Officiating other sports

[mstaylor]

I have also done burnout competitions, does that count? It's not really officiating because the crowd votes but you have to place the cars, chocks and make sure they don't jump off. It's dangerous because you are inches from a car that if he does it right is completely encased in smoke, so if he kicks loose you can get run over if your reflexes and instincts  aren't good. 

[scrounge]

I do football and basketball as well.  Baseball easily has the highest equipment cost but also the highest revenue potential due to long season (compared to the others unless you want to do spring/summer or AAU basketball - no thanks). Basketball is fun but different, good exercise. Football takes quite a bit of time to prepare but the shortest season.  I feel like just when I'm starting to hit my stride and it's over. And games tend to be clustered on the same nights for everyone, at least around here (Mon and Thur for jr high, varsity on Fri, JV on Sat), not spread out like baseball.

 

Anyway, central OH breaks down as follows (approx...it might vary a bit depending on league):

 

Jr. High:  Football $38, Baseball $38, Basketball $38

Freshman:  Football $40, Baseball $38, Basketball $38 (I think, can't remember)

JV:  Football $45, Baseball $40, Basketball $40

Varsity:  Football $60, Baseball $50, Basketball $60

Travel/Youth:  Football $45, Baseball $45, Basketball varies widely ($20-$30 for running clock games, etc)

 

naturally, more variation for travel/non-scholastic games, but these are averages I've seen. As far as grief, not sure there's much difference. HS games and coaches, much less grief, travel/ youth with daddy coaches = much more grief. Pretty universal. At least with football, they're not very close to you. And in basketball you have the T avail if needed.

That's terrible....we are at 90 for Varsity Friday Night football

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It could be better, yes, but it is what it is. The good side is that most basketball, except the City League (urban, Columbus City Schools primarily) is 3-man, even at the Fr/JV levels. And virtually all school baseball, even jr high, is 2 man. Again, only City League sub-varsity is 1 man, but they pay $60 and even then a lot of their games are 2 man. So at least newer/younger officials get a decent chance to work on the proper mechanics right off the bat.

[RichMSN]

All of our sports pay about $60 at the varsity level near Madison.

On the baseball / softball front, it weeds out some guys as they'd rather work a faster game. Me, I'd rather poke my own eyes than work softball.

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[HokieUmp]

I have also done burnout competitions, does that count? It's not really officiating because the crowd votes but you have to place the cars, chocks and make sure they don't jump off. It's dangerous because you are inches from a car that if he does it right is completely encased in smoke, so if he kicks loose you can get run over if your reflexes and instincts  aren't good. 

 

I went to HS in Maryland in the late 70s/early 80s.  Our 'burnout competitions" were COMPLETELY different than this.

[blue23ll]

Golf? Do they have official's?  I once called bingo, and those old ladies were BRUTAL! I still have cane marks on my legs, damn senior citizens.

[GetItRight]

Basketball has got to be the easiest/cheapest to get equipment for, but also BY FAR the most grief.  Baseball is not even comparable in that respect.

 

I would imagine that football takes some fairly significant $$$$ to come up with all of the gear (cold weather gear, rain stuff, short sleeve stuff for warmer nights early in the season, etc.)

 

I have heard that volleyball is the easiest sport to work, in terms of stress level and relative quickness of the games.

[GetItRight]

 

 

I believe you will never really be good at officiating a sport you did not play. BUT YMMV.

 

I think what you're trying to get at here is that a truly excellent official must have a prolonged exposure to a particular sport in order to truly get a tremendous grasp of what they're doing.

 

Actually playing the game is not the de facto only way to learn, however.  Other avenues one could use would be coaching, and in limiting cases being a "fan" (I mean really paying attention and taken GREAT initiative to understand the rules and strategies involved).

 

For example, I never played tackle football past the 9th grade (because I was terrible and went to a school that was a major power in my state), but I guarantee that I would be an excellent official if I gave it try, which I think about almost constantly.  I enjoy being involved with the game too much in other ways, however, to take the plunge at this point in time.

[GetItRight]

 

Soccer – Still play it, have refereed Squirt games, and would referee it if I wasn't playing it or umpiring baseball during season. You run _alot_, because unlike baseball, where angle trumps distance, you get screamed at in soccer if you're not in/on top of the action (I know, I've done the screaming... How you can call an offsides call from 40 yards away is incomprehensible). You need a thick skin for this, perhaps a Kevlar vest (stabbing more than shooting) for some games. Tolerance of being spit on and your inoculations for others. Least amount of equipment needed.

 

They spit on soccer referees?

 

Some places in the world you get killed.

[BigUmpire]

Sorry. Nope.

[afaber12]

... but I guarantee that I would be an excellent official if I gave it try, which I think about almost constantly. ...

You might get there eventually. Might. But it seems unlikely if you go into it with that attitude.

 

I'd be almost willing to guarantee that there'll be things you aren't aware of that if you were to call a game now, you'd either get wrong, or get lucky when you guess at what you should call. Knowing what to look for, what not to look for, what to prioritise, knowing where to stand, how to move, and why you move in certain ways at certain times.

 

When I started umpiring, I'd been playing baseball for 20 years. I'd also scored and done the stats for my dad's team for a good 5 or 6 years. I had a rulebook before I even thought about umpiring, and I read it from time to time - nowhere near as often as I do now. I guarantee that I had a better than average rules knowledge than the other players and coaches around me at my level. I've always been at the studious end of the spectrum, (Read: nerdy!) so logical thinking is something I've done a lot of, and I have school and IQ test results to back it up. To use a corny-sounding line, I've been a student of the game for a long time. All things that would go together to make me a good, if not great umpire.

 

I'm still learning.

 

Because I'd never done it before, I knew that unless it turned out to be my hidden superpower, I might be OK at it but would have to work at being great, let alone being excellent. I'd love nothing more than to be called up to umpire in the Australian Baseball League, or a World Baseball Classic, or anything at that prestigious level. (OK, I'd love to play at those levels more.) But I know I've got a lot of work to do to get there. I also know it'll take more work than I can make time for at the moment. But I bust my butt to be the best I can, so the players in the games I call get the chance to decide the result for themselves, and not me blowing a call because I didn't know the rules well enough, or got in a bad position for a call, was still moving when the play happened, or any number of things that mean the difference between getting it right and stuffing it up.

 

I'm still learning, because I know there's more to learn, and because I know there'll always be ways to be better.

[Rook23]

Welp, I'm taking the plunge into basketball.  I need something to keep me busy from T-giving -- Valentines Day and basketball seems to be the most logical choice.  Bright side -- getting paid to get some cardio in.  The only minus is I have nooooo clue what I'm doing.  

 

Does anyone know of a site similar to this for basketball?  I learn something literally every time I log on here, which is often, so I would love to be able to do the same with a sport I'm cutting my teeth in.  

 

A few different Google hunts didn't turn up much.

[scrounge]

Welp, I'm taking the plunge into basketball.  I need something to keep me busy from T-giving -- Valentines Day and basketball seems to be the most logical choice.  Bright side -- getting paid to get some cardio in.  The only minus is I have nooooo clue what I'm doing.  

 

Does anyone know of a site similar to this for basketball?  I learn something literally every time I log on here, which is often, so I would love to be able to do the same with a sport I'm cutting my teeth in.  

 

A few different Google hunts didn't turn up much.

 

forum.officiating.com/basketball is about the best I've seen

[Rook23]

All 3 pages of it.  I was afraid of that. Thanks, though. 

[scrounge]

All 3 pages of it.  I was afraid of that. Thanks, though. 

 

I think that's only because the default is set to show 3 pages, though.  There's some good discussion, videos, etc., and certainly getting more traffic this time of year. There's a core group of regulars that take some time to get a feel for, I mostly just read, but it's been decently valuable.

[Umpire in Chief]

If somebody were to be able to convince me they have the passion, dedication and energy to run a site like Umpire-Empire for another sport, I'd provide the technical side, software, serverspace, etc...

 

I don't have enough interest in officiating other sports to start another forum to do it effectively. 

[maineump]

 

I referee hockey in the Winter.

 

HS hockey pays $80/game for the referees and $60/game for the linesman.  Games are 3, 15-minute stop periods which usually run anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours. 

 

The gear for hockey is comparable to baseball.  But, if you laid my all my umpire gear and all my referee gear together and compared the price tags, it's almost a push. 

 

Can you send whoever negotiates your pay rates up here? 37 to wear the bands, 29 to line the same game where I skate.

 

Although it sounds like you use the 2-1 3-Man instead of the traditional 1-2.

 

Also, you must have a flood between each period...we can bang out a 15-15-F-15 in ~ 1:20 on most days.

 

Although I don't do HS hockey (I keep getting asked to get on) WAAAAAAAAAAY to many politics - I believe that they make about $70 in my area + mileage. I really enjoy doing youth, men's leagues and college club (linesman). Best pay is the club - about $100 - men's is $35 for 3 15min run time periods.

Most of the baseball guys do round ball in the winter in my area, a few of us with 'skills' do hockey.

 

If you ask me - there is no way to compare the 2 sports - it is apples and oranges. I have been hurt worse doing baseball, but more stitches in hockey. Speed of the game is no contest - rules see to be more simple in hockey, just have to remember all of the options for the penalties.

 

Best pay/hr - seems to be hockey - you are on a clock. Cost of equipment - depends on what level you do, just like baseball - but skates tend to be expensive (for good ones that don't eat your feet). Bit*hing from players - worse in baseball - more primadonnas out there that think they are heading for the majors. You send a kid to the box in hockey and he gets 2 minutes to cool down and then maybe a few shifts before he hits the ice again - he forgot why he was made usually. There are good penalties to keep the coaches and players quiet in hockey - very few ejections.

 

To me - hockey gives me great cardio, to get ready for baseball.

[MB_Ump]

Welp, I'm taking the plunge into basketball.  I need something to keep me busy from T-giving -- Valentines Day and basketball seems to be the most logical choice.  Bright side -- getting paid to get some cardio in.  The only minus is I have nooooo clue what I'm doing.  

 

Does anyone know of a site similar to this for basketball?  I learn something literally every time I log on here, which is often, so I would love to be able to do the same with a sport I'm cutting my teeth in.  

 

A few different Google hunts didn't turn up much.

Me too~just got hired on today. Played, coached, but never officiated. Signed up for a clinic a week from Saturday. Should be a steep learning curve. At least it is 2 man, unlike 95% of the baseball/softball around here.

[mstaylor]

I believe the NFHS site is pretty active for basketball. I know football definitely is.<br /><br />Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />

[dumbdumb]

My wife is a high school volleyball coach.  I used to call volleyball before we had kids.  Now my fall season consists of taking kids to mom's games.  At lower age levels and at lower ability levels calling volleyball can be like stealing money.  You are usually in an air conditioned gym, standing still, wearing a polo, pants and a whistle.  There isn't much high flying action, so the calls are generally pretty easy.  When you get two good high school varsity teams playing it gets fast paced and difficult to call.  If you haven't been around volleyball much it can be real tough.  My wife gets on to me all the time for my baseball umpiring buddies calling her games that are stealing her money.  For us that can be a good term.  For my wife it is not.  It means they don't know what they're doing and aren't doing a very good job.  I'm at the games, and I usually can't disagree with her.  It's easy to spot a "volleyball" referee or someone who is just calling volleyball once you get to that level. This is where I'll brag on my wife and tell you she has been to 11 final 4's in the last 12 years and has won 4 state titles.  

Wow, I tend to agree that a lot of people are giving VB the short thrift here from talking and watching matches with a friend of mine that works highly competitive volleyball where (oops-added- all)the players are constantly working "above the rim" so to speak with play at the net on spiking and blocking. You are constantly dealing with situations of breaking the plane where any part of the ball reaching the plane becomes fair game whereas just barely not getting to the plane or being just over the plane would cause a spiking/blocking violation, as well as the body just grazing the net and also ticks off the blockers hands in which they do not raise their hands anymore and call their own violations on the ticks.  These situations are like constant pole benders in baseball for breaking the plane, and like constantly having the ball hit the dirt sound or did it tick the bat when the batter goes down and swings at that ball in the dirt.

In addition to really nailing down the intricacies of the overlapping situations with multiple various lineups as well as the back line players trying to sneak up and participate in a blocking situation versus just setting the ball, and watching the mid line for back line players spiking the ball with a running start and just like in the long jump are they on the line or over the line. Also the ball handling skills by the setter (double hits on the sets, the quick shoot sets, the soft sets, etc takes quite a bit of judgement to really nail down and be consistent at the higher levels of play.

Maybe this is easy to call when the skill level is low and one person who can serve overhand with consistency at the low levels can pretty much run the board on their serve, but there is much more involved when the players have developed more skills and play mainly above the net.

And of course at Olympic levels, the players know how to play and just like it is how you play the big points that count, it is how you officiate the big points that count.

 

And that leads me into swimming which I have seen at the local High School. I cannot for the life of me tell if the borderline strokes being performed are actually legal, but performed poorly, which do not get penalized versus a stroke that looks like it is performed quite well but is actually illegal. And legal turns versus illegal turns, good luck with that one.

 

Of course, I have never played either sport at a competitive level but I do enjoy watching both.

 

Could I just fire the cap gun to start races at the track meet without having any other responsibilities other than just pulling the trigger. I would also need the meets to start at 8 pm.

[Jeff C.]

Dumbdumb you hit the nail on the head about vb.    When you get two good varsity or for that matter jv teams, the game is extremely quick.  Stuff happens so fast around the net, that you must be concentrating to find the violations.  And all of the overlapping and illegal alignment stuff, that can be very confusing.  I'm in my 6th year and just now feel comfortable about the game.  I also enjoy it now more than when I started because I understand it better.  I was a lost little puppy for the first three years.  I was working hard to improve but boy was I frustrated.

[mstaylor]

Dumbdumb you hit the nail on the head about vb.    When you get two good varsity or for that matter jv teams, the game is extremely quick.  Stuff happens so fast around the net, that you must be concentrating to find the violations.  And all of the overlapping and illegal alignment stuff, that can be very confusing.  I'm in my 6th year and just now feel comfortable about the game.  I also enjoy it now more than when I started because I understand it better.  I was a lost little puppy for the first three years.  I was working hard to improve but boy was I frustrated.

I just finished my third year of VB, my first year of college lines. College is very fast, I'm happy on the lines. 

[The Adjudicator]

If somebody were to be able to convince me they have the passion, dedication and energy to run a site like Umpire-Empire for another sport, I'd provide the technical side, software, serverspace, etc...

How can I get in touch with you, I have a few questions about setting up a similar forum.

[mstaylor]

If somebody were to be able to convince me they have the passion, dedication and energy to run a site like Umpire-Empire for another sport, I'd provide the technical side, software, serverspace, etc...

How can I get in touch with you, I have a few questions about setting up a similar forum.

Simply click on his avatar and PM him. I would also be interested in helping such a site. 

[The Adjudicator]

Thanks, just sent you a PM

[Rulekeep]

I refereed wrestling last winter, simply because our normal ref was a flake and I didn't feel like making a fool out of myself those days, (I'm not a fantastic wrestler) but honestly I'd rather umpire. And yeah, wrestling is a lot less expensive.