"The Book" and first time as R

[rekent]

Tuesday will be my first game as R and having book responsibility.

I know to verify with coaches that their players are properly equipped, and that the book must be completed 10 mins prior including all players and numbers with starters indicated. What else is there? To signify checking it do I or a coach sign under the final player entries?

Asked to observe my partner last week to make sure I would have everything straight and his response was "Oh don't worry about it, it's just a formality." and went ahead and did it when I was handling other matters.

Advice from any of you long time vets?

[APG]

Teams only have to have roster and starter supplied to the table by the 10 minute mark...not necessarily in the book.

[rekent]

I phrased that poorly. Yes, I know the coaches just must have supplied them by 10, more "at the book" than "in the book." Thank you for mentioning that though so that I am more careful with my phrasing.

[OKREF]

We have to sign the book, and put in our state ID number. Also have to take the book to each coach and have them initial that the info for their team is correct.

[brainbrian]

You can count the number of players on the floor for each team and count the number of players in the book for each team. If a team has more players on the floor warming up then they do in the book, then you really should have a coach double check it.

Some referees write down how many players are on each team in the book or write a line through the first blank spot or something similar. This prevents a team or the scorer from adding names into the book later - or if they do you know that they did too late.

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by rekent

Tuesday will be my first game as R and having book responsibility.

I know to verify with coaches that their players are properly equipped, and that the rosters must be provided 10 mins prior including all players and numbers with starters indicated. What else is there? To signify checking it do I or a coach sign under the final player entries?

Asked to observe my partner last week to make sure I would have everything straight and his response was "Oh don't worry about it, it's just a formality." and went ahead and did it when I was handling other matters.

Advice from any of you long time vets?

1. Remember that partner and his lack of willingness to help. His response really bothers me.

2. Go through the NFHS manual. You may want to do it exactly by the book the first time and then weed out what doesn't exactly work for you.

At any rate, the coach doesn't have to sign. Putting a heavy line after the last name on the roster at the ten-minute mark will let you know if there's an issue later on. I try to check no later than the 12-minute mark so if there are issues they can be corrected in time.

[BillyMac]

Don't forget to make "nice nice" with the table crew. Introduce yourself and double check to be sure that they all know what they're doing, and that they feel like they are part of the officiating crew.

[Bad Zebra]

Along the lines of what Billy said...I have a brief and frank conversation with the official scorer (usually a visitors scorer at the table as well) about my expectations of them along the lines of:
-Make sure you make eye contact with every official when they are reporting
-Compare score with other scorer often (like every dead ball) to make sure everyones on same page
-Have the timekeeper sound a horn during a dead ball if there's a book issue to summon th R over
- Give me a thumbs up at the final horn to let me know book is accurate and complete.
-Let them know the scoreboard is just a bunch of pretty lights. We (officials) are only concerned with the book being accurate.
- We are required to list all game officials names in the book. This may be a local thing.

And I ALWAYS walk over and thank the table crew at the conclusion of the game.

Congrats and good luck!

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by rekent

To signify checking it do I or a coach sign under the final player entries?

Depends on your area.

Since you didn't get a good response from the person you asked (or heck, maybe you did -- maybe your area doesn't do anything), ask another vet

[Adam]

Here, I sign and draw a line though the first open space.

[JRutledge]

I have gotten in the habit to simply verify if this is the information they have submitted if it is not in the book. If there are fewer players than listed I ask the coach why that might be or if there is a problem with any other number that has yet to be signed.

Then I go to the captains meeting. When that meeting is over I go see where the scorer is in their effort to get the information in the book. If they are done I immediately go to the coaches and verify with them if all this information is correct or properly listed. Then if they say it is OK, then I ask them to initial at the bottom of the book that I spoke to them. If there are any problems after then I know where to start looking.

I did not do this because people in the area did it; I did this because I wanted to help take away the debate about the content. I saved at least 5 Ts or more last year by doing this every single game I was the Referee. And most of the situations would have created a debate as to what was submitted and when. I learned this from someone I worked college games and last year made it an every game practice.

Peace

[Smitty]

Here in North Texas, we don't count players - we do have each coach check the book and sign their name under their roster. That way if anything ends up wrong, it's on the coach because they had an opportunity to fix it before the game. We also don't seem to care about the 10 minute rule (however in other states I've worked, this was enforced more strictly). We typically go check the book at about 8 minutes and if it isn't ready we check it again a couple minutes later.