Barbara Bleiweis's blog

High school basketball season has begun with scrimmages scheduled from early November till the end of the month. Scrimmages not only give teams the opportunity to practice plays and game situations, they give officials the opportunity to practice these as well.  Scrimmages take on added importance to me this year as I transition to Varisty level officiating.  With this in mind, I approach the scrimmage with an open mindedness,a heightened sense of responsibility, a work ethic and commitment to hustle, work hard, and be receptive to suggestions from my fellow crew members.  I make a promise to myself to "practice how I play"-- a term my son, a youth coach,  uses to describe his expectations of his players during practices. 

The excitement of my recent promotion is still fresh and my enthusiasm for upping my game this season remains unabated.  All I can think to myself is, "BRING IT!"  But before I step out on the court December 1, I must prepare a game plan that spells out specifically what I need to improve upon and what I want the outcome of this season to be.  In addition, I need an experienced set of eyes and ears, a MENTOR, to help me succeed.  Officiating is, after all, still a team effort.

After three long months of agonizing anticipation, I finally received official word last night of my promotion!  YAY!! I DID IT!! Come winter, I will officiate my first Varsity games as well as higher level non-Varsity match-ups. It is likely I will be assigned predominantly Girls Varsity for starters since Boys Varsity games are a level of play to be earned over time. I feel REALLY good about myself and how hard I worked to earn this promotion. Its fair to say that I am experiencing "mixed emotions"-- a combination of elation, excitement and unbridled joy!

As an official, I have the benefit of seeing immediate behavior changes as a direct result of my calls. Blow the whistle and play stops. Warn the kids to ease up rough play, and they do. Such immediate gratification comes with the job.  As a parent, however, this is not always the case. Aside from adoption of safety rules such as "wear your seatbelt!", or "look both ways before crossing the street!",  we might witness the demonstration of values such as honesty, integrity, or good sportsmanship over time and only in certain circumstances.

Officials sometime make the mistake of explaining a rule to a coach in response to a coach's comment or question on a call. There is inherent risk in using rules interpretation as a communication tool.  Firstly, it takes the official's attention away from the players on the court. Secondly, it gives the coach too much information and opens the door for trouble. A coach friend of mine recently challenged an official asking why he did not call a lane violation on a 6'3 player who was gaining advantage by dwelling in the key. The official responded by explaining the rule at length. The problem was, the coach knew the rule better than the official. The verbose and incorrect explanation by the official hurt the crew's credibility on virtually every call in the game.