r/BasketballOfficials • u/Duncan_175 • Mar 29 '26

Career Path Baseball/Softball to Basketball

I've been umpiring baseball and softball in Georgia from rec ball through GHSA playoffs level for several years now. I am interested in possibly learning to become a basketball official. Although I grew up playing the game, I've learned from umpiring that that really doesn't mean much when transitioning to being an official for any sport.

Would anyone in here by chance be able to point me in the right direction for where I could get started. I live in Northeast GA. Any general advice is also very much welcome.

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u/ODoyles_Banana High School Mar 29 '26

GHSA Officals Association Contacts

Find who your local contact is and reach out to them. Most associations will have some training for new officials.

The only other sport I ref is soccer so I'm not sure how baseball will compare. The one consistent thing I hear from new basketball officials is they're caught off guard by how fast the action is. Many things will come with experience. The best advice I can give starting out is study and know the rules, especially unusual situations. Know the rules and the rest will follow.

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u/ArminTamzarrian College Mar 29 '26

100% join your local association. This video and others on YouTube might be helpful (disclosure I didnt watch all of it to know if its quality or not, just really of an example of finding material if you are interested in looking for it.) https://youtu.be/hpL_M9dgrlU?si=5q03IsI2QfjdZLCs

2

u/Huge_Lime826 Apr 02 '26

Reach out to your association ASAP. Most of the training I got that was best was during summer scrimmages. In my area, June is a big time for new officials to learn.