“Support is Free” – Many-a-Instagram Post
It was almost a year from when I was certified to officiate a Basketball game, a conversation to a turn for the best left worst.Steve came up to me and had the urge to say something. I was reffing in a familair place that had a different context, one in which made me a beast the summer that just past. These weren’t Amateur Hour Athletics, yet a union of by-products of the system itself. It was the Top 100 Basketball players in my area, in Nassau County. “You should consider officiating in the city. This place may stunt your growth.”
Those words that were uttered, fell to deaf ears – I couldn’t hear it, let alone see. It shook me up like a snow globe. I never thought of it in those terms. The only ones, terms, i.e., that I adhered to and abided by were games that were close to my house. I could never imagine trying to find parking, and driving an hour to ref a game that I’m used to being 5 minutes from my house.
HE. WAS. RIGHT.
The Five Boroughs of New York City have hardened me like James, made me passionate about the craft, enhanced the bandwidth of my network many fold, enriching my life – my refereferee life.
Once I got orientated to the nature of bumper-to-bumper traffic, a once bitter pill started being palatable; for all the consistent battles happen yonder;
CITY BALL. IT HIT DIFFERENT.
So much so, that I went from being reluctant to ref anywhere was 20 minutes away, to driving hours to watch other people officiate. One time I heard Charlamagne the God discuss it on a podcast when he was promoting his first book, Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It. We’ve discussed Quid Pro Quo too much in 2019, and especially in the officiating game, we look for ways to get compensated when we do work.
I think of a Division I Men’s Basketball Official, to whom I’ve confided with in navigating the ins and outs of elevating to the level he’s at. He discusses how he lives due east from where I live on Long Island, and he once did Rucker Park (which is about 2 hours away from my house during rush hour) to do one game, for $50, just because of the opportunity it presented. And so, the importance of Popping Out:
“Recognize opportunity when it’s not a paycheck to it.”
– Charlamagne Tha God.
INVEST
In one of the Pods, we discussed with Gerda Gatling her approach into getting more games. Of course, officiating initially was a monetary endeavor, and often morphs into a passion that sublimates into making more money. Her mantra: I need to get better to get more games | I Need To Get Better To Get More Games | I NEED TO GET BETTER TO GET MORE GAMES. You should look at each opportunity, whether it be working a game yourself, or going to an event where a fellow official is working must be done, in order for other referees know you exist. That time and effort put in without the initial dollar amount will come back to you, in spades.
“I got to network more. I have to go to some more games; no one knows that you’re a referee right now, so you have to pop out at referee events whether it be a tournament at Boy’s and Girl’s down the street, or you might drive all the way to Dykman and just pop out with some other referees you will naturally be introduced to other referees.” – Gerda Gatling
FIND IT BEFORE IT FINDS YOU
Not all officials are afforded an area where they are dense with action. Take for instance, the greater New York | Metropolitan area; as I type this, there are probably 300 gyms going off with over 600 officials, maybe more, service the games we speak on. Compound that with the fields where kids and adults alike could be imbibing in a game of Flag Football, or Lacrosse. If your area is sparse, you have to find the places where there is action. There’s one thing to be the greatest referee in the world. That means nothing if there are no games in the area you are at. You have to go to places where there is sport to put yourself outthere. Pop. Out.
“You got to come to the area.” – Bernard Bowen
NETWORK
Now there’s one thing to pop out to those venues; there’s another thing to work the crowd, the field, the court, the stands. Popping out isn’t enough. We must put ourselves out there, meet people that are involved with the game – whether that be fellow officials, people involved in administration with the game, players, media, etc. This should never be forced; no one wants to be ingratiated to others with insincerity being felt. Be real when meeting people. The more events you go to, the gradual your network builds, and things start falling into place.
“Someone said to me, I think you’d be a great candidate to my class. South Jersey is pretty far from New York City for some training , I’m not getting any games, it’s just training. Everyone that was in this cadet training class all lived near. The gentleman who lead the class, spoke to me the summer prior and he said to me that I’d be a perfect candidate for this training class, you should join us. Following year, he give me the same talk, and all of those ladies that went to the class all moved up to Division 2, and I was like, damn, I played myself. I went to his cadet training class, he was big on mechanics. We didn’t even pick up a basketball. His point is, that’s the way you communicate to the table, your partner, the fans, and everyone in the gym – if no one knows our language, for the initial training was mirror, and working in front of them. You have to be committed and willing to invest in yourself.”
– Stephanie Barksdale
Until tomorrow.