Above the rim
 

Not so much above the rim, but around it, and definetly not all over the ground struggling for jump balls.

Coach, I've seen my fair share of very high caliber AAU teams, and I've got to say at the 8th grade level virtually no one can dunk the ball. Yeah, you run into an 8th grade kid every now & then who can go over the top of the rim, but their "dunks" are usually missed attempts. Very rarely you'll see an 8th grader who can dunk reasonably well. In my experience.

This topic seems to come up every year - usually about this time of the season...are there lots of blow-outs in girls ball? Yep...are there blow-outs in boys ball? Yep... a case in point - yesterday here in WA we had a State playoff game where one of the teams scored only 22 points the entire game, and yes it was a girl's game...meanwhile, we had a game where one of the teams scored exactly 0 (that's read zero) points in the first quarter on their way to losing by 25 points...and that was boys...it is certainly every person's right to choose to do only one side of the game, but to make comments like "be subjected to girls ball" is just plain stupid...

Around here (Baton Rouge/New Orleans) there are quite a few 8th grade teams that have player(s) that dunk. Some of them are older 8th graders and others are simply superb athletes. It is not all that uncommon to have a dunk in an 8th grade game around here.

Wow. Either you've got lots of very athletic 12 year olds or lots of very dumb 15 year olds! :)

Well if I were reffing 6th grade games, and seeing 12 year olds dunk then that would truly be amazing. But most of the kids are between 14-15 that I am talking about. Some have been held back (for whatever reason) and some are just that gifted.

This is my experience too. I've seen a couple 8th graders of this caliber, but only a couple.

Chuck

Rocky, as I said earlier, it may be a regional thing. But "being subjected to girls ball" is a fairly accurate assessment of the quality of ball around here. It may not be diplomatic or politically correct to say, but it's pretty close to the truth -- around here.

Chuck

Likes and dislikes about girls/boys ball (my .5 cents and please don't take offense - just my personal experience).
<UL>
<LI>
Speed (prefer the tempo of a boys game - although we use a 30-sec shot clock in girls here in WA which means girls can never "milk the time.")
<LI>
Body control better in boys.
<LI>
Less held balls in boys.
<LI>
Less sportsmanship of players in boy's games. No difference in coaches. Girls say "sorry" or "thank you" occasionally - never heard that in a boy's game.
<LI>
Parents of boy's are used to seeing their kid come up with a face full of dirt. Some parents of the "princesses" go nuts when their daughter gets bumped a little bit.
<LI>
Intensity in a boy's game is often better - until playoffs and then it's similar.
<LI>
Less ego in girl's game. Less girls falsely think they are D-1 worthy than boys do.
<LI>
The girl's official's association is <B> far </b> less political than the boy's association.
<LI>
Easier to throw a perfect toss on opening jump in a girl's game. :-)
</UL>

Z

8th graders are 13-14 years old, mainly 14 by the time they hit summer ball. In the DC metro area, any high caliber AAU team will have players who are well over 6 feet tall and can easily dunk.

I guess you're right, 13/14's, my bad. But to say "easily"
dunk? I don't know...Anyway AAU's cranking up soon in the
NY area, I'll report back to ya if I remember to take notice of what level I'm working. I guess we've run out of things to argue about!

What you observe, Jerry, IMO, is the nature of boys versus girls, in general. Boys, in daily work/play duke it out, wrestle around some, then it's forgotten. Girls, however, hold the grudges, and let things seethe for an undetermined length of time. This is not saying one gender is better, just different.

As far as refereeing games, I prefer boys for the faster pace and (generally) better skills. I agree, many an 8th grade boys game has been far better than the girls JV game the day before. However, being a female ref in Massachusetts will require me to "fight hard" to get the boys games (I'm talking Fr/JV). It will be a rough road if I decide to travel it.

I had the fortunate opertunity to work the 14-U AAU national girls tournament in Rochester, MN this past summer and let me tell you there are girls out there at this age level that can play ball. We worked 3 person mechanics (believe me it was nice to have in some of the games at this level) There were at least 4 teams there who had girls that were 6'6" or taller!!! I believe a team from california or Texas (won the tourney had two girls at this height) The eliter teams in this tourney could beat many if not all varsity girls teams in the area that I work. Just thought I would throw that out for seed.....

Gulp!!!
 

Because the responses to this thread are opinions, I will offer these comments as my opinion, and respectfully so.
In Michigan we have seperate seasons for the boy's and girl's seasons. (Girls=Aug.-Dec... Boy's=Dec.-March) So all of us do both boy's and girl's during the course of the school year. I work both.
I was taken aback by comments such as "subjected to" and "training ground for newer officials".
I understand that the caliber of girl's ball is different from region to region, but please, the girl's deserve the highest quality of officials just as much as the boy's. I believe that Chuck, Rut, and the other very good officials that posted, NEED to do these games. They need your experience and knowledge.
BTW, the caliber of the girl's ball in my area is pretty good, lots of big schools.
My attitude is "A game is a game, and every game deserves the best officials calling it". JMHO

http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/mica/sally.gif
You tell 'em queen....

BUT, I believe my use of the phrase "developing officials" was misinterpreted (or miscommunicated).

Like it or not, at some levels, girls basketball is used for agree or not, girls basketball is used to help developing officials....officials that are capable, but perhpas fine-tuning their game to get to the next level.

Sooner or later, in any ballgame, you will see an official who is there to see if she/he is ready for that level. It is not possible (or, from an officials' group perspective, even desirable) to have the very best officials possible for every single game. No one would develop that way.

No one, especially not me, meant to imply that girls' games aren't good (I love doing good, high-level girls ball). But the boys/mens game is a different level.