College & HS

[eyezen]

My purpose of my post is not really a question per say, but rather thoughts that I've had so far from this young season.

This is my second season in which I've had the privilege of refereeing college basketball. Even though most my games so far have been Nowhere U vs BFE State, I have come to really appreciate the talents and abilities of the players at the higher level, more than I thought I would. Particularly in respect to being able to play through contact and it has really made me work hard at seeing the whole play through. Although I am still adjusting to the speed, it is starting to become more comfortable this season. Beyond scrimmages, I've had the opportunity to call 4 games so far this season and every one I've come out feeling relatively confident in how the game went. Not that I was perfect by any means, but just confident in myself that I gave a them a good game. Having good partners at this level makes all the difference in the world.

Now, having said this, my HS games, of which I've had 4 as well, has been a mixed bag. I've always expected that my HS games would become easier in time because of the experience gained at the college level. I have found that mentally I have to work as hard or even harder than before for a myriad of reasons. The players are just not as good (nor I would expect them to be) which makes the games harder to call. (No different than JH vs HS).

One thing I have found that at the college level is, for the most part, the fouls "jump" out at you. When a kid goes to the hole and gets fouled, you know it. What a kid can and cannot play through is so different from one player to another at the HS level. In college, even if the teams are mismatched, the players on an individual level can usually handle their own. In HS, when one team overmatches another, it is a good bet that the players of the weaker team will not be able to match their counterparts on the other, resulting sometimes for an uneven game.

I know that this is a bunch of rambling on, but I just wanted to share my experiences and thoughts. Hopefully it will help someone out there making similar transitions.

[truerookie]

I really don't see the difference between the two levels. As long as you see the whole play the calls: violations and fouls will stand out. My 2%.

[Spence]

Brand new official. In my very short time I've found the higher the level of talent the easier it is to call. Freshman girls games are rough to call.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by Spence

Brand new official. In my very short time I've found the higher the level of talent the easier it is to call. Freshman girls games are rough to call.

Try 7th grade girls games.

[Back In The Saddle]

Try 4th graders, boys or girls.

[Adam]

Try moderating a web board with a bunch of referees....

[zebraman]

I don't know if I completely agree. Sometimes the line of "foul or no foul" is tougher at college because of how much they can play through. However, if you have a patient whistle and see the entire play, (as you said) you will have no trouble adjusting between the levels.

[zm1283]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

Try 4th graders, boys or girls.

Done that too.

The funny thing is that parent and coach behavior gets worse the further down you go. I refereed a fundraiser tournament last year. It was wreck league and AAU-type teams. In one of the games (I think it was 4th grade) a lady comes out of the stands after the game and comes at me while I'm standing in front of the scorer's table. I turn around just as she's getting in my face accusing me of "cussing and flipping the kids off" during the game. (Of course they had just lost....they scored about 20 points in three games that day) By this time, the people running the tournament as well as some of the other redneck parents had also came down there. After she changed her story three times (First it was "several" kids that said this...it ended up being "one kid" although she didn't know which one it was) we told them all to take a hike.

[Adam]

Just like coaches, parents at the lower levels often need to learn the proper behaviors for basketball games. YMCAs are generally better than AAU games due to the structure and accountability.