The 2009/2010 season is now in full swing. Here are some items to keep in mind and do:

PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL: At least everyday. Many changes are coming in from the schools and it is so easy to just pop you an email and then you go online and acknowledge it. If it is the day of the game or there is a short time span, David or Gary will call you about the change or cancelation.

PLEASE MAKE POSITIVE CONTACT WITH YOUR PARTNER! Positive contact means officials contact each other a day or two before the scheduled game via phone or email. A response back via email or phone and not just leave a message on an answering machine without a response. And when you do make contact, confirm time and location of the game - don't assume! Positive contact is the first step in being a good partner for the game. David and Gary are working officials and they may not be available to bail you out because your partner is not at the site before game time. Print out a roster from the online site and put it in your glove compartment in your car. Officials are to be at the site 30-minutes prior to scheduled start time and conduct a basketball official pre-game and not just BS about stuff. Get your mind ready for the game(s) with your partner.

PREGAME WITH YOUR PARTNER: Sometimes you don't have a lot of time to conduct a good lengthy pregame with your partner or you have worked several times with him/her. At a minimum you should discuss:

1) Communication
2) Trust and Floor Coverage
3) Game Awareness

These three items trigger the brain cells to start loading the muscle memory with good officiating mechanics.

HUSTLE! One of the common items coming back on the early season evaluations is hustle, or lack there of. We are not just talking about hustling during live ball play, but also when the ball is dead.

First lets talk about live ball play hustle:
---LEAD OFFICIALS: If there is no press going on, hustle your butt down to your end line and observe the players directly in front of you. DON'T watch the Trail official administer the throw-in and see if they do it right. We are pretty sure they can handle it. If the players in front of you are behaving, this is a great opportunity to check the clocks to see if they started properly.

--TRAIL OFFICIALS: Trail Trail Trail. There is no reason to rush onto the court and get ahead of the players. Be a sheep herder, aka shepherd, and make sure the sheep (players) don't escape and start heading backwards, thus getting away from you. You should be able to observe the dribbler and the all the players ahead of you so you are not surprised. Also, if the dribbler heads to the far sideline go with him/her and stay connected to the action around him/her.

OK, now lets talk about dead ball hustle: Any time you have to move a distance of more than five (5) steps you should be jogging to the next spot. Five steps or less - walk briskly.

Examples:
1) You are in the Lead position and call a foul. After you crack, hold and communicate, JOG out to the foul reporting spot, around the players, not through them, and report the foul.
2) You are the Trail official and the ball goes out of bounds on your sideline or endline on your side and now you are the Lead official, thus crossing the court and moving to the Lead position. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, so JOG directly to your new position. Don't do a J hook.
3) You are the Trail official and the ball goes out of bounds on the Lead's sideline and you will be staying on that end of the court. As per NCOA mechanics, the Trail will ALWAYS administer sideline throw-ins, so that means you have to JOG across the court to get the ball and administer the throw-in.

These moments of JOGGING to your new spot during a dead ball will:

1) Give the perception that you want to be there
2) Show you are not lazy and just taking in the game fee
3) Shorten the overall length of the game any where between 5-minutes and 15-minutes. Last time I checked we are not paid by the hour.
4) Keep the game flowing. When the game flows, the players usually play better and there is a rhythm to the game.
5) Keep the heart rate up thus burning a few extra calories.

Evaluators, please make note of these items and make comments on the evaluations about the official's hustle or lack there of.

TAKE CARE OF THE GAME AND PLAYERS: Don't be afraid to call more fouls, if necessary, to keep the players safe and the game fun. Players start to become out-of-control when they realize officials are not calling stuff. Or coaches start yelling to get more physical. Retaliation will occur and next thing you know basketball is a second thought out there. Every level and every game is different. Make the adjustment to the level of the players and adjust as the game goes on. A foul doesn't prevent an injury but some injuries can be prevented by calling the game tighter, if necessary. If this means players are fouling out, oh well. They should have adjusted, played right and not fouled.

This doesn't mean that every little contact is a foul. If the contact causes an effect on the opponent, such as holding, pushing, displacement or non-basketball action, then is a foul. If the opponent is able to get through the contact without cause then a no call is probably a good call. If two players go down to the floor because of the contact then a foul should be called on either one of them, hopefully the right one, and then only 50-percent of the gym will be mad.

Minimum Standards Policy: Officials who meet the minimum standards (meeting(s) and passing the yearly rules review exam (max 3 attempts)) will move up one experience year for that sport, with a maximum of 12 years.

An NCOA member will be fined $25 for missing a meeting with a maximum of two mandatory meetings per sport and a $25 fine for not taking and passing the “sport” test by the stated date on the test instructions.

NCOA sports are defined as:

• Basketball
• Volleyball
• High School Baseball/Softball
• Summer Softball and
• Summer Baseball.

Officials who do not meet the minimum standards are not eligible to work high school post-season games.

An official failing to meet minimum standards will also be reduced to 1st Year Experience Pay, as noted above.