A New City, a New Sport

[Back In The Saddle]

I also came to basketball after starting with softball and baseball. The learning curve, for me, was pretty steep. I think the whole job is way more demanding than even the plate umpire. In baseball (iirc, it's been a long time) it's all about angle, distance, and getting set to see the play. It's quite predictable, there's rarely more than one "play" going on at any time, and you have very few "bangers" in any given game. Most of the game calls itself.

Basketball is way more physical. You're required to make a lot more decisions per game, often while on the move. There is often a lot going on all at the same time. And it requires a much greater level of fitness because as you tire your judgment and how quickly you think can begin to suffer, not to mention you can lose a step and that can cost you an open look.

OTOH, "officiating" skills translate pretty readily. The ability to manage a game, deal with players and coaches, be calm under pressure, present a confident demeanor, process plays and make quick correct decisions, rules study habits, etc. are all required and you'll have a big leg up if you've already got those tools in your bag.

Welcome to what IMHO is by far the funnest and most challenging sport to officiate. Once I really got into basketball, I never looked back.

[Rich]

I started at the HS level with basketball in 1987. I didn't work my first HS baseball game until 1992 (although I umpired in 1983 on as a teen working youth games) and football in 1994.

It's hard for me to say one sport is harder or easier than the others. They're so different.

I do think it was easier for me to transition into football than it is for someone who started in baseball. I'm used to a whistle, I'm used to making calls on the move, and I'm used to the whole notion of advantage/disadvantage that is pretty foreign to baseball, where things are considerably more black and white.

Expect that you'll feel like a fish out of water for a few years. It's OK. The coaches and players, for the most part, won't even notice.

[bigbeardedbryan]

I started with baseball and added basketball seven years later (to "stay in shape" for baseball through crummy NY winter weather). For me, the toughest part was getting used to NOT making calls from a set position--to hear one of my buddies tell it, every drive of the lane when I was lead my first year had me in a standing set like I was ready to bang a runner out stealing second. He also tends to exaggerate.

That being said, I think it was harder to start working baseball, if only because it's impossible to hide a bad day behind the plate.

I'm debating adding football to the mix next season; anyone with experience with that transition care to chime in?

[IowaMike]

I did lower level baseball for a few years before I started doing basketball. I love all sports but baseball has always been my favorite and also the sport I played all through high school. By far, I now enjoy officiating basketball more than baseball, and actually gave up baseball for about five years until picking it back up this past summer.

I don't think you can say one sport is easier than the other, they are just different. Every official is essentially doing the same thing in a basketball game, but in baseball you have to make many more decisions when working the dish. The hardest thing for me in baseball is maintaining my focus in the field at times. Baseball is all about positioning and distance and I also think it is more rules intensive. Basketball in my opinion is more free flowing and allows more room for interpretation because we are taught to see things from an advantage/disadvantage viewpoint. I felt more comfortable on a baseball diamond for my first game than I did on the court. I felt like I was seeing about a three square foot area at one time when I officiated my first basketball game. I feel like I get more abuse in baseball, partly because the coaches are out there on the field, and also because you don't move much and are kind of a sitting target. Crowd noise can also be a beautiful thing in basketball.

If you have officiated any sport for awhile, it will help you when you take up another. The game management skills and ability to handle coaches and players are invaluable skills that will translate over to any other sport you work. I know that when I went back to baseball after five more years of varsity experience on the basketball court, I was much more effective at dealing with disputes and unpleasant coaches. Those skills were strengthened working basketball. I too have been kicking around the idea of taking up football next year; it looks like it would be a blast.