New officials
 

Can anyone link me to their associations policy on new recruits?

Or just share some of the guide lines and criteria?

Our policy is to accept all who apply. Many come to us never having played or coached the game at any level and with no knowledge of the game at all. We still train them & assign them. As I posted before, I am looking at new ways to bring a higher quality official into our membership.

I believe the first step is a guideline.

Thanks,

Basketball - Upper Peninsula Officials Association

Our association isn't that active as we get our own games in this area, but here is an idea of what our guide lines say.

Are you looking for a way to reject the new officials? Doesn't seem like something anyone would want to do.

Why would playing or coaching make someone more attractive to you? Officiating isn't anything like playing or coaching.

The best way and only way is through quality education, training, and feedback.

MTD, Sr.

1- Not reject someone, again, bring people into officiating who can be MORE of an asset to the association.

2-I personally believe that if you played or coached the game, you have a concept of the game BEFORE you become a referee. I agree they are different and it is not necessary but helpful.

Does YOUR association accept every applicant? We have for years. Most years we get about 5 to 10 new officials. I am looking to recruit officials who will lead us into the next 15 to 20 years.

literally half of our 50 members are over 50 years old. We need youth and we are not getting it. 4 of the 6 new referees this year were over 50 years old.

That's an issue that I think we're encountering nationwide.

Some targeted recruiting towards recent high school and college grads that played basketball for their school might not be a bad place to start.

That is what we do. We have people go to virtually every college in our area and hand out flyers. Then we hit the city run rec leagues for adults. There you find people who are interested in the game.

As for former players and coaches. When I was very active in our chapter some of our top officials never played or coached the game. When they decided to take up officiating, basketball fit into their work schedule the best. I based my decision of which sport to officiate on a simple thing...I asked myself "When it is in the upper 30's (temp) and pouring down raining would I rather be in a warm dry gym working a game or standing in the elements on a football field." Seemed like an easy answer to me... :D

another idea would be to contact youth coaches at the 11/12 yr old level, especially rec coaches vs the fully invested "Friday Night Tykes" style travel coaches. A lot of them won't continue coaching once their kids get to about 13 or so and transition to middle school/high school but they may still want to stay in the game. Heck, that's the path I took and I've heard many others say the same.

Thanks everyone. Definitely good advice as usual!

Of course we accept everyone. Why wouldn't we?

Because not everybody is qualified. Not everyone can do this job not from a physical standpoint not from a mental standpoint. Just my opinion.

one of our applicants was about 5 foot 8 inches tall and nearly 300 pounds.

So you're going to reject people just by looking at them?

You know, somebody needs to officiate the little kids' games.

Pass Two Exams ...
 

Our rookies have to pass a written IAABO exam, and then, if they pass the written exam, a floor exam. If they just barely fail the written exam, they can take the floor exam, and if they pass it, they can retake the written exam at the end of the season.

Can anyone link me to their associations policy on new recruits?

Or just share some of the guide lines and criteria

Certainly. New recruits have to buy beer all night after the game. Andgiven they must sing their college fight song upon request :D

On the serious side (I was funnin' on the last post but it is true!!). Our association encourages new officials to attend as many summer camps as possible. Our asscoiation camp is in conjunction with an AAU tournament from the little rug rats to high school age kids. We offer classroom instruction, videos, testimonials, a "verbal" type exam where a question is asked and one person is picked to answer and that answer is discussed by everyone. Most important is working the games--the newbies work the little kids with supervised help. Watching how other officials work is also preferred. Researching the internet on their own is encouraged--this board for example.