Career No-nos.
 

This was from a Referee Magazine article. I wanted to see if some disagreed or had comments on any of them. The article was more elaborate, but I wanted to see what people felt here. I have an issue with a couple of these on some level, but not by much.

1. Telling a coach or player to shut up.
2. Waving your hand at a coach.
3. Getting involved with a spectator.
4. Being late for a game.
5. Sitting with the coach.
6. Spending too much time talking with the coach before the game.
7. Complaining about the amount you are being paid for the game.
8. Verbally abusing table personnel.
9. Wearing jewelry.
10. Wearing inappropriate clothes to the game.
11. Arriving at game already dressed.
12. Showing disapproval of a partners call.
13. Being in poor condition or lack of hustle.
14. Refusing to speak with a coach or a player.
15. Making negative comments about your partner and assigner.

Peace

1/15
 

It is entirely possible that this could, for constructive reasons, be done in a beneficial manner. Not in a spirit of complaining nor in a degrading fashion. Only in the understanding company of fellow officials or to the parties themselves. Maybe.

Others seem like no-no's to me.

You forgot #16: "Telling a fellow official not to be a plumber."

10. Inappropriate, as I understand it, varies widely according to area and level.

11. If everybody else where you are does it, it must be all right.

17. Wearing a belt anywhere except a corner of Connecticut. :D

Some of these depend on the level you're refereeing. I'm going to dress differently going to a middle school game than college game. Weekend church league you're never going to get all officials to not interact with their friends who may be coaching or a spectator. Also, some of these are common sense for life in general. You should never tell someone to shut up, be late, or verbally people. Nothing special in refereeing.

I think the big career no-no in the list is complaining about your partners and the assignor. Word will get around. I also think you need to make sure you show up for your games, be reliable, and do not turn back games to your assignor without a valid reason.

True but wearing a T-shirt and some flip flops would not be considered appropriate in many places I am sure. This is probably the reason the word "inappropriate" was used instead of specific types of dress.

I guess. But that still does not mean people think highly of that practice that are observing. I would not be doing that no matter what others do.

Peace

98% of the officials here come to the game dressed and ready to work. That's at all levels, jr. high through varsity. You honestly think anybody here is observing this and thinking: "Boy, this is unprofessional!" ?

Obviously not. And still does not make it right or give the right impression to those that are not officials.

Peace

I was talking about the people who are not officials. The coach/athletic director at the high school up the road here has seen a total of 7 officials come to the school dressed in something other than their officiating clothes in the six years he's been here. He's saying to himself, "Gee, I think all those other guys should dress like that." ?


I don't buy it.

Billy Joe Royal, 1965 ...
 

While there may be a few exceptions in some other areas somewhere out in the boondocks, I agree with you.

Whistles & Stripes: Well said. Where were you on my earlier thread? I really could have used some backup.

Jeff, I'm with you on this issue, but what is expected, and therefore what is considered "professional", is going to vary by area. Where jar works, it's not unprofessional. The only people who notice are officials, and school staff. If the school staff sees it all the time, they won't know any different.

You're normally one of the biggest advocates for "do what's expected in your area," this is no exception.

Regarding 11, I would agree, so long as everyone else in your area is getting games that you want. It's possible, for example, that everyone else in your area is doing it, but no one in your area is getting state level playoff games. Or, perhaps, only the 2% who dress in the locker room are getting playoff games.

Or, it truly doesn't matter in your entire state.

They certainly are in every major metropolitan area where I've worked.

In fact, he's likely thinking, "Hell -- here comes this PITA who is not dressed and now I have to find a secure spot to put him / her.... I should tell the assigner not to send this official anymore and to send only those who are already dressed."

I'd add another one that I've observed more frequently in the past 5 years:

Engage in inappropriate behavior outside the lines.

Pretty broad I know but I've seen the following:
Officials charged with DUI's
Officials arrested for marijuana posession
Officials charged with domestic violence
Officials banned from school grounds for various reasons
Officials arrested for assault
Officials charged with indecent exposure

I used to believe sports officials were some of the highest character people around. Maybe it's because I'm in Florida and this place attracts whackos, but it seems like I see these occur more often than would be expected. In every instance noted above, the offending official ended up losing out on their schedule or being asked to leave the association, whether or not they were found guilty or charges dismissed.

I've got an addition; Visable tattoos.

I've got one that comes halfway down my bicep on one arm and wear an undershirt to cover it when I'm working. I would love to sleeve my tattoo out, but I'm pretty sure it would limit my options for reffing.

In general, sure. I wear a wedding band as do most guys I work with who are married.

I assume wedding bands are fine... I've never noticed if someone was wearing a wedding band (or not) when I've worked with them.

Wasn't a concern for me last year. Now that I'm married, I suppose I should pay attention to that kind of thing. (I know they don't care around here in football).

I've been told that facial hair is also a no-no. I used to have a full beard (neatly trimmed, about 1/2 an inch long), and had a few people make comments like "I'm not saying you need to shave it off... but..." Now the beard is strictly and off-season thing.

One that must have happened, because our state assoc had to send out a couple emails saying it was strictly prohibited:

Engaging in social media with a student-athlete that was not a direct family member.

Interesting... I do exactly that, although I do have a reason for it. She's also my daughter's pitching coach, and my daughter is not old enough for social media.

And I do not buy the "Everyone does it" crap either. I would bet higher than 2 percent gets dressed in some fashion at the schools. Usually when people give that high a number they are trying to make it seem higher then what is really the case. I think that is often said like kids say that to justify bad behavior or to make it sound like people should not judge them negatively. Also it is not about just the administrators or coaches, it is about observers of the game or an events that have no direct influence on games.

And yes I recognize what people might do in their area when it comes to minor issues with mechanics or application of a rule or interpretations. This is not one of them.

Peace

You would lose your bet.

WTF??

Coming from the guy who - for years and years - has used the "In my area, we do..." argument to justify his interpretations of things??

That is just downright hilarious.

While I don't agree with JRut's assessment of the customs in JAR's area, I do agree with his sentiment towards going to a game dressed (this is assuming it's not off-season ball).

http://forum.officiating.com/basketb...iform-not.html

From reading that thread, it would appear that JAR's area is not in line with what the majority in the country are doing. But as we've found out, things just tend to be done differently in JAR's area.

Well let's see we've knocked out the belt thread already, now we've done the going to the game dressed thread...any other deceased equine we'd like to drag out before the season starts? :D

Yeah, that's interesting. Lots of officials are involved in their communities outside of officiating, and that often includes working with youth. Church youth leaders, for example, often have FB connections with the students.

A couple of years ago our association got multiple complaints of officials for middle school games wearing jeans, tracksuits, etc to the game site and the athletic directors and coaches did not like it.

Business casual should be the minimum for Jr High games, tie and jacket for varsity.

Almost all the time when I have talked about "In my area..." I was talking about assignments, association structure and what is required to be licensed. This is not in that category AT ALL!!!! So if I want to work the Mid-Suburban or North Suburban Conferences, there are no LOAs that is associated with those conferences. And if the assignors tried to make that requirement, they probably would have a harder time to get officials to work for them or the schools would see an entirely different group working their post season contests from what they saw in the regular season. It does not go over well here to never see playoff officials in regular season tournaments or conference games.

What you do professionally seems to be the same across the country for the most part. Are there things like the type of shirt you wear or the specific pants you wear might vary? Of course there are. There are over 5000 officials in the State of Illinois in basketball alone, I think there are going to be some differences in attitudes of all those individuals. Just under 200 assignments of that number will work the post season in a particular class and some officials work across classes in a given year. But there are common threads across those individuals that are assigned games and this would be one of them.

Yes, I think it looks unprofessional to go to a game dressed. The author of the list I posted basically said that, "It looks like you are going to a game from another game or about to leave to work another game." And other than JAR, I have never heard that was acceptable. Even in our area we have officials that do this, but when opportunities come open, many of those guys find themselves left out and some wonder why that is the case.

We are not talking about a mechanic where we blow the whistle or not blow the whistle on a throw-in. We are not talking about when you go to the scorer's table before the game and what you say in the captain's meeting. We are not talking about who calls a foul to the basket and how we communicate the ball going in the basket on the foul. Those are things you do based off of your "area." To me this is not one of them. Even if I did not have a specific place to dress, I am dressing somewhere before and after the damn game, PERIOD!!! And if a administrator from a school thinks that makes me a PITA, then I will be a PITA because I am not going to a game dressed. I might not be coming from a place where I can get dressed before the game. And I would not give a damn what others thought at the school, I am not coming dressed and getting my uniform soiled before the game by weather or something in the elements and then going to work that game with a mud stain or drink stain on my pants or shirt. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN with me, ANYWHERE!!!! Just like I am not going to a date or a job interview in jeans and a T-shirt, I am not working a game doing the same. I do not give a darn what everyone else does. And if I am with a woman that thinks that is acceptable, then I would not want to be with her in the first place. ;)

Peace

Not lately and not often, but I've done that too.

We have all done it on some level. It does not mean I have to advertise it to everyone either.

Peace

Seriously? That standard is utterly ridiculous ....both for the JH games AND the varsity games. Unless those schools are paying those officials 5-10x what they probably are paying, they need to get a life.

IF I were working middle school games, there would be zero chance I'm going to the game in anything but what I wore to work that day. On the weekend, I'm probably going dressed.

In my professional work environment where I've been for over 20 years and pays a heck of a lot more for my time than officiating, clean/neat jeans are the norm and shorts are even common in the summer. T-shirts and polo's are just as common as any other kind of shirt. If someone is wearing a tie and jacket, it is either for a funeral or an interview (and that would be the extreme).

My upper end is business casual and that is not every game. I own just precisely one jacket that I only wear on very limited occasions. It is unreasonable to expect a person to buy a new wardrobe for traveling to work a game, particularly a low paying jobs such as MS officiating, only to change into the real work clothes as soon as they get there.

To insist on jackets and ties is, if you get down to the underlying motives, a different issue. Anyone who is doing that is really just trying to make their job seem more important that it really is.

In my area we are specifically told it is better to get dressed at the game site. For this reason, on days where I have a game I put a sports coat in my car. I work for a steel manufacturing company and often need to go into the production area...therefore I wear jeans. It just looks nicer and comes across better with the sports coat.

As for jewelry, we are told it is acceptable to wear a wedding band during the game. I don't. Been married 36 years and the wife is secure enough for me to go sans ring for a few hours...and it isn't like any female at the game is going to come up and hit on me. Besides, players cannot wear them so I think we should not.

I do have to figure our how I am going to address my medic alert bracelet. I know I can tape it down with only the important part visible. I am looking for one that is part of a sweat band (just cannot seem to find them again). I guess I could make my partner(s) aware of the reason and not wear it during games...but don't really like that option because if something does happen (even if it is remote) they may not remember in all the commotion.

I believe they make necklace based medic alert tags. You could easily wear one of those that was just below the collar of the shirt. I know it isn't quite as visible but I would hope that medics are trained to look in both places if they're going to look at all.

I'll figure it out for you. Wear it. Period. Your life is more important than some uniform directive from your association. If anyone criticizes you for wearing it, you can tell them that BillyMac says that they're a dick head. That's right. A dick head. Can I be more clear? I've got your back brother (or sister).

From my local board guidelines:

When arriving at a game site, people immediately judge you by your appearance. Make a good first impression by coming to game sites dressed professionally in business casual attire. Consider purchasing a sweater, pullover, or vest, with an IAABO logo, or a Little Corner of Connecticut board logo. Common sense dictates that some afternoon assignments may require officials to arrive in uniform, or in work clothes. Middle school sites may lack secure dressing areas, and may not have shower facilities available.

For most high school games, where secure dressing areas, and showers, are available, officials should not come dressed in uniform, and should not come dressed in sneakers, work boots, jeans, T-shirts, etc. It looks bad, and reflects poorly on our Little Corner of Connecticut board. On court, the official’s uniform should be clean, pants pressed, all black shoes shined, jacket unwrinkled, and the official should be well groomed. Officials should shower after the game and should not leave wearing a uniform. Doing so could give the impression that the official wants to “get in, get out, and get paid”, which is not the impression that Little Corner of Connecticut board officials want to present. Officials should leave the game site together. Even in this day in age when everyone has a cell phone, and many have some type of “road assistance”, it’s not fun sitting in a cold car, in a lonely parking lot, with a dead battery, or a flat tire, waiting for help to arrive.

Which is not only true for #11, but for almost anything in officiating.

"All politics is local." (Former Speaker of the U.S. House Tip O'Neill, 1935)

"The siesto, or afternoon's nap of Italy, my most dear and reverend Father, would not have alarmed you so much, if you had recollected, that when we are at Rome, we should do as the Romans do." (Pope Clement XIV, 1777)

Hey just another ref: Why didn't you make this post in my "belt" thread? I was pinned down. No way out. I could have used some backup.

Wow. It's a 180° turn here in my little corner of Connecticut. In high school games, 98% come in street clothes, change into their uniform, shower after the game, and get back into their street clothes. It's a much lower percentage in middle school game. Most middle schools around here don't have dressing facilities for officials. For recreation, travel, AAU, etc. 99.9% come in their uniform, ready to go.

Wait a minute? I recall my mother saying something about everybody jumping off the Empire State Building. It was fifty years ago. What was it that she told me?

Honey Moon, Keep A Shinin’ In June ...
 

I have no problem with wedding bands, however, due to safety reasons, back when I was married, it came off, and was strapped to my watch, in my bag, back in the locker room, during games.

What, No Tuxedo ???
 

Wow? Back when I started, thirty-two years ago, it was encouraged, but not dictated, that we wear ties, but never jackets. We've evolved since then to business casual.

Billy...multiple quote function is your friend.

I mean really!!! :rolleyes:

Peace

Here, high school games, business casual. Although one can get away with wearing jeans to Freshman and JV games. Varsity games, business casual at minimum.
Middle school games, they jeans are fine.

Track suits, sweat pants, shredded and holey jeans? Not at any level.

Below MS level and off season, I'm showing up dressed (with my shirt in my bag).

Am I An Esteemed Member Yet ???
 

Check out the times. And the edit times. As I read through the different posts in the thread, scrolling back several times (I do read everybody's posts thoroughly), I came up with different ideas. Or ... I'm artificially increasing my post count to eventually became an esteemed member. Take your pick.

JRutledge: Nice list. Good points for discussion, especially since we're heading into the season. Thanks for sharing.

Hygiene ???
 

Seriously. For those of you that don't shower, and change back into your street clothes, after a Friday night high school game, please don't sit on the bar stool next to me.

I had a partner this winter who told me I couldn't wear my medic alert bracelet. I reminded him that if we have to follow the same rules as players (his own words), I'd be permitted to tape it down, which I did for my MS games today. When my renewal comes up, I might look into the necklace-based version now that I'm officiating.

As for changing at a game site:

• HS JV - Change on-site.
• HS 9th Grade - If I can arrive in enough time, I'll change on-site. Otherwise, I'll wear my pants and change into my stripes and shoes on-site.
• MS/CYO - Most schools around here have no facilities for officials, so I go fully dressed aside from shoes, which I change into on-site.

I was reading along, enjoying my popcorn.:D

First of all that is just plain stupid. No common sense.

Peace

Saturday morning games (usually JV or Sophomore B) are the only days that you see it common for people to show up in anything less then standard. The key is getting there on time, but still assignors do not want people to show up dressed. Keep in mind when I say this, that means you could come in parts of your uniform under clothes, but you do not tell everyone you have your uniform on by wearing black pants or officiating shoes. So a "track suit" might be what some wear.

I do not work MS or JH games anymore, most of the time people are there as a body to make money. No one cares about those games and what you wear here honestly. People who assign those games also have little association with high school games and many would not care what their requirements are. I just know when I worked those games I came in other clothes then my uniform. And if I worked a game today I still would show up in regular clothes.

Peace

Medic Alert Wristband ...
 

He's a dick head. Be sure to tell him that BillyMac said so.

This should do the trick:

http://silverliningjewels.ca/nylon-m...wristband.html

Preppy ...
 

Oddly, it's just the opposite here (although not morning, usually afternoon). Saturdays are usually prep school assignments here in Connecticut. Our local board traditionally gives a slightly higher value to prep school games than to public, or Catholic, high school games. Varsity officials assigned are usually among our best guys. Junior varsity officials are usually varsity officials who are willing to work few junior varsity games. Nobody ever shows up to a prep school assignment in jeans, it's always business casual, and some officials, especially the older veterans, will occasionally wear a tie, and jacket, to a prep school game.

Man In The Middle ...
 

Yet another example of "When in Rome ...". Most public middle school games are assigned by the same assigner who assigns our high school games. These assignments are treated like any other subvarsity assignment for the same pay ($58.21 last season). Our assigner expects the officials to follow the same guidelines for a public middle school game as for any other local board high school assignment (except for adjustments due to the lack of changing facilities in many of these middle schools). These officials are rated, and ranked, as any other subvarsity official, and the number, and level, of their assignment, as well as their eventual promotion to varsity, depends on these ratings, and rankings.

Note: Catholic middle school games are assigned by another assigner, and are treated completely separately from our high school, and public middle school games, in much the same manner as stated by JRutledge in his post above.

I've heard this mantra before, and I just don't buy it. We wear other things players aren't allowed to wear. We aren't players, we don't have the same uniform requirements. At some levels, players are allowed to wear far more than the officials are.

And frankly, there's no way I would ask a partner to tape down a medic alert bracelet. It's just pointless. When we start going for rebounds and playing defense, then I'll buy into the idea that we should be adhering to the same jewelry standards as the players.

As it is, for us, wedding rings and medical alert stuff are fine. Earrings, out. Nose rings, out.

Agreed. I'm not too concerned with getting my wedding ring tangled in the net, caught on the rim, or intertwined in a uniform.

I take off my watch (when in Rome), but that's as far as it goes, as that's what I've been instructed to do as local policy.

Ohio lists it out in their Officials Handbook....pretty much every sport has this blurb:

Jewelry shall not be worn except for a wedding band and/or a medical alert necklace or bracelet. A religious medallion which is not visible is permitted. A watch is permitted only when an official has a duty for timing during the contest.

In addition to what others have suggested, something like this might work for you also.
https://www.roadid.com/p/the-Wrist-ID-Sport

Your Silvery Beams Will Bring Love's Dreams ...
 

Agree.

Common sense. You guys in The Buckeye State seem to have your act together.

Agree 100% with wedding bands. No earrings? I'm probably in agreement, but I'm curious. Why allow wedding bands, but not earrings, especially a simple pair on female officials? How about an engagement ring? Like wedding bands, some females leave an engagement ring, and/or simple earrings, on twenty-four seven. Other jewelry is usually taken on, and off, from day, to day, or even, hour, to hour. Not disagreeing. Not disagreeing if it's your local, or state, guideline. Not looking to start a major debate. Just curious.

How about this scenario, when a player tosses the ball to you? It can happen.

Way back before I retired from teaching, and before my divorce, I was passing the gymnasium on the way out of the school and noticed the boys team shooting around. I decided to show off and take a few shots with the guys, while I was wearing my wedding band. I was only half paying attention when one of my students passed me the ball and I caught the pass with my fingers extended, which jammed the fingers. I woke up the next morning with a very swollen ring finger. I showed the injury to the school nurse as soon as I got to school. The wedding band was acting like tourniquet, cutting off circulation to the finger, and because of the swelling, we couldn't get the ring off. We were on our way to the metal shop to get the ring cut off, but decided to stop by the cafeteria kitchen first. Luckily, a little butter on my finger helped to get the ring off.

This would be one reason it wouldn't happen to me. I don't "shoot around with the guys."

Full disclosure - many yrs ago I fell on the ice and dislocated my ring finger. The hospital had to cut my wedding band off to x-ray and fix it. So, my ring is already removable. ;)

This is what I have at present. It looks very similar to what you posted.

Sports Balls Sports Band Medical ID Bracelet | MedicAlert Foundation

I agree Adam...I had a earring years ago...but, never wore it while I officiated. I do, however, wear my simple gold wedding band.

You stated "earrings out". Do you actually tell your partners, in no uncertain terms, not to wear the earring(s)? Or do you do as I do, with the ONE varsity official that we have that continues to wear his earrings? Which is simply, "Hey Mike, you still wearing those earrings? It must be a soccer thing...." (he officiates soccer also) I kid with him...but, there is "a little truth in all kidding".

Our Assignor doesn't make a big deal out of it (Mr. Earring is rated in the top 25% of our association and got 19 Varsity games last year) so even though I am on the board...I don't make a huge deal out of it. Mr. Earring doesn't do State or playoff games.

I dunno...now that I think about it...wearing an earring might be right up there with wearing a belt! ;)

Here our people mostly come dressed to the site.

Here due to our start times many people come straight from work. 315 or 330 starts for a JV/V double header.

Some of our schools don't have adequate dressing room facilities either.

Our assignor forbids the wearing of wedding rings. That being said, some people wear them anyway.

Actually, I've only had to bring it up once, and it was a "Hey, Steve, don't forget to take your earrings out."

"Thanks, Adam."

It Could Happen, Probably Won't, But It Could ...
 

... but players toss the ball to officials several times during a game.

Yep, He's A Real Dickhead ...
 

And your partner told you not to wear it?

In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny, "What a maroon, what an ignoranimous".

Different Strokes By Different Folks (Sly & the Family Stone) ...
 

Odd? Once again, an example of "When in Rome ...". Here in my little corner of Connecticut, we traditionally guard our ranking, and number of games assigned, like they're the Royal Crown Jewels. All of us speak of our ranking, and number of games assigned, in cryptic terms ("I moved up a few spots.", "I like my schedule this season.", "I'm working three, or four, times a week.", etc.). I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm not sure about the origin of this "oral tradition", passed down from generation, to generation (probably has to do with collegial ratings), but that's they way we've been rolling around here for all of my thirty-two years, and I guarantee that it goes back a lot longer than that. If we tell colleagues our specific ranking, or the specific number of games, or the level of the games, that we got, then we have to kill them.

And I could jam my finger tying my combat boots, too.

Middle School, Freshman, Games ...
 

Same thing here. Almost all middle school don't have adequate dressing facilities. High school freshman games start at 4:00 p.m., (middle schools start at 3:30 p.m.) and while all high schools have adequate dressing facilities, the most important thing is to get the few officials who are available for these early starting times to the sites on time, ready to go. In some cases it may mean an official coming directly from work (maybe jeans, work boots, overalls, sweatshirt, etc.), certainly no time to get out of work clothes, into business casual clothes, and into his official's uniform. In other cases, especially where adequate dressing facilities are not available, it may mean getting dressed, in uniform, for the game at one's day job, or at home, and coming ready to go.

On the other hand, here in my little corner of Connecticut, high school night games, plenty of time, adequate dressing facilities, don't come dressed in uniform, come dressed in business causal, take a shower after the game, all the time.

The Lady, Or The Tiger ???
 

I can respond in one of two ways on this:

1) Shut up.

2) I agree 100%. It's one of those "When in Rome ..." local guidelines.

You chose. Pick your poison.

I'll agree that everyone should do their Rome thing, and I'll also agree that few people other than officials would notice if someone came to the game dressed for the court, but I know I feel sharper when I arrive at a game site looking sharp. Additionally I doubt that someone who is not an official would think a dressed-down official is unprofessional or won't do a good job. I do think that an "outsider" will have the opposite impression with an official who is sharply dressed before a game. It's human nature to have unconscious impressions based on appearance and I'm going to control what I can control and put myself in the best position I can in order to get a positive first impression. I'm sureasheck not going to tell another adult what he or she should be wearing to a game but if someone asks, I'll share my experiences...

In The Bleachers, Business Casual Street Clothes ...
 

It is our local custom that varsity officials arrive at the site in time for the junior varsity jump ball, observe the first half of the junior varsity game, join in the junior varsity halftime locker room conference, and observe the third period the junior varsity game, before heading into the locker room to get changed for the varsity game.

Junior varsity officials are encouraged to stay for, at least, the first half of the varsity game, and join the varsity halftime locker room conference.

All of this observing is for both educational, and collegial rating, purposes.

We believe that it's more professional to sit in the bleachers, surrounded by fans, parents, school staff, etc., in business casual street clothes rather than in uniform. There's certainly no way that anyone could accuse any members of my local board of a "get in, get out, get paid" mentality. We've been told by many athletic directors, and a few coaches, that they see us observe each other for educational purposes, that they see us, in the bleachers, dressed professionally in business casual street clothes, and that they really like what they see.

Another "Roman" difference.

The schools in my area usually have chairs set up away from the bleachers/crowd for the school administrators and the officials for the other game.

Of course, many of these schools are small enough that they do not have bleachers behind the goals, so there is usually room along one or both of these walls for a short row of chairs near the corner.

To people that say you may not be afforded an area to dress...where do y'all usually hold a pregame? Where do y'all go at halftime? Where do you go after the game is finished? Or should I assume this usually isn't provided at these type of schools?

Our Little Corner Of The Land Of Steady Habits ...
 

All of our high schools have changing facilities, we show up in business casual, change into uniform, shower after the game, dress back into business casual, and head to a local adult beverage emporium (especially on a Friday night).

But when working with a female official in a high school game (no, we don't get dressed, undressed, and shower together), our pregame is usually held in a hall outside the gymnasium, halftime conference in the same place, and post game conference, also, in the same place. Then we each head back to our own locker rooms.

Public middle schools (assigned by our high school assigner). Most come dressed in uniform due to the early starting times (3:30 p.m.), and usual lack of changing facilities. I don't work public middle schools, but I'm guessing that storage of referee property, and conferences, take place in the physical education office, which, at least in these parts, usually doesn't have a usable shower. The shower, if there is one, is where the physical education teacher usually stores equipment for the classes, and most of these teachers don't appreciate it when you toss their dodge balls out of the shower to use it.

Catholic middle school games. Almost all of us come in uniform. Jackets, street shoes, etc., are usually stored in a locked classroom nearest to the gymnasium. Conferences are held there. In a few cases all of this takes place at, or behind, the table. Less formal pre, intermission, and post game conferences, not really mandatory in our Catholic school games. We get there about ten minutes before the prayer before the start the first game, shoot the breeze with each other, work our games (usually multiple games), wait around long enough to make sure that everything is copacetic, grab our bags, grab our checks, and hit the road.

Which is total bullshit.

Maybe so...but it's all about perception and credibility. Based on the arrest...those officials are usually blackballed by AD's regardless of outcome and the association is usually left with an unassignable official. I've seen it three times in 12 seasons.

I appreciate your strong disagreement but ya might choose a different decriptive term.

Not being found guilty doesn't mean they didn't do it. Perhaps they did but worked out a plea to not go to court. That doesn't make it right just because they got off with it. Perhaps in the above case, every one of them actually did what they were charged with.

Interesting...our Assignor likes "full disclosure".

Our entire association just got the email last night showing every member's ranking (1st to last), amount of Varsity games last year, how many schools each official got "rated" by, and even what each official's score is on the yearly test. It also shows your ranking among your peers.

I have heard wise ol' Assignors say...

"it dosen't matter what system you have for ranking...the cream always rises to the top."

In my area we have review sessions where we have access to all the test questions, and share the answers among everyone. Almost everyone gets perfect scores.

Which defeats the whole purpose of a test.

Exactly. Nothing like making it so they don't have to know the rules very well.

If you worked out a plea agreement, you have admitted to some kind of crime. You avoid court to not get the harshest of penalties if convicted.

Peace

Not necessarily. Not all test are valued or used the same way for the same purposes.

Peace

Test Review Sessions ...
 

Similar here. About a dozen review sessions are held. Your ticket into a review session is your test with questions answered (just answers, right, or wrong, answers). No answers, no entry into the session. We go over the questions, and answers. It used to be all the questions, now it's just what are deemed to be the difficult questions. Everyone in attendance gets full credit, which counts 5% of our annual rating, which counts toward our annual ranking, which determines the number, and level, of games that we are assigned.

Those individuals that don't attend one of these review sessions can send in their answers to the rating committee, who will correct it, and assign a score. Since the review sessions are held over a period of two weeks, a non attendee can get the answer sheet from a colleague who did attend an earlier review session. As a result, most of these non attendees get full credit on their test.

Those that don't attend a review session, or don't send in their individual answers, don't get any credit for the test portion, 5%, of their annual rating, which determines the number, and level, of games that we are assigned. For the most part these are officials who only belong to our local board to pay their dues, and maintain their "certification" to wear the IAABO patch, so that they can work their recreation, travel, Catholic middle school, AAU games, etc. These guys don't care at all about their local board rating, and are just satisfied working a few subvarsity assignments every year, with no intention of moving up.

Partial Disclosure ...
 

The closest we come to this is that we have a committee that, at the end of the season, reviews a list, from our assigner, with names redacted, of our 325 members in rank order, and the number, and level, of games assigned, to insure that our assigner is fairly assigning games. Around these parts, school don't rate, 80% of our ratings are from colleagues.

Probably true.

We Surrender ...
 

We had to go to a system similar to that used by AremRed due to the prevalence of cheating.

Before going to the system that we currently use, we all took our tests as individuals with an open book format. We sent in our test answers, which were corrected, and our test score counted 5% of our annual rating, which determines the number, and level, of games that we are assigned.

The main problem was that several members were always able to get their hands on answer sheets, often from IAABO colleagues in other states, that took their tests at an earlier time than us. If you knew a local board member with an answer sheet, it was just a matter of copying the correct answers, many never even looked at their test questions, and just sent in the correct answers to our local board's rating committee.

Others cheated in a slightly different way, forming "exclusive only by invitation" review sessions where one could attend by having already answered all the questions on the test. At least one person in one of these exclusive groups would have the answer sheet, and we would review both the questions, and the answers, with individuals correcting any answers that they may have answered incorrectly. Then the individuals would send in their answer sheets, with correct answers, to the local board's rating committee.

All of the above board members would get perfect scores, or near perfect scores in the not so rare situation where IAABO made a mistake on the answer sheet. Those who didn't know anyone with an answer sheet, or those who didn't "belong" to one of those exclusive review groups, or those who didn't want to cheat in any way, would do what they were supposed to do, answer their questions in an open book format, and get the score that they got, often quite low, due to the tricky wording that is infamous on all IAABO review tests.

Several years ago the leadership of our local board just threw their hands up in surrender, and came up with the officially sponsored review sessions that we now have today (see BillyMac's post #81 above).

Right on the money. In every case I noted, they were guilty as charged. In four instances, the offense took place (amazingly) either immediately before or after a HS contest...on school property or adjacent. At least two pleaded no contest to avoid a guilty verdict. Most others found guilty.

My whole point is that as an official for school contests, one should understand that any "outside the lines" transgression is going to reflect on your status as an official and affect your career. If that seems unfair, maybe consider another avocation. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.

As long as each one was handled individually, it seems fair. I would just hate for there to be a situation where an official was black-balled because he was arrested for a crime that was actually committed by a one-armed intruder.

There's a pretty low standard for swearing out an assault charge, and it doesn't have to include any bodily contact.

You and Camron are comfortable in that ending an official's career? :confused::(

Not always. I'm sure the specific circumstances surrounding the incident are pretty relevant.

The one instance I'm aware of dealt with a member of the opposite sex ("battery" may actually be the correct term...I don't know the difference). It was pretty high profile. Word got around quickly. The official involved wasn't well liked or highly rated to begin with. Some coaches and AD's just used it as fuel to marginalize him. He lost his schedule that season. The association tried to assign him the following year after things settled down and the coaches still scratched him (which is their option in our area).

I'm not advocating that it should automatically be a career ender. I'm just saying that officials are going to be under a microscope when it comes to off-field/court behavior...whether that's fair or not, that's the way it is.

I am comfortable that it CAN end their career. It shouldn't always, but in some cases, it should. And it shouldn't take a guilty conviction to do so.

That is not to say that an accusation should be enough but more along the lines of civil law where a preponderance of the evidence is sufficient rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

There are plenty of wrongful death suits out there where the defendant was found not guilty of murder. This seems to be the same thing.

I was feeling left out so I figured what the heck...

Dressed/not dressed: For HS I work in two different states (NY/NJ) and I've seen two different things. In NY, specifically NYC, we're to come to the game in street clothes (no ripped jeans, etc.). If we don't come to the game in street clothes our assignor better know why beforehand (either they okayed it because you got a last-minute call or the site doesn't have adequate dressing facilities). If the AD or one of the coaches doesn't rat you out, there might be an observer in the stands who'll do the honors.

In NJ I've noticed folks coming to games with their gear on much more often but NJ assignors often give people two games on a day (4P & 7P) at two different sites so it's a matter of expediency. I've never pulled a double in NJ but I have in NYC and I changed back into my street clothes before heading to the second game and I'd do it in NJ if the situation came up because that's how I was trained.

Jewelry: My HS assignors don't tend to bother people about wedding bands but they're a definite "no" with my college assignors. For medic alert situatons both the HS and college folks I work for tell those who need them to use the necklace and tape it down.

Past legal transgressions: NYC HS took care of that for the most part starting in the '08-09 school year when the DOE implemented a fingerprinting requirement for anyone who regularly works as a contractor with the agency. Let's just say I got a few more assignments that season when our ranks took a bit of a hit. As far as NJ HS and NCAAW I could be working with people on work release and I wouldn't know because they don't check. I know NCAA runs background checks on officials who work the Div. 1 tournament (not sure about D2 or D3) which is more about gambling but obviously they'll pick up other stuff.

I'm Late, I'm Late, For A Very Important Date ...
 

Acceptable here as well.