How far does an official run/walk during a typical game?

[HoopsRefJunior]

I assume this topic has been covered on here before, but I could not find evidence of the topic in a brief search of the forum....

Is there a study out there that reveals how far high school officials run/walk during a typical 32-minute game?

I'm sure there will be plenty of humorous responses, but I'd appreciate a legitimate response as well.

Happy New Year!!

[Freddy]

Two years ago I clipped one of those little pedometers discreetly to the inside of my waistband. If memory serves me correctly, each game resulted in about 5 miles. That seemed like a lot, I think because the meter registered steps and strides the same. So I think the result was too high.
Looking forward to other responses.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Freddy

If memory serves me correctly, each game resulted in about 5 miles.

iirc, thats about the same as some "study" published in refmag 7 or so years ago.

[Freddy]

All games snowed out here tonight , which gave me time to calculate:
At 20 seconds per possession a 32 minute game yields 96 possessions.
Going C to C, Trail to Lead, Lead to Trail requires a minimum of 42' on a standard sized high school court.
96 possessions x 42' = 3232'.
Which is why my previously reported five miles seemed to be awful high. Or maybe I had to cross the court far too often because partners at C and T failed to pick up on rotations.

[Mark Padgett]

Me? Walk 1/2 mile. Run 0.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Freddy

All games snowed out here tonight , which gave me time to calculate: At 20 seconds per possession a 32 minute game yields 96 possessions. Going C to C, Trail to Lead, Lead to Trail requires a minimum of 42' on a standard sized high school court. 96 possessions x 42' = 3232'. Which is why my previously reported five miles seemed to be awful high. Or maybe I had to cross the court far too often because partners at C and T failed to pick up on rotations.

You should have just given me the numbers and I could have figured it out in a jiffy using my new slide rule. Now if I can only figure out where to purchase a pocket protector. I'll check out Staples' nerd department tomorrow.

[Mark Padgett]

BillyMac - loved your movie.

[26 Year Gap]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

You should have just given me the numbers and I could have figured it out in a jiffy using my new slide rule. Now if I can only figure out where to purchase a pocket protector. I'll check out Staples' nerd department tomorrow.

No need to go out.

NEW CLEAR PLASTIC SHIRT POCKET PROTECTOR BUY4 SHIP FREE - eBay (item 140350652750 end time Jan-04-10 08:07:16 PST)

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by Freddy

All games snowed out here tonight , which gave me time to calculate:
At 20 seconds per possession a 32 minute game yields 96 possessions.
Going C to C, Trail to Lead, Lead to Trail requires a minimum of 42' on a standard sized high school court.
96 possessions x 42' = 3232'.
Which is why my previously reported five miles seemed to be awful high. Or maybe I had to cross the court far too often because partners at C and T failed to pick up on rotations.

It can't be more than two or three miles. The court just isn't big enough for the number to come out higher than that.

Of course, there are many factors that impact this: is it an up and down game or a half-court affair, is there a shot clock, is it 2-man or 3-man, what kind of physical shape is the official in, etc.

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by Freddy

All games snowed out here tonight , which gave me time to calculate:
At 20 seconds per possession a 32 minute game yields 96 possessions.
Going C to C, Trail to Lead, Lead to Trail requires a minimum of 42' on a standard sized high school court.
96 possessions x 42' = 3232'.
Which is why my previously reported five miles seemed to be awful high. Or maybe I had to cross the court far too often because partners at C and T failed to pick up on rotations.

Freddy,
I have modified your numbers a little bit. Typically, teams get about 2 possessions per minute of play meaning that there will be closer to 128 possessions in total. Plus, let's assume a 94 foot court (most of the HS gyms I work in are this length). If we assume that the trail works to the 28' line and that the lead works 4 feet beyond the baseline (oops, endline -- special for you Cobra), each trip is more like 70 feet -- 56 feet going C to C (94 feet - 38 feet). Further, assume the average referee (oops, I mean official -- ditto) makes one rotation every other possession (resulting in an additional 25 feet of movement). Then you have additional distance for each foul reported (let's say 10 fouls per referee) which means an additional 30 feet for each of the 30 total fouls called. Finally, you have about 8 time outs granted during the game in addition to the extra distance covered between quarters (about 50 feet per each time).

My math shows:
70 feet * 85 possessions (2/3 going L to T or vice versa) or 5950 feet +
56 feet * 43 possessions (1/3 going C to C) or 2408 feet +
9 feet * 85 possessions (2/3 going T to C or vice versa) + 765 feet +
20 feet * 43 possession (1/3 crossing lane as the lead) + 860 feet +
30 feet * 32 fouls or 960 feet +
50 feet * 12 timeouts/intermissions or 600 feet
for a total of about 2.19 miles or 11,543 feet

Obviously, 2-man requires more running each possession. Assuming HS JV, using the same floor and a 28 minute game, the numbers would be slightly different:
73 feet * 112 possessions or 8176 feet +
15 feet (more movement required to cover entire trail area) * 112 possessions or 1680 feet +
40 feet * 28 fouls or 1120 feet +
50 feet * 12 timeouts/intermissions or 600 feet
for a total of about 1.91 miles or 10074 feet.

These numbers seem to be closer to the 1.75 miles to 2.00 miles mentioned earlier. By contrast, a College Soccer Assistant Referee typically runs 3.2 to 3.6 miles in a 90 minute game. High level club soccer games result in similar numbers for both ARs and center referees.

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by phansen

High School

I did the pedometer thing last year for a couple games and got between 4 and 5 miles. 18 minute halves. Not much difference between boys and girls games

Originally Posted by CMHCoachNRef

Freddy,
I have modified your numbers a little bit. Typically, teams get about 2 possessions per minute of play meaning that there will be closer to 128 possessions in total. Plus, let's assume a 94 foot court (most of the HS gyms I work in are this length). If we assume that the trail works to the 28' line and that the lead works 4 feet beyond the baseline (oops, endline -- special for you Cobra), each trip is more like 70 feet -- 56 feet going C to C (94 feet - 38 feet). Further, assume the average referee (oops, I mean official -- ditto) makes one rotation every other possession (resulting in an additional 25 feet of movement). Then you have additional distance for each foul reported (let's say 10 fouls per referee) which means an additional 30 feet for each of the 30 total fouls called. Finally, you have about 8 time outs granted during the game in addition to the extra distance covered between quarters (about 50 feet per each time).

My math shows:
70 feet * 85 possessions (2/3 going L to T or vice versa) or 5950 feet +
56 feet * 43 possessions (1/3 going C to C) or 2408 feet +
9 feet * 85 possessions (2/3 going T to C or vice versa) + 765 feet +
20 feet * 43 possession (1/3 crossing lane as the lead) + 860 feet +
30 feet * 32 fouls or 960 feet +
50 feet * 12 timeouts/intermissions or 600 feet
for a total of about 2.19 miles or 11,543 feet

Obviously, 2-man requires more running each possession. Assuming HS JV, using the same floor and a 28 minute game, the numbers would be slightly different:
73 feet * 112 possessions or 8176 feet +
15 feet (more movement required to cover entire trail area) * 112 possessions or 1680 feet +
40 feet * 28 fouls or 1120 feet +
50 feet * 12 timeouts/intermissions or 600 feet
for a total of about 1.91 miles or 10074 feet.

These numbers seem to be closer to the 1.75 miles to 2.00 miles mentioned earlier. By contrast, a College Soccer Assistant Referee typically runs 3.2 to 3.6 miles in a 90 minute game. High level club soccer games result in similar numbers for both ARs and center referees.

Nice calculation work. Those numbers seem quite reasonable to me, maybe even a little low for soccer. I typically average 5-7 miles for a HS varsity soccer game in my area, and on the 2OT State Final it was over 10.

There is no doubt that soccer refs run far more than basketball. People claiming that basketball officials do five miles a game is laughable to me.

[Anchor]

Originally Posted by CMHCoachNRef

These numbers seem to be closer to the 1.75 miles to 2.00 miles mentioned earlier. By contrast, a College Soccer Assistant Referee typically runs 3.2 to 3.6 miles in a 90 minute game. High level club soccer games result in similar numbers for both ARs and center referees.

Just for information, my associate calls a lot of upper-level HS soccer (center) and habitually wears one of the GPS enabled runners watches. He routinely records right around 5 miles per game regardless of the competitiveness of the game.

[umpref]

Originally Posted by CMHCoachNRef

These numbers seem to be closer to the 1.75 miles to 2.00 miles mentioned earlier. By contrast, a College Soccer Assistant Referee typically runs 3.2 to 3.6 miles in a 90 minute game. High level club soccer games result in similar numbers for both ARs and center referees.

Lazy ref's! I have never had a Varsity game be less than 4.5 miles (for center ref). "high level club soccer games" are at least as much running, but often more than high school varsity! Many of my friends who work college hit a minimum of 6 miles as a center! A tough college game is around 8-9 miles! All of this factored with Garmin GPS units. (yes, we nerd out and compare)

1.5-2 miles for a basketball game seems to be about right.

[phansen]

High School

I did the pedometer thing last year for a couple games and got between 4 and 5 miles. 18 minute halves. Not much difference between boys and girls games

[Texas Aggie]

A guy I reffed with while we were both in college did a research project along these lines. I think 2-3 miles, depending on the game, was about the consensus. We worked exclusively 2 man back then, so I think 3 man would back to that to about 1.5-2 given the C's smaller length of travel (in general).

I think my friend tried as best he could to include trips to the table, time out positioning. Everything but the haul *** off the court after the buzzer (where I've seen even the slowest officials make their case for world class speed!)