Greenville - Hosted by SCBOA District 1 - June 7-8, 2024

Game Management - Earl Richards
​Earl Richards, a highly experienced official from Columbia (SC) who has worked on many different levels, shared his thoughts on game management in one of the "classroom" sessions.

Highlights from his talk included:
  • "Start your pregame in your mind before you arrive."
  • "Manage your emotions during the game."
  • "Perception is sometimes more than reality..."
  • "Pack your bag carefully, including many things that you might not USE during the game."
  • "After the game, what else is added to the BAGGAGE that you leave the gym with? Emotions... Feelings..."
  • "Allow plays to fully develop." (How do you prepare for that?)
  • "What are you personally sacrificing when to decide to referee?"
  • "Improvement as a referee may or may not be linear, however there are (and will be) dips BUT there should be an attempt to have consistent and constant growth over the course of the career."
  • "It is better to be prepared for an opportunity that never comes than to not be prepared when it happens."
  • "Make the best of THIS situation."
Officiating Philosophy - Kim Haywood
​Kim Haywood, a multi-sport official (including basketball and volleyball), who has worked for several Division 1 women's basketball conferences shared her thoughts about officiating philosophy and how to become the best official possible.

Highlights from her talk included:
  • "Be a good partner ... every game ... in every situation."
  • "Control what you can control ... your attitude, your willingness to work hard, the way that you speak to others, the way that you prepare, the way that you look."
  • "Rule knowledge is something that is easy to control."
  • "Mechanics can be practiced ... using nothing more than a pocket mirror and an empty room."
  • "Professionalism ... is something we all can have."
  • "Good habits are something that we can control and we should strive to create routines for ourselves."
  • ​"Command of the court does not mean that I am a dictator, it means I am comfortable making the decisions needed in that game that night."
  • "There seems to be a level of consistency at the collegiate level that does not always happen at the high school level because we do not work with the same people every night ... we must commit to certain things every single game ... such as a good pregame."
  • "Are you going to be the referee that if you have something to add to the game, you are going to do it ... or, will you be the low-man on the totem pole and stay quiet?"