Officiating two sports concurrently
 

Hello, I've recently become interested in becoming an official. I played football from 3rd grade through high school and spend all weekend watching football. So needless to say, since I already understand the game real well, I thought I'd like to be a football official. However, I've also learned a lot about volleyball as my daughter just finished her last season so I've been watching volleyball for some years. I decided I'd like to officiate both but then I realized that the seasons run concurrently. Does anyone know if this is doable? I'd just like to get some feedback from some veterans out there. Thanks in advance.

HAHA That you think watching on the weekend means much. Funny stuff.

Sure you can do both. One will get more than 50% of your attention though.

It's possible to officiate volleyball and football concurrently, but in my area, you will have conflicts on assignments. As a new official, you will get sub-varsity--i.e. junior high volleyball matches and football games that are typically scheduled on the some days at the same times. Because of the choices that must be made, it will hinder your growth (based on number of experiences) in one of the sports.

The officials that I work with that are multi-sport officials, recommend working only one sport for the first year to get experience before branching out to other sports.

Right, I suppose that concentrating on a one sport or the other makes sense since I am a noob. It's good to know it's doable though, thanks for the response...

Oh, you meant concurrent seasons. When I read "two sports concurrently", I thought it meant, you know, firing the starting pistol for the swimming race, then turning around to officiate the wrestling match, glancing over to the pool to watch for illegal turns, etc.

Honestly, those things won't mean very much at all with regard to officiating.

When can't really answer those questions since each area is different. You would need to decide which sport is primary and which sport is secondary. Then, you would need to talk to both individuals who do the assigning. That would determine whether you could work both.

How long you played or been around the game means nothing as an official. Your time around the game can be a blessing or a curse. You will either realize that soon or it will take you awhile to learn that as playing the game does not mean you will understand the rules or the role of the officials.

Well many multiple sport officials have games that overlap in season and out of season. I work 3 sports, but football and basketball overlap all the time. Between the summer camps and even working in the post season for football it is not unusual to work both sports at the same time. I have worked basketball games since early October and this week I will be fortunate to work every day this week other than Thanksgiving day with 4 games in basketball and one football game. It can be done and it is done often. Even if you work a lot of Junior High, Middle School or even Men's leagues many of that is in the fall and runs during football season. You just have to manage your schedule and keep up with the rules.

Peace

+1 to the 'start with one sport and add the second one in a couple of years' crowd.

I also played football in high school and college. I even played on a semi-pro team for a few years before becoming an official. The first time I actually read the rule book (after registering to officiate for the first time), I very quickly learned that knowing the rules as a player/fan/coach is a VERY different thing then knowing the rules as an official.

Don't let that discourage you though.... new officials are always welcome in my book.

I disagree with Rut and the others who say being around the sport is of no help when it comes to officiating. There are some benefits (knowledge of the game, seeing how the game is played, noticing in a general sense of what is "normal" in terms of game management and flow, etc.).

In other words, you are way ahead of someone who's never seen a football game. (Believe me, I've seen those types try and officiate. I saw a first-time baseball umpire show up to his first game with a whistle!)

With that being said, don't think for a second that your time around the game (whether playing or spectating) is going to give you much of a leg-up when it comes to officiating.

When you enter the world of officiating, come in with an open mind and a willingness to learn and work hard. My advice: don't come in believing you know a lot about the game(s), because you're just about to find out how little you really know. :D Best of luck to you!

RadioBlue,

I did not say it would be no help, I said it could be a hindrance when first trying to get over all the myths that players/coaches have when they become an official.

Peace

I started all my sports in the same year. I think that you can learn many game management or conflict resolutions skills from the other sports. While others had a complete off season to work on those things, I could move onto the next season and work on the same skills. At least for me it made my experience level in each sport shoot through the roof compared to those that only had to work one sport. So I find nothing wrong with working multiple sports at the beginning if you have the time and the passion for them.

Peace

2 sports in consecutive seasons, perhaps. (Football, then basketball, then baseball)...

Starting football & volleyball at the same time... that would be more difficult from a rules mastery standpoint.

A quick example of "knowing the rules as an official" vs "knowing the rules as a player": why does the kicker kick the ball into the ground in the vast majority of onside kick attempts? As a player, I had no idea why we did that... once I started reading the rulebook as an official, I read the free kick rules and had the lightbulb "A-ha, that's why it's done that way" moment.

Those sports you just mentioned are running basically at the same time in many ways. I worked JH basketball during my first football season. I worked basketball during the baseball season. And during the summer under the right situation you can work all 3 (especially now). Also volleyball here can run in the fall and spring based on gender or club and youth games.

Also mastery of the rules comes with time, not in one or two seasons. As a football official I am still learning to master the rules and this was will be the end of my 16th season. There are things I have yet to see or when I see them I have to think through the rules. Football has the most difficult rules as they change and each level is so different. You also have to know more than rules, you better know the mechanics or your rules knowledge will not be applied properly.

Peace

The one thing that aggravates me is that coaches and casual fans think that people "that played the game" simply make better officials. I've heard some say that leagues should simply hire former players because "they understand and know the game."

You know what? There are some good/great ex-player officials. But they are great not because they played the game, but because they put the time and effort into learning how to officiate.

Football rules are certainly complex. And football is the only sport where some officials feel they don't really need to know the rules or enforcements because there's someone on the field wearing the white hat -- it's his job.

I have always been a rules wonk, but I never *really* learned the rules well until I became a white hat on a Friday night about 8 years ago. The last thing I want is to have to guess or have to make something up, so I spend the entire season and a lot of the offseason with my nose buried in the football books. I spend more time working on football rules than on the rules of all the other sports I work combined (and probably double that).

I've always used that as an excuse for not wanting to work college football, but to be honest having to keep the two rules sets straight means I really need to know both of them very well. It's a win-win for me.

Agree. They are great officials because their love of the game motivates them to learn the rules and mechanics, and their personalities are such that they can manage a game.

Being an ex-player is neither necessary nor sufficient for this combination of love of the game and suitable personality.

I think ex-players become good/great officials faster than people who did not play. Ex-players have a feel for the flow of the game and anticipate action better than people who have not played. But that is tempered by (as jTheUmp pointed out) "knowing the rules as a player."

That being said, I do agree wholeheartedly that love of the game and personality are the keys to becoming good/great officials, and have a much greater impact on success than playing experience.

Until fairly recently, you couldn't get hired by the SEC unless you had played in the conference.

Which explains some things.

I showed up for a baseball game for my son and ump didn't know what a foul ball was and didn't stop the game until the coaches complained.

I don't agree with this. I know what JR is trying to say, but this statement is clearly incorrect. Sports differ, but you will pick up baseball much easier having played a bunch of it. You shouldn't see your first HS fastball from behind the catcher.

Anyway, dual sports at the same time CAN be a problem. I did volleyball in years past and now do football and basketball. I don't like working basketball until I'm finished with football, but around here, that's impossible. Stopping the action for basketball conflicts with how things work in football. It can be done, I just don't like it.

However, volleyball shouldn't be a big deal in that respect. Around here it would be tough to do both football and volleyball at the highest HS levels. VB plays Tuesday and Friday varsity (Fri/Sat tournaments early in the season) and FB is Friday, a little Sat. and early in the week for subvarsity. Plus, by the time November comes around, both playoffs start and you could end up with a conflict.

The VB guys and I compare notes early in the BB season about our respective (FB and VB) seasons, playoffs, etc. I have never heard of anyone around here that does both FB and VB -- at least not at any high level. Other states may be different.

You are right that certain sports are different, but players most of the time had no idea what we did and why we did them. Even calling the plate as and umpire you still have to have some training in timing and have some philosophies are to where to set up and what to do and what not to do. Playing does not teach you that aspect. If that was the case they would only use former pro players to umpire MLB games. As someone said the SEC used to almost exclusively use former players to officiate the football games and that has been in many cases a disaster. I think mostly what playing does is help you understand the strategy of the game and technique, but just like any player not all players understand the game they are playing at the same level. This is why I say that playing really has no big affect on your ability as an official at least in football. I know as a basketball player I had to get over many myths that I thought were illegal and had to retrain my thinking to understand the rules.

Well if you are working a sport where the two sports run at the exact same time I would think that would be more difficult. But I have worked football and basketball at basically the same time but of course one was lower level or JH games and the other was in their full seasons.

Peace

In the spring I concurrently work high school baseball and softball and NCAA softball. While the three sports are similar, there are different rules. I think to do this one needs to know all three sets of rules well and have enough concentration to remember what game is going on.

I'm not talking about levels of play, at least not too much. It isn't about what we do or how much the players understand what we do. Its more about knowing the game. A hoops official needs to know the difference between a man and zone defense, a single post and double post offense, a guard and a forward, etc. He doesn't necessarily need to know what a match-up zone is or how it compares to a basic zone.

A football official needs to know the difference between a guard and tackle, a safety and linebacker, what a screen pass is, etc. He doesn't necessarily need to know the difference between a cover 2 and the old strong/weak safety.

How do you think that helps a basketball official call the game? By being able to better anticipate the play?