The Official Forum - Officials facial hair and hair style

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Count me as one of those who feel you got screwed for a ridiculous reason. One question - in your OP, you mention both the tournament director and the assignor. Did you ever find out whose decision this actually was? It may have been the tournament director's. You kind of imply that when you stated you felt the assignor should have "had your back".

One other comment - if you had any plastic in your hair, it could have been a safety issue, but your partner not only had nothing in his hair, he didn't even have any hair. Did he have metal clips in his moustache? ;)

While some areas certainly have hair and/or grooming standards that are unspoken, arbitrary, and/or just plain stupid; I've never heard of those "standards" holding someone back from working off season basketball.

I don't know what it is, but there's something else going on here, IMO. It could be racial, it could be the way you called the game and they are to pussillanimous to tell you, or it could be that he wanted someone else on those games and that someone just became available.

Does this person assign more than just these particular games?

Is your hairstyle facial hair not an issue during your regular season assignments? If so, that's odd considering my expereince. I'm Negro :D and guys here have to cut off ponytails, dreads and goatees to officiate. The one guy who has a beard is white, and well, I'm glad I don't get his schedule.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEohioref (Post 671254)

If you guys did'nt know im african american. But that should'nt matter. But I need to ask you guys this. I did a 16/u tournament in Columbus on saturday(My partner and I are from Cleveland). We had 6 games scheduled on saturday,and 6 on sunday. We just completed 4 games and the tournamnet director says you need to call the assignor. We called no answer so we go to where he is located. Then the assignor tells us our services are no longer needed. From what we were told its was because I wear my hair in cornrolls/braids, and my partner has a mustache and he's bald. What does this have to do with basketball? This has never been a issue for me,and the first for my partner. We read the rules about officials attire and it reads just like the rule book. I'm upset because the assignor should have had our back with this issue.I understand if we wanna "Move up" we should have a certain look. But IMO my hairstyle or partners mustache should not come into play. if a female can wear cornrolls/braids why cant a man? Like I said this hasnever been a issue and it almost seems like the "good ol boy" system. Any input you guys can give would be great. Thanks!

Sorry to hear that happened and I agree is shouldnt matter. But I guess its all about perception and staying under the radar. Now, with AAU and/or high school, I didnt think that kind of stuff was a problem. But on the College Level I am sure it does. I have a friend that was from the West Coast, had long braids and the clinitions frowned on it. He has since cut his hair. It was attracting unwanted attention in camp. Just my 2 cents. BTW, I am Human and black as well and I wear facial hair in the off season and go back to the clean face during the season. Its just my preference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RefAHallic (Post 671337)

LOL, we've got quite a few with goatees, none with full beards, some who are bald, and some who wear belted pants.

None of the bald black guys seemed particularly angry to me, though. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bainsey (Post 671330)

For what it's worth, one of the more respected officials on our board, and a recent board president, has a neatly trimmed moustache. As long as I've known him, he always has. I've never seen cornrolls on an official, but I'm in Maine. We don't know cornrolls from cornbread.

NEOhio, if an assigner has a problem with the way you look (hair, tattoos, fat, whatever), you should be told up front and in advance. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned independent contractor status, an assigner doesn't have to tell you anything. That doesn't mean, however, that you have to forget that to have accept being treated less-than-honestly.

Could there be another issue that they're not telling you? Maybe, but it's unlikely you're going to know the truth. Some just don't care enough to give honest feedback, or they'll find a more convenient reason to get rid of you. Truth be told, this is all speculation.

The best you can take out of this is to be aware that there are people who won't be as up front as you like, and in the long run, the cornrolls could very well be a hindrance that no-one will bother to tell you about, as long as they have someone else to officiate.

What a huge statement....so true. In the area where I officiate, we have seen the total number of active officials grow almost exponentially over the last 2 to 3 years.

These are tight economic times and people that would never have considered officiating as an alternate source of income 5 to 10 years ago are now suddenly jumping into the game.

Assignors are making tough decisions every day about who works what games. At the very least, sets are being reduced from 3-4 games to 2-3 game sets. I think it probably stands to reason that an official that is trying to work as much as possible in a highly competitive environment should do everything possible to avoid a negative persona.

Saw a similar situation a few years ago.

Couple of guys with braids worked a tourney on the recommendation of another official. (assigned -- sight unseen) When word got back to the assigner that the guys were both wearing braids, he called them up and advised that the hairtstyle was not acceptable. The guys, like some on here, protested, suggesting an ulterior motive was involved.......

The assigner advised that if they saw a white guy with a mohawk working the tourney, their suggestion would have merit.

I ran into a guy a few weeks ago whom I met in camp last summer. He told me that he has been told by several supervisor that the tattoo on his forearm is a hinderance from getting hired. He wears heavy makeup to cover it up when he attends camps.

I definitely wouldn't hire a guy that wears makeup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef (Post 671370)

Badnews, did you let him your some of your Mary Kay again? LOL!

It it never required that someone tell you why they do not hire you. They might not hire you for all kinds of reasons, I do not see why someone has to tell you the reasons. Maybe morally that is the right thing to do, but it is not going to happen in reality.

Peace

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLH17 (Post 671377)

I definitely wouldn't hire a guy that wears makeup.

What forum do you belong to that made blue text the norm for sarcasm? Just so you know, people don't do that here. I know you have mentioned it before and I had to ask the question. Do you know how I know it isn't the norm here?

Everything Padgett writes would be a deep, dark blue! :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomegun (Post 671388)

Another officials forum that is way more popular and relevant than this one. :D:p:D

Quote:

Originally Posted by DLH17 (Post 671394)

Another officials forum that is way more popular and relevant than this one. :D:p:D

Blue text means nothing to me, either.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichMSN (Post 671402)

Blue text means nothing to me, either.

Me three. I guess that forum is not that popular. ;)

Peace