NCHSAA, when you find out the criteria, could you let us know? I'm curious about that.

These look like two solid pre-season workouts. I may give these a try.

I just did a fitness test last night for our soccer board (hence my bringing it up). Part of the reason I took up soccer (which I've come to enjoy as much as basketball, by the way) is because they have a fitness test. These are the four parts and requirements:

*1.125 mile run: 12 minutes
*50-yard dash: 8.5 seconds
*shuttle run (5 yards up, then back, then 10 yards, 15, 20, 25): 42 seconds
*shuffle run (25 yards forward, 25 shuffling left, 25 backward, 25 shuffling right): 30 seconds

Passage is required for varsity games; taking the test is required for any games.

I whole heatedly agree that being in good physical shape is an absolute for being a good official. I also think having a mandatory physical test opens up a huge can of worms for any association. Who decides what test will be given? who decides the criteria for passing? Where does the criteria come from? Is there any medical or scientific evaluation associated with the criteria for passing, or is it just an arbitrary decision that members of an association make? Who must take the test? Everyone? Are there different standards for those who do grade school, freshmen, JV, varsity or college? What happens if and when you fail the "test"? How long do the sanctions last? A year, two, forever?
What if someone refuses to take the test? Are they automatically balckballed? While having a standard physical test is a great idea and I would support it, it must be well thought out and planned for. This is the type of situation that could cause a severe rift in any association. I think it is recipe for disaster unless it is thouroughly and completely evaluated before it is implemented. Even if it is scrutinized and well planned for, any association should be ready for unexpected fallout and ranging from disappointment to all out anger. Thoughts??

My thoughts are this wouldn't be an issue for me. If I couldn't pass and there aren't games for me then the game (basketball) is in capable hands. However, physical conditioning is one of my 5 things an official can and should do prior to stepping on the court. The game suffers when we can't get into position (I don't use "hustle" because that leads to fake hustle...right out of position) and when someone is physically struggling I think it takes away from their ability to focus on the task at hand.

I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas ...
 

Any association considering this better brush up on the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996.

That is the NV association. We hold a clinic at a local HS on a Saturday in October each year. We have access to the gym. We have four stations which each last about an hour. We simply made one of the stations the fitness drills.

Attendence is mandatory and people are informed well ahead of time about what is involved and asked to come dressed appropriately to participate.

Depending upon the situation of the individual association, the fitness requirement can be mandatory for postseason eligibility, regular season Varsity games, regular season sub-varsity games, or any combination thereof.

Being an independent contractor, I believe it’s at your discretion on how you what to proceed with this concept. It’s a bunch of bullsh#t. I hope the leadership of these associations has weighed the pros and con’s and have a pool of capable officials IF there is attrition from their association.

OK, so let's say you are a real estate agent, but you don't have a car. You have a bus pass and you can get to every house visit, you just may get there late. Is that a good look for the company?

Also, being independent contractors, the assigning organization have the right to give the contract to someone else for just about any reason that is not one of a few protected classes....and being unfit is not one of them.

Some organizations might find that younger promising refs might stay a little longer if they saw the older less fit officials not getting assignments that have passed them by 10-15 years before.

We did ours today.
First time that we have had actual requirements and timed it.

1.5 mile run. Each person is timed. We will use these times to decide what we desire for the different levels of HS games NEXT year. This year one simply has to complete it.

Box drill stolen from NISOA: Run around a 10-yard square--forward, side-step, backward, side-step, repeat in opposite direction. Timed for data this year. Takes about 25-30 seconds.

We will add a sprint of some kind next Fall. Perhaps a 40-yard dash.

There have been some serious changes where I am in both basketball and soccer. With the economy down, we have more officials than ever. We can afford to be more stringent in our requirements for assignments. There was also a generation of veteran officials who hung on for a few years longer than they probably should have and they have been exiting over the past few years leaving lots of room for younger replacements to step in. Spurring some competition for those openings on higher level assignments has yielded mostly positive results.

I can tell you that WEIGHING the issue was certainly foremost on our minds when we put this in. For the people who took your attitude and didn't cooperate, we simply informed them that they are independent contractors and they didn't have to do anything. However, we also let them know that as such they don't have a right to any assignments. If they chose not to qualify themselves for certain levels of games, then they wouldn't receive those assignments. It was really that simple.

Nevada, why have them run backwards?

and why have them run 1.5 miles? That seems to have almost nothing to do with basketball officiating.

Why is it a bunch of bullsh#t? There are a lot of jobs that have physical requirements to perform.

I believe Nevada is talking about a soccer fitness test, not basketball. (Correct me if I'm wrong, Silver.)

In soccer, we do run backwards sometimes. I know the basketball mentality is that running backwards doesn't look good (especially when I caught my heel and crashed near the bleachers last winter), but it's a necessity in soccer, particularly when you're working a two-man crew, and you find yourself 10-20 yards from your touchline (sideline).

While we don't have a fitness test for our basketball board, we are required every year to submit our time of a 1.5 mile run.