Basketball Officials

[dude]

With the limited numbers of basketball officials this year there are a number of problems, what are some ideas that can possibly help to increase the numbers and encourage people to become certified? I know some coaches are talking to their players and the OHSAA is even discussing trying to hold classes for high school kids. I think it could be a good way for a college kid to earn some money.

[Willard Fillmore]

Classes at Tech Schools and Community Colleges, that would give a license to those who finish the course in good standing. Also give a credit toward graduation. Basketball isn't the only sport with the problem, classes for other sports could also be provided. Pay the officials teaching the classes.   

Encourage more women to be officials. At a recent boys Varsity game there were 2 women in the 3 "person" crew. The 2 women did as good a job as any male official I've seen in my MANY years of watching high school bball. IMO they were good enough to officiate college games....maybe they have.

Eject fans who verbally abuse officials

Pay considerably more money OR make it tax free. Most who officiate at the middle school and/or high school level don't do it just for the money. It should be thought of more as a community service.

[shelbyrr11]

The pay is the sticking point from my experience. I know how to run a volleyball scorebook, and I occasionally got gigs to go do the scorebook for other colleges in my area (this was in Rhode Island). $100 was the standard. A referee told me how the pay was worthwhile out there since New England has such a density of colleges that your travel time & expenses aren't nonsensible. This was quite true, I could go from my campus to three other D1 schools with drive times of 17, 11, and 42 minutes. He said collegiate volleyball refs in the Midwest who have to travel 2+ hours each way on any gig had a much harder time making the pay worth the cost.

High school of course will have different economics. Richland Source covered this topic last year and it better applies to our area. Here are the articles they put out for it.

www.richlandsource.com/solutions/shortage-of-officials-threatens-high-school-sports/article_8a463e1e-3664-11eb-9a91-2f577d753a86.html

www.richlandsource.com/solutions/attracting-new-officials-an-ongoing-dilemma-in-ohio-prep-sports/article_6f73aa38-3be4-11eb-b49a-1797017b6d4e.html

www.richlandsource.com/solutions/equal-opportunity-more-female-officials-could-help-bring-shortage-crisis-under-control/article_03843f0e-4175-11eb-af23-6736c0ac6fa5.html

www.richlandsource.com/solutions/new-generation-millenials-could-be-key-to-solving-official-shortage/article_35657866-4612-11eb-b3d8-6fba2bd91d74.html

[usramfan]

Dec 21, 2021 10:44:59 GMT -5 Willard Fillmore said:

Classes at Tech Schools and Community Colleges, that would give a license to those who finish the course in good standing. Also give a credit toward graduation. Basketball isn't the only sport with the problem, classes for other sports could also be provided. Pay the officials teaching the classes.   

Encourage more women to be officials. At a recent boys Varsity game there were 2 women in the 3 "person" crew. The 2 women did as good a job as any male official I've seen in my MANY years of watching high school bball. IMO they were good enough to officiate college games....maybe they have.

Eject fans who verbally abuse officials

Pay considerably more money OR make it tax free. Most who officiate at the middle school and/or high school level don't do it just for the money. It should be thought of more as a community service.

There are a few schools that do offer academic credit for officiating classes or at least did at one time. Bellevue, Tiffin, and New Bremen are a few that come to mind.

We had a female official at one of our boys games last week. In the past, there have been a few times where all 3 officials were female.

In my opinion, fans don't get told to leave the gym nearly often enough. Home school administration should do that on its own before any official tells them they don't have a choice.