work because I was needed and wanted to help the people who have helped me. I'd do it again if i had it to do over. But right now, it's simply time to move on.

This is true. There are different situations, depending on where one lives. In my area, if it weren't for people like myself, many kids would not have an opportunity to play basketball. That, in itself, is important enough for me to work these games.

Re: Re: I cannot believe it took you so long.
 

These are all true if you want officials to get so frustrated that they quit. But then again, your definition of rec. leagues are vastly different than my definition.

And even AAU games can be a nightmare for young officials. Where else can you learn to get called everything in the book and the participants have very little consequences for their actions.

I like to stick to school run games, at least they have a much greater of responsibility and accountability for all involved. That is where you really learn the craft. Not by doing a league that a bunch of adults run a league and try to live in the past.

Peace