SO, you wanna
officiate basketball...
Division
III:
accumulate 300 points or more.
Division
II:
accumulate 750 points or more.
Division
I: accumulate
1500 points or more.
The chapter's main information web site is: http://www.spczebras.org/basketball/welcome.htm
Chapter
assignments
can be found at: https://www.zebra-ware.com/msp/Login.asp?ID=4&S=0
You have to
be a
member to access that site. That will be
part of the training once you sign up and attend a clinic.
The
first year(s) you officiate, endearing yourself to the scheduler(s) is
important. If you tell the assigner that you’re available, then
you’re
available. Don’t expect them to be pleased when you tell
‘em you can’t call
after you’ve told him you can call games anytime/anyplace. You
may have 8
assigned games and think, "This sucks - I thought there'd be more
games!”
Assigned games do not equal called games. There are usually plenty of
games
that become available as the season progresses. Chapter (and
non-chapter)
officials will telephone you and want you to cover games for them. This
is
where officiating allows you to control your own schedule. If you don't
want to
take additional games, don't, though each time you say
“no”, there could be
fewer requests as officials wanting to drop games will call the guys
who say
“yes” more often.
There's lots of
folks who officiate basketball games and aren't members of the Lubbock
chapter.
The bottom line: ALL it takes to officiate basketball is a $14.95 black
&
white striped polyester shirt. Chapter games have additional
requirements.
Basketball occurs everywhere, all the time. There are NO tests you have
to
pass, NO "card" to acquire, NO dues to pay and NO organization to
join just to do basketball. BUT, if you want to do the above, it has to
be done
through a chapter.
Each
September,
usually the last Saturday of September, for the past fifteen years, I
trained
basketball officials for the chapter. Four consecutive Saturdays, from
9 a.m.
to noon, we cover rules, mechanics and "administrative information".
You know what rules and mechanics are, "administration" includes such
topics of WHEN do we get paid, WHERE do we get game assignments, WHAT
can I
wear, WHERE do I get good supplies. The first clinic is 99%
administration. You
can join the Lubbock chapter at any of these clinics. Usually, other
members
(like the assigning secretary and assistant *sub-varsity* secretary)
are there.
Some
people
can't meet every Saturday so the same material is offered on Sunday
night from
7:00 to 10:00 p.m. You can attend either one or both! The cost for this
clinic
is FREE. A rules book and three hours of entertainment is provided.
Bring a
whistle and wear gym shoes for clinics two through four. Trinity
Schools has
allowed the use of their high school gym (69th & University) for
the Sunday
make-up clinics. Saturday clinics will be Evans Junior High - 4211 58th
Street
(small gym). This is two blocks east of Quaker. The months of September
through
November are most practical.
For
the past
NINE years, the Lubbock chapter of has offered a basketball official
training
camp. It consists of the 3-day (Fri/Sat/Sun) Kristy Curry TTU Team Camp
where
your games are videoed and critiqued by experienced officials.
It’s the
best camp I know of for the money. Yes, it co$ts to go to this camp -
$75.00.
After attending, you complete a camp evaluation and get credit for
attending an
approved camp and are given 10 points of education toward the next
level of
classification. Oh, and you get a t-shirt! There are
numerous point-approved camps around the state, ours is the best camp
value. A
listing is at www.taso.org through
the
basketball link.
OFF SEASON BASKETBALL
I
schedule
L.G.B. (Lubbock Girls Basketball) mid February through the first week
in April.
I also schedule Frenship Youth Basketball (F.Y.B.) mid February through
the first
week in May, Tri-County Summer League (May through June) and some
AAU/B.C.I.
weekend tournaments. I use current or former chapter members and school
coaches. My first responsibility is to the boss - the organization who
pays me
to schedule. Part of my credibility depends on the referees I schedule.
The
organizations prefer I use chapter officials. I’ve had calls from
people who
told me "I know all the rules" but lack fundamentals and mechanics of
basketball officiating. It shows. I ask the boss if there are officials
they
want me to use or are there some they don’t want to see. Most
officials I
schedule want to have fun doing the games assigned, and usually prefer
to call
with someone they know. Waaaay on down their list of things to do is to
train
new officials, so I use people with experience. LGB and FJB pay $20 a
game. I
pay by ca$h or check after receiving the money from the boss. I visit
gyms and
if I owe you money from a previous game/day, I pay when I visit;
otherwise,
it’s a mailed check. I’d rather pay ca$h. I don’t
mail ca$h and ca$h is cheaper
than writing checks.
Some aspiring referees will call me and tell me that they can call
(they
usually say “ref”) any place, any night, any time. If I
telephone them for an
assignment - a game/night any place/any time and they say "no", I'm
not as likely to keep calling. SO, you who have seven kids and a spouse
who
works evenings/nights, your ability to call a game is more limited. YOU
might
not be really able to call “any place, any night, any
time”. Would you want to
telephone someone…when 90% of the time, their answer is "no"? Be
specific & realistic when you are available.
There is other basketball. Monterey Optimist Basketball (MOB) is the
boy's
version of LGB, area towns (like Levelland and Shallowater) have little
dribbler basketball
programs. AAU tournaments occur just about every weekend after
Spring break and
up to the last of July. There are spring leagues, men's leagues and
women's
leagues, some of these are for profit leagues. I don't know much about
Boys & Girls Club nor LCAA basketball, but
I can usually find a contact person for you. I’m not sure who
will be
scheduling AAU tournaments in Lubbock. Schedulers for
leagues/tournaments can change from
year to year sometimes (and at the whim of the organizer). I have
worked
tournaments in the past for some folks and years later, I’m still
waiting to
get paid. There are two things when it comes to basketball: take care
of
business and do it right the first time). Have a good idea with
whom you
involve your time and money. MOST off-season basketball generally
pay
$20/game.
IF
you want to
make some good bucks and aren't interested in "chapter" (UIL/TAPPS)
basketball, that’s your decision. I have more confidence in those
who have made
the commitment of being a chapter member. I know of no college
officials who
have bypassed the local chapter route. Big XII officials make over $600
per
game, with travel expenses paid. That’s good money. There’s
fewer of ‘em, too.
They all officiated junior high school basketball at some time in their
life.
Still interested?
Call me...usually in this order: Cell: 789-6491 Home: 797-6491.
E-mail works best.
If you put
“basketball” in the subject line, it goes into a folder
called “Basketball”,
and I usually hit that folder first.
Gary A. Johnson
President, Lubbock
basketball chapter
(806) 797-6491 (806) 789-6491
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