High School Girls Officiating

[twilyms]

I really hate to put a negative spin on things. I have attended about 12 games this year and I would have to say that I have been very unimpressed by the officiating this year. I would go so far as to say it is borderline incompetent. Too many fouls, travelings and double dribble calls missed. The lack of control by officials on the roughness of these games is amazing to me. Am I the only one who feels this way? Or is this just the norm?

[football]

Obviously you are not a coach, so you could join the association and help improve the quality of officials.  It is pretty much OPEN to the public!  Don't complain, make a change!

[Bobcat1]

Is the worst it has ever been.  Also "football" they get paid to do a job and they aren't doing a good one.  The other night when Orangefield played Sislbee there was a higer offical sitting in the stands grading the officals calling they did a way better job then I have ever seen those three do.  hummmm...wonder why?  They should do that for every time.

[ukfan27]

Coaches should have some kind of grading system for refs after games and then turn them in to the chapters for review!!

[hjhawks]

I am up with a crying baby right now, so let me weigh in...

To be fair.... it is not just officials.  Players attitudes, language, sportsmanship  as well as parent and fan behavior have all gone down the tubes.

[Bobcat1]

The thead is about officiating, how do parents come in?

[Bobcat1]

wait, you mean not only are the refs bad, but everything else you mentioned is too. I read it wrong. 

[SteelerCzy]

I too have attended several games this year, Girls and Boys, and the Officiating is something that needs to be addressed.  The game is being done a dis-service by the incompetence show by some of the referee's.  A grading system, game reviews, something to check and balance this downward trend that in my opinon is hurting the game.

[Guest bcofgsa]

If parents ,players ,coaches and fans get out of hand then the ref's have the power to THROW THEM OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Take charge of a game early and , give a warning if things start off on the wrong foot and then hit e'm where it hurts. The games should be played the right way . Ref's are not there to please everyone , they are there to KEEP CONTROL and call it like they see it.

[Guest tigersvoice]

If parents ,players ,coaches and fans get out of hand then the ref's have the power to THROW THEM OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Take charge of a game early and , give a warning if things start off on the wrong foot and then hit e'm where it hurts. The games should be played the right way . Ref's are not there to please everyone , they are there to KEEP CONTROL and call it like they see it.

All of these referees have day jobs.  These guys and gals do this, not because of the money, but because they want to serve their communities and the surrounding communities.  It should not be up to the game officials to control the crowds, either home or visitors!  These officials would prefer to be there, on the court, officiating a basketball game.  They don't want to go into the stands and address inappropriate behaviour among the fans.  What happens in the stands should be controlled by the School Administrator's that are on site and by the

DECENT fans on each side of the gym.  Why do WE, and I'm talking about YOU and ME, allow this obnoxious 

and inappropriate behaviour from the fans on our side.  Are we afraid to address the issue?  Are we afraid of Mr. and Mrs. Obnoxious?  Let's do some SELF POLICING!  If the fan base would let the offenders know that their behaviour is unacceptable then MAYBE we could get control of this growing problem.

[bullets13]

Coaches should have some kind of grading system for refs after games and then turn them in to the chapters for review!!

i don't know if i'd trust coaches to be fair... say bad officiating helps the home team, and then you get a good review from the home team's coach, and a bad review from the visiting coach.  you're also going to get coaches who take out their anger over one or two bad calls by giving a bad review for the whole game.  instead, maybe there should be an official in the stands every district game to keep tabs... i know this would be very expensive, but fairness in HS sporting events is worth the price. 

[PoppaBearstarr]

Refs usually do not win or loose games for a team. I have never seen a game where it was totally one sided, I have seen some bad officiating but it was just because it was different than what I was used to. I think every teams has to adjust to the calls, what I see that bothers me is inconsistency in calling it makes it impossible to adjust to. One second this is a foul and then it's not, it is very impossible to adjust to. They do get paid yes, but even the pro's make mistakes. Saying all of that to say this, the absolute worst officiated game I have seen all year was the HF at HJ varsity game. I felt sorry for both squads, it was very inconsistant.

[hawkdad]

I witnessed the same game with PoppaBearstarr and it was bad. The kids from both teams were so confused. And both coach's were beside themselves. If you are getting paid to ref (especially High School Varsity level) you should be respectable at what you are doing. 

[Jdad]

As much as I enjoy complaining about the refs The only way to change  the poor officiating is to let the leaders of their organization of the problems and ask them to address our concerns. If everyone expressed their concerns and not just a few, I beleive they will make some adjustments. This will probably result in more fouls being called so the kids will have to again adjust to the officiating. Also paying more at the gate so they can you can pay maybe a sliding scale for better refs with the highest approval ratings getting paid more. Also instead of three of the best refs doing one boys contest make the best refs head refs and all at different locations. We all know the boys get the best and the girls get whats left. This also needs to adressed by the schools so we need to go to our AD and voice our concerns also. As for the vulgar mouths they need to be thrownout by the cops who are at every game. This does not mean opposing fans displeased with a call but strictly profanity

                          ( Lets take a positive step to make it better for the future )

[Guest bleed orange]

I agree Jdad, because if something is not done soon something bad will happen. Its only a matter of time. I have notice this trend for sometime now. The officials are good people just trying to do a job but with the shortage inexperienced officials are being thrown into big games that mean alot to both teams. Its not fair to the officials or the teams that are playing. Our kids are playing more and more like the NBA players. That is a bad thing for the future of high school sports.

[underarmor]

as a former official let me get my 2 cents worth. The game has changed and the style of play is now more rough than ever. We are losing the fundamental things in the game of basketball because of what officials see happening in colleges and in the pros. It all filters down. I have always felt if an official isnt sweating he isnt doing the job. 3 officials arent necessary. They let go just as much as two officials do. Its a waste of money. :

I have just two gripes about todays officiating. (1)Officials who go to the scorers table and ask what the foul count is on each team. They dont need to look at the scorebook after they sign it before the game starts.(2) Dont be in such a hurry to get home. Call the fouls dont worry about keeping the clock running. A well officiated game should still take only 1 hour or less. Hustle the game up. Make players run to the foul lane for free throws. If you walk up and down the court so will the players.

[Slam14]

as a former official let me get my 2 cents worth. The game has changed and the style of play is now more rough than ever. We are losing the fundamental things in the game of basketball because of what officials see happening in colleges and in the pros. It all filters down. I have always felt if an official isnt sweating he isnt doing the job. 3 officials arent necessary. They let go just as much as two officials do. Its a waste of money. :

I have just two gripes about todays officiating. (1)Officials who go to the scorers table and ask what the foul count is on each team. They dont need to look at the scorebook after they sign it before the game starts.(2) Dont be in such a hurry to get home. Call the fouls dont worry about keeping the clock running. A well officiated game should still take only 1 hour or less. Hustle the game up. Make players run to the foul lane for free throws. If you walk up and down the court so will the players.

Some excellent points here kbmkn.  I hope the area chapter of officials is tuned into some of this feedback.

We might have to start a new thread, but I would like to nominate this past Friday nights LCM-PNG game as this years most poorly officiated game. (to date)

[LUPatriot]

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that any official reading these threads would most likely think twice before calling another game next year. Like I said in an earlier post, if the calling is so bad why aren't all these "coaches" that are on this website go and become officials. People are going to continue to gripe and the calling will not get any better. Go and become an official. It's not near as easy as you think it is.

[Guest bleed orange]

Yes the NBA has filtered down and that's a bad thing. Fundamentals are going out the window and so is defense. That is the one thing I respected about Coach Ancelot. She never forgot where she came from. She learned from one of the best and that was coach Tennison. Society and coaches has dictated this not the officials. If coaches would teach the correct fundamentals and punish the ones who do it incorrectly, we would not be having this conversation. Kids will get away with what they can. Times have not changed that much. Society has.

[hjhawks]

Hate to play devil's advocate all the time but here goes:

First, the game has changed.... but here is how.

1.  Conditioning (Speed).  Players train year round now... they are in shap and they can run.  This leads to more possessions, which leads to more fouls called.. (It also leads to more opportunities for missed calls.)

2.  Conditioning (Strength)  Players lift weights.  Fouls are harder because players are stronger.  The rule book says that a foul is any action that gains the defenisve player an unfair advantage.  If the offensive player is stronger and can absorb contact, it probably won't be called.

3.  Emphasis on athletes, not just basketball players.  I coach and I will take a gifted athlete over a shooter any day.  I can teach shooting, I can't teach hustle, speed, height, etc.  I am sure other coaches are the same way... so each team will always have a few "unskilled" players who are good athletes.  These players tend to play a little more reckless than the typical basketball player.

4.  Coaching.  Most high schools have one basketball coach, with an assistant or two pulled from other sports.  In gilr's sports, it usually works this way.... Head Coach, football coach / volleyball coach.  The lower level coaches don't know how to teach fundamentals.  At HJ we are lucky to have 3 "basketball minded coaches"  on the boy's and girl's side.

5.  Timing.  If there is a shortage of officials (and there is.... our AD had to call the9th and JV games vs. Hamshire)  They should schedule girls games on different nights than the boys games.  This would allow a greater pool of officials, as well as allow fans to see both teams play.  (Or schedule them at the same site for lower classifications)  * I know this would never happen though due to UIL rules about games on school nights.

Finally,

6.  Attitude....  If you look for blame... you can always find it.... and the officials are an easy target.  I always tell our girls that Officials DO NOT MAKE US:  make bad passes, miss free throws, forget plays, not hustle... etc.  These are the things that make a team win or lose over the course of a game.....  Look at HJ's losses, poor rebounding, free throws, etc lost those games not calls.

*On a side note, I may be one of the hardest coaches in this area on officials, but I think the officials do a decent job.  I have had to call some games, and literally every 5 seconds there is a judgement to be made.  It is a tough job to do well and I think the guys who put on the stripes and call games in this area try to do a good job.

-Mike

[Bucster]

God forbid the refs begin calling every walk, double dribble or foul in a girl's game, the game would last an eternity.

[PoppaBearstarr]

It is a hard job no doubt about it, I could not do it. for sure so I don't have any room for critisism. As I said in a earlier post, I have never seen one throw a game and refs do not win or loose a game for a team generally as HJHawks said there are alot of other reasons for the loss.

[Guest tigersvoice]

Coaches should have some kind of grading system for refs after games and then turn them in to the chapters for review!!

I agree with what you are saying.  As it is now, if a Coach believes that his team got "Hosed" by any of the officials, he can scratch that Official (or those Officials) and they will not be assigned to any game of his for the season.

[Bucof2010]

if a team can play fundamental ball and make 90 percent of free throws and layups plus at least an attempt at defense no ref will ever change the course of a game for them. therefore its not the refs fault if u lost.

[Jdad]

I agree with what you are saying but, the post I beleive is how fisical the games are getting.I may be wrong thats the impression I got. Also the only reason your point is valid is because most games are not decided by a few points. To say 2 or 3 bad calls can't change a 1 point game is wrong. Your theory is if you play perfect you win. No Ones perfect and you should't expect your team to be. The game is changing from fundamentals and defense to playground hoops. You see to much of the And1 show where walking double dribble and defense are not part of the game.Its a great game and it should be played by the rules. When it is played the way it was intended it is a great sport.What are we teaching our kids? That rules are not always right.  By the way tonights game was well officiated and played hard by both teams. WOS played hard the entire game and HJ played hard and every player contributed.