Tall refs?

[JeroenB]

Us tall referees have to stick together.

Came across this quote today while browsing the foums and it made me wonder. Basketball obviously is a sport with a lot of really tall people on the court, but that usually applies to the players and not the referees. So, being pretty tall myself (no, I intentionally left out the comma between pretty and tall), I was wondering if there are any tall referees out here?

PS: If you are interested you can make a guess about my height

[JugglingReferee]

Yes, there are tall refs out there. Myself, I'm 6' -2".


I will guess that you're 6'7".

[Judtech]

6'5".

[truerookie]

I would say 6'9."

[stiffler3492]

I'm 5'6. I've often wondered if my lack of height would preclude me from moving up to varsity. General consensus around my area has been no, it wouldn't.

[Andy]

I am 6'7"....and not thin.....

I was told to use that to my advantage to establish a presence on the court.
I found that it also helped when I had to get in between some players to keep a situation from escalating....

I'll never forget a picture I saw several years ago of Gene Cahill (I think) trying to get between two 6'10" or better guys....they were just kind of looking right over him....

[rhodyref401]

I'm a new ref and former college and over seas player, I'm 6'9 or so and i find that my height is very helpful when trying to get better angles and the players
seem to be a little more receptive to me, maybe because i'm still in playing shape IDK.

[JeroenB]

Allthough I like to think my height gives me a better angle and overview, I never saw any top-level officials that really were above average height (allthough I noticed one NBA ref during all-star weekend that seemed pretty tall). Well I guess, someone has to be the first 2m10 official
(For your reference: that's 6'10.5" w/o shoes).

[fullor30]

Originally Posted by stiffler3492

I'm 5'6. I've often wondered if my lack of height would preclude me from moving up to varsity. General consensus around my area has been no, it wouldn't.

It's funny, I think it's all how you carry yourself. There are some outstanding officials in Chicago area who you probably know who are your height.

One official did the sectional final on Comcast with Marist and Bogan and is maybe 5'6. Darn good official

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by stiffler3492

I'm 5'6. I've often wondered if my lack of height would preclude me from moving up to varsity. General consensus around my area has been no, it wouldn't.

Us taller, non rail-thin, officials have our own stereotypes to overcome. Main one is that we are looked at as "lumbering". I have to consciously be aware of my posture and running style at all times. Actually got a compliment in camp last year that I "run and move very athletically for my size". I can see it on film too. I have to run on my toes so I appear to be light on my feet. When I run flat-footed, even if I'm covering more distance with my strides, I look slow.

[Scuba_ref]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

Us taller, non rail-thin, officials have our own stereotypes to overcome. Main one is that we are looked at as "lumbering". I have to consciously be aware of my posture and running style at all times. Actually got a compliment in camp last year that I "run and move very athletically for my size". I can see it on film too. I have to run on my toes so I appear to be light on my feet. When I run flat-footed, even if I'm covering more distance with my strides, I look slow.

It is probably the arms straight out in front of you that makes you look like you are lumbering!

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by Scuba_ref

It is probably the arms straight out in front of you that makes you look like you are lumbering!

LOL...because I was going to make a Frankenstein reference when I was posting that.

[Mark Padgett]

I'm 5'10". Gee - I wonder what that is in metric? Er, wait - no I don't.

[BktBallRef]

I'm 6'4" and my two partners from last season were 6'4" and 6'3". We offered to go 3 on 3 with several HS kids during pregame but could never get any takers.

[SE Minnestoa Re]

I'm 5:10 and using todays positions, I would have played the "4" in high school. Now, most of the point guards are taller than me.