Taking a path working men's vs. women's ball
 

So far, I've worked at the high school level but am interested in advancing to the college level and am looking at different camps and clinics.

What advice or insight do you have on the difference in looking to work men's vs. women's games? Do officials usually go one route or the other? What pros/cons/differences do you see in working the two?

The main advice is pick one and stick with it. I made the decision to work NCAAW nearly 20 years ago because I like the way the game is played and I can identify with it - I'm 5'11" and the last time I dunked was when I played on 8' rims at a playground in college.

There was also a practical reason: There weren't as many NCAAW's officials as there were NCAAM's officials so joining the ranks wasn't going to be a tough.

Gender Bender ???
 

Talk your your high school official colleagues who also work college games to see what it's like working up the ladder for both genders. Here in Connecticut, it's a lot easier to get in to start, and to work one's way up the ladder, working womens college games. I'm sure that it's different in other areas. Once you get that information, then you can consider whether one gender, or the other, is worth the wait. It depends on how bad you want one gender over the other.

The bottom line, they are only allowed to be assigned one side or the other because that is what the supervisors want. And many D1 assignors for example also assign lower level college leagues or work closely with those that do assign those leagues and they are not changing that position for most of us around the country at this time. And considering how different the two games are and the expectations, that is likely not going to change for that reason too.

You are either going to make the choice yourself, or the choice is going to be made for you. Once you are assigned on one side or the other, the other assignors will not touch you for the most part. There was an assignor in my area that would just put officials on both sides and he was fired as a result, becuase the coaches complained.

Peace

What was the basis of their complaints?

The men's coaches don't want/expect the game to be called the same way as the women's coaches want/expect the game to be called. In particular, the coaches on the men's side were not happy with what they considered girls officials because those officials tend to call the game much tighter than officials that work only men's games.

I still work some girls games and the girls coaches don't seem to like my work as much as the boys coaches do. My idea of advantage / disadvantage doesn't always match up with them as well as on the boys side -- many of the girls' coaches think that any bit of contact is a foul.

I will say this, though - the truly successful girls teams (and I was fortunate enough to see some good coaches and good teams in the post-season last year) do not have coaches with this mentality.

And I will also say I'm much more comfortable working boys games, in general.

It also must be noted that women's mechanics are rather different than men's mechanics. There were people using the wrong mechanics for the wrong gender because they were used to what was done. Officials even at the high school level get stubborn about what they are doing. And in this case officials that were used to working mostly women's games would refuse to do men's mechanics when assigned. That did not go over very well with many coaches or even fellow officials. So in the end, that assignor lost that league on both sides and the two different assignors would never think to use one of the other officials. And if as an official on the men's side you are working a women's game and that is found out, you might as well end your men's career, unless you are just filling in for someone not showing up or something like that.

Peace

Personality
 

Replying to the OP, I made the decision 4 years ago to work the women's side, after thinking for years that I'd only want to climb the men's ladder. One of my mentors put it best--he said, 'Matt, don't take this the wrong way, but your personality is better for the women's game.'

What he meant was that many of the men's officials he encountered were very egotistical, cut-throat, and selfish...personality traits I don't have and don't want to deal with. In my experience, women's officials are much more about the crew as a whole.

I haven't regretted my decision and have met some wonderful people at the NCAA-W level.

Much easier to advance on the women's side in general, and specifically if the official is female.
The men's side is much more competitive.
Someone else said that you need to decide what you desire. The game is different. Personally, I find the lack of above the rim play on the women's side to be boring as well as the general lack of physical play. I've worked both genders at the JC and small college level. I would not be enthusiastic about seeing 40 NCAAW games each Winter. I just don't look forward to those games.
I've even ceased working girls games at the HS level. In the end, it comes down to personal taste (#1) and practical chances to advance (#2). I will note that males have basically no chance to work an NCAA Final Four on the women's side in the future. May come down to goals vs dreams. Do you have long term dreams or a short term goal?

There are often other issues. Around here, most small college W games are prior to the M games. You have to get there earlier but also get home MUCH earlier, it seems. Gender can also be an issue when moving up to the DI levels. A large conference supervisor was fired some time back for not using the "proper" number of women in the conference tournament games. Not saying that I've seen women that can't work get hired, but I have seen good men officials overlooked. That's going to happen everywhere -- men's DI, NBA, etc. but it seems the pressure is greatest in DI W to get women on the floor.

That's what I've observed, anyway. Others may have different observations.