A New City, a New Sport
 

Hey everybody, with my move to a new city (and state) I've decided that I'd like to start officiating basketball in addition to the other sports I currently work. I will be attending my first training class tomorrow.

Though I've been lurking this forum for a while, I'm looking forward to participating this season (well aside from the occasional off-topic post). :)

Has anybody else here taken on officiating basketball after having previously worked other sports? How was the learning curve?

I got into the craft of officiating through another sport, then got into bball a couple years later. I've found that one assists the other.

I did baseball first and very shortly after picked up basketball. I found the learning curve to be steep. Basketball demands as many calls and the same quickness as a plate umpire has to make, all while running up and down the court. This makes reffing as demanding in terms of judgment and more demanding physically as umpiring.

Game management is also challenging, although in my state more coaches are ejected in baseball than in any other sport besides soccer (and soccer has nearly twice as many). Part of the challenge is dealing with obnoxious coaches after having run around the gym for 90 minutes.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Looks like I'm in good company, then. I failed to mention in my post but I've been umpiring baseball and softball for about 12 years and football for 2. I'm starting to better grasp the idea of advantage/disadvantage so fortunately that won't be a foreign concept to me.

My first training clinic went well last night...except for the fact it turns out they've been doing this for a few weeks already. Ah the joys of moving! Fortunately the training staff was very accomodating and I pretty much jumped right into practicing calling fouls and violations.

The mechanics of rotating, closing down, PCAs and transitions are pretty foreign to me and I'm going to be playing some catch up there. I have an NFHS official's manual on the way but in the mean time, does anybody know of a website that has a crash course on the basics of these things? I'd really appreciate it.

All in all, I think I'm going to really enjoy doing this once I put the time in to learn. Now I need to go order up some uniforms and shoes. I'm thinking Smitty shirts and pants (much to my wife's glee).

It's fun to be the rookie again. :D

Welcome to Houston! You'll find there is some very good play here, both girls and boys.

What part of town are you living in? Email me, and I can get you pointed in the right direction.

Hey Frank, I just sent you a private message. Thanks!

I managed to dig up a couple of presentations previously posted here that should get me started.

Smitty shirts and Sansabelt pants.

Rex at Between the Lines sells both I believe. Great guy and good prices.

This is my third year doing basketball, and the spring will be my second year doing baseball. I definitely picked baseball up more quickly, and I know for a fact that basketball helped with game management in baseball.

Basketball is a tougher game overall to officiate for me, but I enjoy both a lot. I love the crowd getting into the game in basketball, something that doesn't happen a whole lot in high school baseball.

Oh and I started doing a little softball this fall. The games are quick, but they are sure boring.

I know you are a football official. Basketball officiating will make your judgment better in football and your rules knowledge in football will make you a better rules person in basketball. Basketball is basically a judgment sport from an officiating standpoint. We have very few complicated rules situations in basketball that you see on a regular basis, unlike football. You will benefit from being a multi-sport official and basketball in my opinion is the hardest out of them all.

Peace

Welcome aboard to the Houston Chapter. Lots of good basketball and some real ugly ones. Let me know what part of town you will work, maybe we can work a few. You can pick up on what not to do from looking at me.:D

JFlores, based upon where I live and work, I'll primarily be working for Bart and whomever assigns the HISD schools. It sounds like there are a ton of games to go around.