Considering Football

[BballRookie]

Hi All,
I'd like to give football officiating a go this coming year and am looking for advice, pointers, insight, etc.

Quick background: officiate basketball and played football through high school(for what it's worth ).

Anything you think would be worth hearing I'm up for. Especially when contrasted to basketball, to put in context. It seems like some of the guys do both sports.

Thanks in advance

[mbyron]

Sure, of course you can do both. I work 4 sports.

Find your local association, sign up for the class next summer, work your way up. If you've done it for basketball, it's not that different for football.

[CT1]

The main difference between hoops & football is that you can take a little more time to make a decision. You'll have a leg up on other new officials because you're already used to ignoring most of the static that comes from the sideline (bench) area.

The one habit that will be hardest to break is running with your whistle in your mouth. Since fouls in football don't kill the play, I suggest you use a finger whistle at first.

[jTheUmp]

Basketball officiating is 75% judgement and 25% rules knowledge.

Football officiating is 25% judgement and 75% rules knowledge.

(It's not quite like that, of course, but you get the idea)

You can certainly do both... a lot of us here do, including me. Go for it.

[jchamp]

I'm pretty new, as well--three seasons total--and just did my first season in Vegas, where I was handled as a rookie since they didn't know anything about me.

They're absolutely correct about the whistles--when you get the opportunity to do your scrimmages, do whatever you need to slow down your blowing of the whistle. The only time you need to have a quick whistle is a dead-ball foul or timeout as the snap is imminent. In all other situations, try to build in at least a one-second pause in your brain in order to make sure it's actually time to whistle.

Reporting color, number, and foul is similar, just remember that you won't have a pause in the action to get a close look at player's shirts. Fortunately, except for Unsportsmanlike fouls, it's not critical to get the number right, but it does help the coaches and demonstrates your competence to them.

Other than that, the organizational aspects--working with your crew, assignors, and learning the mechanics of the game, and dealing with players and coaches during the games, draw from the same professional skills you develop in basketball.

Finally, remember to have fun.

[Texas Aggie]

I like hoops refs that come over to football, though not so much the other way around. I'm not talking about young guys that work a season or two then jump into hoops but older guys with 10+ years that come over. There are exceptions, of course, but...

One of the things hoops will help you with is whistle control. You've got it and will find yourself more comfortable carrying your whistle in your mouth. The other thing is that back judge is a position made for hoops officials -- lots of judgment calls (adv/disad) that require quick decisions and hustle. Not that other positions don't have the same but things blow up FAST in back judges' worlds.

[bkdow]

I've worked with a number of new to football from basketball officials over the years as I work as many lower level games as I can each year. I echo what was said: Get your whistle out of your mouth. I'm a LJ and I don't even put it in my mouth at the start of a play. I place it in my upper lip and lower it when the ball is snapped. I've had 1 IVW in my first season and it sucks!

Know your rules and once you know them, learn them again. Very important. Ask a lot of questions.

Lastly, Enjoy it. I've done Basketball, Soccer, Softball, Volleyball, and now football and I love the football experience and it's the best in my opinion.

[Jim S]

The very first thing is to forget that you know anything about the game. And then go from there.

[BballRookie]

Completely agree Jim S.

Just getting my feet wet in the officiating world, I've learned one thing:

Saying "I've played the game" as a justification for knowing the rules is like saying you are a Navy Seal because you watch action movies.

You start reading that rule books and realize how many of the rules you didn't have a clue about!!

[JasonLJ]

Originally Posted by BballRookie

Completely agree Jim S.

Just getting my feet wet in the officiating world, I've learned one thing:

Saying "I've played the game" as a justification for knowing the rules is like saying you are a Navy Seal because you watch action movies.

You start reading that rule books and realize how many of the rules you didn't have a clue about!!

That can be said for most coaches too.