All by myself

[Squrl33]

I ref'd a game by myself last night. My partner never showed up or sent a replacement. I just need to know if this happens again, where should I be on the court to get the best "possible" view?

[BigDave]

When this happens to me, I like to work free throw line to free throw line.

Before the game starts, bring the coaches together and tell them the situation. Let them know that you are gonna work your butt off, but probably miss a few.

In my experience, this puts them at ease and they lay off so you can work.

[Mark Padgett]

When this happens, I get my volleyball chair out of the trunk, set it up at the division line opposite the benches, and just point one way or another.

[Paul in Seattle]

Consider yourself always trail...unless there's something critical which can draw you down to the baseline. Use the bounce on inbounds to save yourself a little running (since you can't "box in" players all by yourself!)

[Jeremy Hohn]

I usually will work it like a "c" official in a three man crew. Work it free throw line to free throw line, and then curl toward the baseline when the action warrants. Tell the players to play on until they hear a whistle because the opposite ends of the floor may be hard to cover and they may see the ball hit the line or something like that and stop. I would also suggest working the side of the floor next to the coaches so they don't try to keep "helping" you on calls opposite of you. Good luck!

[Tim Roden]

I like working opposite the coaches. When it goes out of bounds on coaches side, the table or the coaches can help in determining who gets the ball. Also on the otherside, there is less dissention about a call because they know they don't have the same angle you have and therefore you probably didn't see what they saw. You're forgiven. I always work from the C position. If I find the game getting ugly, I may work from the lead the whole game. It is not recommended though. The only game I did that on was a short floor with girls. Free throws are from the C or trail position.

[Wayne Coffey]

Someone (I think on this board) once suggested that you work the game from the C position, but Table side. The reason given for this was so you have approximately the same angle as the coaches and can generally see what they are seeing. I have tried this and it seemed to work fairly well.

[pizanno]

You may also consider the level of play. When it is a younger level (or less skilled), I sometimes stay on the right side of the basket (as trail) with the expectation for dribblers to go right (left for lefties).