How do I become bigger?

[Raymond]

I'm 6'5". It helps, and I have been moderately successful in meeting my career goals. But I have seen plenty of shorter officials move up the ladder faster than me.

My physical appearance probably gives me an edge if all other things are equal, but really, how often are all things equal?

More important than height, is a an athletic build. When I dropped a bunch of weight 5 years ago I all of a sudden catapulted from a HS/occasional JuCo ref to a multi-conference college official.

Along with an athletic look, you need to have good posture on the court. Your movements have to be brisk and purposeful. It is something you have to consciously be aware of. You have to see yourself on video in order to improve this aspect of your officiating. I did a D3 game 2 weekends ago and I felt sluggish the whole game. I saw the game on video and I looked even worse than I felt. My movements were lazy, I was slouching, there was no pep in my step. I was disgusted with what I saw. My play-calling and table presentation were very good in that game, but that was all wiped out, IMO, by my failure to present a big/athletic presence.

[Hartsy]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

More important than height, is a an athletic build. When I dropped a bunch of weight 5 years ago I all of a sudden catapulted from a HS/occasional JuCo ref to a multi-conference college official.

I second this. 5 yrs into officiating I dropped from 260lbs to 200lbs between basketball seasons. My ratings went up fairly dramatically th efirst yr after the weight loss. I find it hard to believe it was because I called a game that much differently from one season to next. Like mentioned, I looked fit, had a little more zip in me, no weariness, and it had to translate to a better court presence. In my mind, court presence is what can make you look "bigger".

[egj13]

Originally Posted by BadNewsRef

More important than height, is a an athletic build. When I dropped a bunch of weight 5 years ago I all of a sudden catapulted from a HS/occasional JuCo ref to a multi-conference college official.

Same here...our director in my last state was VERY clear on the fact that if you wanted to work post-season and similar types of games you had to look the part. "if the players condition for the game, the officials should do the same." We didn't have a single official in the post-season that didn't look the part.