Taking the Plunge
 

I wish Mick was still around... I'm sure he'd like this post.

I decided to pursue officiating. I passed the MHSAA's Guidebook Exam and the Basketball Mechanics Exam this past weekend. :)

I've applied for membership in a local association where I've seen the trainers and one of the assignors in action and I'm looking forward to the initial Rookies Meeting should I be accepted. I'm also hoping that I'll get my first games this winter.

In the meantime, I'm definitely going to be reviewing the mechanics manual regularly. Even though subvarsity games have a two person crew, I have a feeling the sooner I understand three person mechanics, the better it will be for me.

I may also officiate softball at some point as well.

It should be an interesting experience.

dont worry about 3 man mechanics until you have mastered 2 person mechanics. you will most likely start out on 2 person games. if you are messing those games up because you lack knowledge of rules and appropriate mechanics you wont have to worry about moving up to 3 man games.

You can learn both of them together. But the reality is you will not work a lot of 3 Person in the early years except for camps and off-season games. It is good to have an understanding of both to know why you have a 3rd and how much you have to work in 2 to get other things that you would not have to in 3.

Peace

Agreed. To me, the biggest benefit of 3 person was learning how to cross over. I'm still slow to do it in 2, but I do it more than a lot of guys do.

Misleading Title?
 

I thought you were writing to tell us you were getting married! ;)

Good luck and have fun!

Enjoy the challenge that is our avocation!

I Had A Different Thought ...
 

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Take Two ...
 

Good gracious...really?

Stat, congrats! I'm glad to see this. Good luck on your class and remember, have fun out there. :)

Billy, sometimes I think Brad needs to assign a moderator just for you.

And do you really think this is appropriate posting to go with that signature line?

Feeling happy that I have him on ignore....

Don't forget to always implement the first rule of officiating. :)

Great news. Observe as many games as you are able to and find a mentor if one is not assigned to you. You will not learn everything at once, so try not to get overwhelmed.

What ???
 

I believe that it's in John's Gospel where Jesus states that it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a woman to bungee jump in front of a photograph of another woman wearing a supportive foundation garment. Don't quote me on that. Maybe it was Luke? I have to double check with my pastor on Sunday.

+1

Seriously, Billy, consider a sedative.

Not Too Far Fetched ???
 

"Take The Ultimate Plunge" and "Take The Nestea Plunge" (It was 100 degrees F here in Connecticut at the time, which is why I immediately thought of this when I read the title of Stat-Man's thread).

It's the summer. It's the off season. The Forum has been as dead as a door nail. Almost twenty-four hours between posts this past weekend. Can't we all just lighten up for a few more weeks. Isn't there a mid-western state that plays girls high school basketball in an autumn season? God, I hope so. Not that there's anything wrong with FIBA Olympic basketball.

I think people like to have fun but you take it to another level Billy. Just sayin. :)

Peace

Love The JRutledge Signature "Peace" ...
 

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9)

Appreciate your smilie. Just sayin'.

And Furthermore ...
 

... just exactly what's inappropriate, in regard to my signature, with the "Nestea Plunge"?

"Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Topic of the Thread"
 

:)

Welcome to officiating! It doesn't do much for your self-esteem, but it at least helps to make you feel like a worthless slug on a regular basis. :D
What state the the "M" in MHSAA stand for? (PM me if you don't want to reveal it on the board)

I am going to guess the same state that Mick was from. ;)

Peace

Duh
 

Oh, that state that begins with "M". :D

You are newer. I will give you a pass.

BTW that is Michigan.

Peace

Welcome to officiating. All great advice so far.
If possible go to a camp and listen and learn.

Try to work on 1 thing at a time.

Work on mechanics. I am starting my 4th year and a veteran official told me a few weeks ago that my traveling call "sucked."

Best advice I got here on the forum was "Be in the right place, look in the right place, call the obvious."

First off, welcome to the family...and to this things of ours. :cool:


I'd certainly say that your off topic postings hasn't helped at all. You kept it in check when bob was moderating, but you've gone overboard since. If you don't like the forums being dead bring up play situations/scenarios/clips to discuss.

"Rock The Boat" (Hues Corporation) ...
 

It's 100% off-season for me. I won't throw up a jump ball until November. I can't take time off from work to go to camps (I'm the best Ammonia/Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen analyst they've got, and summer is our busiest season at the laboratory). Connecticut is an all IAABO state, and IAABO, and the AAU, have not seen eye to to eye in regard to AAU tournament assignments, and in regard to fee schedules. Two summers ago, our IAABO state board considered barring all IAABO members from officiating in AAU tournaments, until litigious terms like "self employed", "independent contractors", and "restraint of trade", started to be thrown around, and then the state board backed off. But they still have "discouraged" us from officiating in AAU tournaments, and my local board has taken a strong leadership role in discouraging it's members from AAU officiating. I'm a "company man", and usually don't like to "rock the boat", so here I sit, hoping that other Forum members post their summer plays, questions, comments, and experiences.

I did recently take up kayaking, so maybe that will keep me occupied until the autumn.

http://ts1.mm.bing.net/images/thumbn...98222c602a3bbf

Colorado is an IAABO state as well, but I've not heard of those issues. There is no AAU here, though. Other organizations dominate summer ball here.

Hard Times ...
 

My prayers go out to families, and friends, of the victims of the senseless violence of a few nights ago. With such a large number of people killed, or wounded, there are probably a very large number of Coloradoans who either knew one of the victims, or who know someone who knew one of the victims.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. (Psalm 116:15)

Thanks for all the replies and feeback.

M from MHSAA is Michigan.

The focus will definitely be on mechanics. On the sidelines, I dislike sloppy mechanics, so there is motivation not to have people say the same about me as an official :D. I'm also looking forward to reviewing the casebook once I receive it.

I've already applied for membership in an association and I'm waiting to hear back. I've seen the association's trainers officiate upper-level games, so I'm hopeful I can learn form their experiences. From there, I can proceed with finding an assignor, mentor, etc.

Definitely looking forward to the experience.:)

PS: I also noticed upon reading the replies that Jurassic Referee is no longer with us. Hopefully, he is now getting call ing some good games thanks to the Great Assignor.

Man you have been away for some time.

Well good luck and work hard and make us proud. ;)

Peace

Good choice and great advice!

Billy Mac - IAABO
 

BM - I am a IAABO member and I thought that IAABO was a "teaching" organization??? How can the state board tell you what you can and can't work ???? It seems to me that the assingers don't want you to work becuasse the fees will be under what he would ask for and this is eventually taking money out of their pocket....

Looking foward to hearing your reply........

Like Glue, We Stick Together, Except When We Don't ...
 

They can't. They thought that they could, but when a few officials, and AAU tournament directors, started "rattling sabers", and throwing around litigious terms like "self employed", "independent contractors", and "restraint of trade", the state board, and thus our local board, put "their tails between their legs" and backed down.

Basically it was an attempt by the IAABO state board to increase AAU fees by creating a monopoly over all AAU assignments, like IAABO presently has over all public high school assignments, all high school prep school assignments, and a very large number of middle school assignments.

The coup failed. Now the state board, and our local board, have simply "discouraged" members from officiating AAU tournaments that have not "signed on" with IAABO. We have been told to "hang together", that eventually, if enough of us refuse to officiate in AAU tournaments not affiliated with an "official" IAABO assigner, AAU tournament directors will "come running to us", "begging" to pay us the fees that the state board thinks that we deserve.

Besides being "discouraged" from accepting such AAU assignments, we have been reminded that while officiating such assignments, we are not covered by the IAABO insurance policy, we may not wear the IAABO patch, and that we cannot work with a non-IAABO member.

Say an official decides to go ahead and work in "non-approved" tournaments...I'm guessing that wouldn't help his/her schedule during the regular season?

And this is where organizations are going to get themselves in trouble. Unless we are employees and they are paying some other bills and expenses of those employees, they are a lawsuit away from that practice stopping.

Peace

That is completely nuts. Having off-season work allows officials to focus on points of their games that need strenghtening. I couldn't imagine going from mid-February until mid-November WITHOUT working in between. Glad my IAABO chapter didn't take that view.

The Plot Thickens, Don't You Just Love A Thick Plot ???
 

I probably should have mentioned this in my earlier post, but there was another reason for this "hostile takeover" attempt. As stated "This policy is to guarantee that IAABO members are fairly offered the opportunity to service AAU and other independent tournaments in their respective regions working for fair and guaranteed fees".

AAU tournament directors were employing very small groups of officials to work their tournament games, and these small group of officials were working as many games, and making as much money, as they could physically, and mentally, bear. If you were an official who wanted to work AAU games in the offseason, you had to know the "secret handshake". AAU tournament directors would use a very small group of officials as "assigners" for various tournaments, and these "assigners" would only assign games to their close friends.

Because so many officials, eager to make some offseason money, or eager to get in some offseason experience, were getting "shut out" from working these games, the IAABO state board, and the local boards, wanted to try to "spread the wealth", thus allowing all officials who wanted to work such tournaments the opportunity to do so. The hope of the state board was that instead of a very small group of officials working a dozen games each over a weekend tournament, that a larger group of officials would work two, or three, games each over the weekend.

AAU tournament directors, wanting to keep their fees as low as possible, and small groups of officials, wanting to protect their "cash cows", got together, throwing out terms like "independent contractor", and "restraint of trade", and that stopped the state board "dead in its tracks".

I'm no attorney but I wonder if this section of the IAABO constitution may come back to bite your state board?

Where's Perry Mason When You Need Him ???
 

I'm not an attorney either, nor do I play one on television, but the following advice has been given to all our members, in writing:

"If you officiate for a non-approved assignor you are not covered by the IAABO insurance and may be asked to officiate with a non-IAABO member. If you do officiate with a non-IAABO member you cannot wear the IAABO patch and represent yourself as an IAABO member. That would be a direct violation of the Constitution".

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4123/4...5ef05648_m.jpg

Are CT schools members of the FED, and thusly are IAABO members also considered members of the FED? FED insurance policy would cover members in that case.

Would that even apply in an AAU situation? It's not school teams playing in these tournaments.

Of course, if someone is a NASO member then they'd be covered in case of any problems.

Found something else that seems like the IAABO version of Rule 2-3

That appears to leave boards a good deal of wiggle room.

From the NFHS Officials Assn. website:


Insurance coverage includes:

• Coverage for all levels of officiating (youth, recreational, adult and collegiate) in sports recognized by the state high school association

• Excess General Liability

• Excess Accident Medical and Dental

• Accidental Death and Dismemberment

The key is whether IAABO members are also Fed members in that state.

Crazy, I work with non members regularly, as our middle schools do not have to use IAABO officials (IAABO membership is required to be certified for high school ball), and I sometimes wear a patched shirt (not often). I've never been told it's not allowed.

Let's Play Monopoly, I Want To Be The Top Hat ...
 

All Connecticut high school basketball officials are IAABO members. 100%. We're the only game in town. Unless we officiate another sport, we are not members of the NFHS, in fact, we aren't even allowed to join the NFHS as individuals due to the NFHS "all or none" policy. We get our NFHS rulebooks, and NFHS casebooks, as part of our IAABO manual, which also includes the IAABO constitution, an IAABO directory, and an IAABO mechanics manual. We have IAABO insurance, and those of us who do not officiate any other sports only have IAABO insurance, we do not have NFHS insurance.

Teamsters? UAW?
 

Sounds more like a union than an officials association. Not that there's anything wrong with that...jus' sayin'.

Look For The Union Label ...
 

Back when I started, more than 30 years ago. IAABO, with several local boards, under the control of one state board, for one reason, or another, worked all high school boys games. Girls high school games were officiated by several "county size" boards, all independent, with no state wide organization. Eventually, over many years, girls high school coaches, athletic directors, and principals, realized that IAABO, with it's local, state, and international organization, and with it's emphasis on training, and improving officials, started switching to IAABO officials. My local board merged with the last independent "girls" board a few years ago, and now Connecticut is a 100% IAABO state for all high school games, and prep high school games, both boys, and girls. If you want to officiate high school basketball games in the Constitution State, then you had better belong to IAABO. Ain't no other choice.

That may or may not be true, but for those that NFHS insurance, you'd be covered there as that insurance is not limited to just NFHS games.
Perhaps reasonable but I'm not sure they can actually do that. IAABO is a training and certification organization and if you are IAABO certified, you're IAABO certified.
They definitely can not do that. They have no say in that matter.

While someone may not wish to take that up in court, it doubt it would stand up to legal scrutiny while maintaining the independent contractor status. For employees, you could do that, but that is not the same.

15 Minutes Could Save You 15% Or More ...
 

The only basketball officials, here in Connecticut, who have NFHS insurance, are those that officiate another sport. IAABO basketball officials, who only officiate one sport, can't even join the NFHS as individual members due to the NFHS "all or none" rule, and thus, are not covered by NFHS insurance.

One Is The Loneliest Number That You'll Ever Do ...
 

Our statewide "One Person Mechanics" guidelines (partner doesn't show, partner injured, no partner assigned, etc.) state that we should never work with a non-IAABO official due to liability concerns. Maybe that's their angle?

LOL....I love it.

Iaaabo ???????
 

In my opinion, the only good thing that IAAABO does is protects your territory from another another IAABO territory bidding on your games......in my state a group left IAABO and formed their own non IAABO board.

They only service private schools but if they got a public school contract they would receive assignments in the state tourney......

And I believe if an interpreter was really committed, he could teach his cadets
everything they need to know to be a successful official and get them to past the state test.... You can pass the Fed Test but fail the IAABO test and not get to officiate in the upcoming season....

Here in the NE / Mid Atalntic IAABO is a pipeline to CBOA which is a pipeline to college basektball...........does anyone disagree......