White Hats

[WhistlesAndStripes]

How long on average does it take someone to become a white hat? I'm just curious, as I have been approached by someone in my association asking me to think about moving up for next year. I won't say how long I've been officiating til later.

[grantsrc]

I don't know if there is a magical number of years before you can move on. If you have a good grasp of the rules, and a good crew, I think 3 or 4 years is about right. Now, if you work a ton of underclass games as WH, that might speed up the process some. As long as you feel comfortable, go for it.

Now, one thing I've heard from other officials is that at times, if you become a WH, it gets harder to advance to the next level. Don't know if that is true or not, just one thing I've heard. Take it with a grain of salt.

[MJT]

There are many factors such as; what things are like in your area for officials, your rules knowlege, your people skills, your organizational skills, your handling of the rules in knowing what to and not to call. The list goes on and on and there is no magic number but you must know you are ready, that is for sure.

[cowbyfan1]

There are a number of things as mentioned. I WH for the first time in little kids (1st thru 7th) games my second year of calling. I did my first varsity WH in my 3rd year. I now really do nothing but WH in my 5th year (least that is all I am assigned so far with 2 weeks open out of 10). Moving up will probably be a little slower with a "young" crew but that does not mean too much. If you are not a WH and you get on a more veteren crew that is not that good you may not move up much at all either.

[JugglingReferee]

We have a national training program here in Canada that sets the guidelines.

I believe it says that you should be a Level II official to WH small kids games and a Level III to do V WHs.

I agree with that timeline. More importantly, I think a WH should have an excellent grasp of the other positions that he was worked going through the process to being a WH.

For some, it might take longer.

Here in Canada, officials are more than simply one posiiton. We work all positions. My favourite position is deep. I will gladly WH, and in my 5th year, I was appraoched to WH. It certainly made me understand the rules a lot better!

[WhistlesAndStripes]

OK, well, I'm a 2nd year football official but never played or coached the game at any level. I'd say my rules knowledge is about average, and the only positions I've worked on the field so far are LJ and HLM.

I've been doing hoops for 10 years, so I understand the people side of things and all.

We're pretty short of officials around here and 2 of our White Hats are retiring next year. To be honest, I was pretty surprised to have been approached, but I'm gonna start spending some more time in the book and see what I cando to get myself ready.

As best I can tell, as long as you have a good crew that can take care of their areas, the main responsibilities that fall on the WH are proper application of penalty enforcements. I feel like I can get the polished mechanics pretty well since I've done basketball for so long.

Any pointers on how to prepare myself better would be greatly appreciated.

[JRutledge]

There is no set year you should wait in order to work the WH. I would not suggest that you work your first varsity game as a WH, but you might be on a sophomore crew where everyone is in their first year and you might be the only person that is capable to work the WH position. I think this comes down to you knowledge of the rules and the make up of your crew. One of the biggest misconceptions of being the Referee is that you have to know all the rules better than anyone. Your crews need to know the rules too and they need to know the enforcements of the penalties they call.

Peace

[wisref2]

You obviously should know the rules inside and out, with a lot of extra study on penalty enforcement, all-but-one, and the exceptions. That's the easy part.

My feeling is the WH's biggest job is the crew. You should have worked and should know the mechanics of every position - and know them well.

You should stay up on changes and improvements in in the officiating field by reading a lot (like this board, Referee Magazine, other publications, etc.), attending clinics, presenting info at your local meetings, etc. and pass your knowledge on to your crew - and to other officials.

Get to know the assigners, the ADs, local coaches, etc. so you get a new perspective on the game. As the WH, you are the expert. As I also tell my crew, the honor of wearing the white hat goes to the best looking and smartest guy on the crew. For me, being the smartest took the most work.

[cowbyfan1]

As I stated before start WH little kids games and Jr High games. Also try to work the U as much as possible as that will get you looking at the line more than a wing would. Work on your signals, penalty enforcement, clock requirements (in perticular when to start it) and also know the mechanics of the other members of the crew.

[ljudge]

In our chapter I have been told unofficially that's at least 5 years. I was asked to move from Ljudge to Referee after my 3rd season.

Before I joined our chapter I was told we had one guy who went directly to WH in his rookie season. He had a good pedigree and is an excellent official from what I understand Bob McElwee's son, Scott, is now an ACC (?) refere and Arena 2 referee so there's those rare instances where you have someone really good and you always make exceptions to those guidelines, written or unwritten.

[l3will]

I am assuming that since you were approached to be a WH, that
you have developed a good reputation already. So congratulations on that acknowledgement.

Things to consider....
1. Do you have any say on who will be on your crew?
2. If you do get a crew that works well together, what
are the chances of keeping that crew together?
3. What level of varsity games will your crew get?
4. You may or may not like being a trainer of newer officials.
Are you expected to work in one or two newer officials
each year?
5. Will you get stuck being a WH and doing lower level games
when the "A" crews in your association get the higher
visisibility games? Is that even important to you?
6. Do you want to work college games? Will you be handicapped
by the fact that you are a WH? Here in MN, that doesn't
appear to, but your situation may be different.
7. Are you comfortable in leading your crew?

Probably a ton of other things to consider, too. If you are
a take charge person, and enjoy working with others, I'd say
go for it. Learn the rules, learn the enforcements and
try to develop a crew philosophy on how you are going
to officiate a game.

Congrats.

[Bob Lyle]

After learning the rules and the basics of each position, the most important characteristic of a WH is his personality. You have to be a people person and that's something you either have or haven't got. It's almost impossible to teach.

Dedicated officials with great people skills can become a WH after 2 or 3 years. Likewise, even great officials with poor people skills will never be a good WH. Average people skills will produce a WH in about 5 years. You're not only managing your crew, your managing the coaches as well. Great people skills will cover up a lot of other deficiencies. Poor people skills magnify what would otherwise be a minor error.

If you have been asked to become a WH after just a few seasons, my guess is that you have great people skills and those skills have been recognized my your superiors. Go for it!

[Forksref]

Originally posted by Whistles & Stripes
How long on average does it take someone to become a white hat? I'm just curious, as I have been approached by someone in my association asking me to think about moving up for next year. I won't say how long I've been officiating til later.

How bout ZERO years. The first varsity game I ever did was as a white hat. We were in a rural area that had a need for FB officials and we created our own crew. Needless to say, the learning curve was steep, but we got 7 games the first year and were requested by every school the next year.

[Tom.OH]

Forksref, I also worked R in my first varsity game however it was in my 5th year.In Ohio you cannot work a varsity game until your 3nd year. My daughter was still in high school and was a cheerleader so I chose to stay off a varsity crew until she graduated.
Here is my game story. I got a call Friday asking if I had a game that night. The old AD retired and never ordered officials for the game. New AD was looking for contracts and not having any he called the league. The league assigner new nothing about a game.I told them I'd work it, I was #4, he called me about 2:00 and said we have 5 officials and would I be the R. I told him it was my first game but I would. Got to the game and was nervous inside but calm on the outside. After the third play I was fine.
They say you will always remember your first game and I will for a very different reason. Our game was being taped by a Cincinnati TV station for their Friday highlight show. There was a helicopter in the air and I thought they were getting overhead shots. We soon realized it was a Police copter and the area behind the visitors stands were crawling with police and K-9 units. The public address asked for the home side to move over and let the visitors move on their side. There was an escaped fellon in the woods behind the stands. The police caught him by halftime. Oh yes, the game went well home team won 41-0

[Mike L]

All depends on the area you work. Some areas need officials desperately and you might end up working a Varsity WH your first year. Other areas may take a while longer. San Diego, CA happens to be in the "take a while longer" group. My experience was I learned quick during my 2nd year I better bring my WH to all youth games because the crew chief just might decide you need the experience. Same is true for Frosh games late in the second year. Once you are 3rd year and eligible to be drafted on a crew, you better have your WH with you every Friday because you will work it some on the JV game (we do JV/V doubleheaders almost every Friday night). 4th year you'll also start to pick up some assigned Frosh and maybe JV single games as WH. When you become a crew WH depends on the committee in charge. We had one this year promoted in what many see as pretty fast and he is entering his 10th year.