I’ve watched a lot of high school basketball. Here are the five most missed high school calls over the past 45 years, from someone who has watched the game as an official, coach, parent, school administrator, and fan: Most referees would say that the block/charge… Read More »The Top 5 Missed High School Calls
And here’s the NFHS documentation for Basketball Rule Changes 2024-25 (includes a PDF to download).
Thank you for your help with officials for the all star games. We had a great day and your group was definitely a big part of that. I enjoyed visiting with all your officials and everyone did a great job. – Verlan Nikkel, IBCA Officials Participating in this tournament: Brent… Read More »Thanks to these BB officials
In every line of work there is a language that serves as the basis for communicating, both internally and externally. Medical doctors own a language. Attorneys have a language. Accountants, too. And the same could be said about basketball referees. It is the referee’s language… Read More »The Language of Refereeing
2024 “Hoops in the Heartland” Basketball ClinicHigh School Basketball Officiating ClinicSaturday, June 15, 2024 Winterset High SchoolWinterset, IowaCheck-In: 10:30 AMRegistration Fee: $75 (NOTE: Bold items above are newly updated) What’s Included:Top 3A and 4A boys high school teams compete in a double elimination tournament. 12… Read More »2024 Summer Basketball Clinic Announced
One of the topics we discuss during our crew’s pre-game is the importance of refereeing the defense, or, in other words, making sure you are watching what the defense does during a competitive matchup, a drive to the basket, or a shot by the offense.… Read More »Why Do We Penalize the Defense So Often?
If you haven’t seen this feature Scott Reister of KCCI did on our own Jerry Bowhay, give it a look. But not if you’re squeamish at all — he somehow pops the knee back into place to finish the game. https://www.kcci.com/article/watch-ref-pops-knee-back-into-place-finishes-game/46620806
Today’s high school basketball officiating relies on the lead official too much, especially on any play moving toward the basket. Any crew of 3 that says all plays to the basket are the lead’s responsibility are just asking for missed calls and unnecessary problems during… Read More »Matchup Proximity
In the February 16, 2022 issue of “The NFHS Voice,” Dr. Karissa Niehoff, Chief Executive Officer of the National Federation of State High School Associations, stated nearly 50,000 sport’s officials have quit since the 2018-19 academic year. Although these 50,000 represent officials across all high… Read More »You Can’t Have it Both Ways
The Des Moines Officials Association is excited to offer it members and others an online discussion and dialog focused on issues important to basketball officiating. Each month, a short article will be posted under this tag “The Primary Focus.” For the following few months or… Read More »Welcome to The Primary Focus