Finding best officials for high school basketball tourneys not easy

Finding best officials for high school basketball tourneys not easy

(Tom Smart/Deseret News)


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OGDEN — Postseason high school basketball tournaments provide a variety of different issues for the Utah High School Activities Association.

While there have been traditional sites for the tourneys, scheduling is always a concern because the UHSAA has to work around the primary tenets’ schedules like the association is doing at the Dee Events Center at Weber State University and the Maverik Center in West Valley City with the Class 3A tournament.

Also, providing sufficient staff for the venue, planning logistical points such as parking, concessions and locker room availability, all are issues the association has to manage when hosting the state’s biggest prep showcases.

However, there is one issue fans don’t always think of, and it may have the biggest impact of all on the individual games: assigning and configuring the state’s best high school officials to referee the most high-profile games.

The logistics of organizing and assigning officials to every postseason tournament game falls on many shoulders, but the one primarily responsible for the process is Jeff Cluff, the association’s full-time supervisor of officials.


"We really do care (about the game), but we really don't care who wins," said Jeff Cluff, Utah High School Activities Association Supervisor of Officials.

A longtime official himself, both in high school and collegiate athletics, Cluff said the process of basketball assigning is more in-depth than any other sport he oversees.

“In varsity football, which I assign, I assign just over 1,300 varsity games,” he said. “In varsity basketball, boys and girls, I just over 3,600. So, that gives you a breakdown of the number of games. We’re taking 75 varsity games on a Tuesday or Friday night (in the regular season), and to take that and think I have to have 220 varsity-capable officials, sometimes it’s taxing.”

The process of getting the top officials for the state’s top tourneys is rigorous. First, officials must be a part of a local organization that reports to the state association, and must pay various membership fees. Then, the prospective officials must attend clinics and seminars, and pass tests based on those exercises to showcase their proficiency to officiate regular-season games.

For postseason consideration, officials must earn a high rating from their local association to get in the mix, and hope to become one of the 48 officials selected to work each of the postseason tourneys.

Cluff said fans don’t understand how much work and money it takes to become an official.

#HS1

“The No. 1 thing that I don’t think fans appreciate is the amount of time officials actually invest in their trade,” he said. “(Officials spend) thousands and thousands of dollars to invest and be a high school official. The camps and the clinics in the summer, and we require someone to attend a camp and a clinic once every three years to remain varsity-eligible.”

For most fans, all they see when they see officials out on the court are people who are seemingly incapable of managing the game. They see a hand-check go against their team’s star guard, but view an errant elbow from their post player as blocking out on an offensive rebound.

A majority of fans often wonder how officials who, in their eyes, are so poor could advance to officiate a postseason game. However, the officials undergo a rigorous series of evaluations during the postseason tournaments. And, just as the teams advance through the tournament, so do the best officials.

Cluff said no matter how respected or experienced an official might be, one bad call can make the difference between advancing through the tournament and going home after the opening rounds.

“In the (4A/5A tournaments) right now, we’ve had a couple officials that we had penciled in for later in the tournament that we’ve removed, for a call or two,” he said. “It’s our responsibility as a state organization that assigns officials, we have just as much responsibility to put the right people on the floor for the players as we do for the officials. We have to walk that tight-rope for both sides.”

Officiating can be an aggravating experience because there are sometimes thousands of people in the stands who couldn’t disagree more with a call. When officials make just $64 for a postseason appearance, plus travel costs, it may seem the aggravation isn’t worth the hassle.


Many top-rated high school officials in Utah also work as officials in collegiate sports.

The more vocal of fans can create conversation topics that indict the qualifications and integrity of the organization. While some fans believe in conspiracy theories, like some teams being preordained to win tournaments, Cluff said his officials are just trying to call their games as well as they can.

“We really do care (about the game), but we really don’t care who wins,” he said. “We go out and we really try to be fair; we really try to see a play and call it the way we see it. Mistakes are going to be made, but our judgment is our judgment.”

Just as all coaches teach the game differently, officials all manage the game differently. However, the best officials all have a similar mindset when approaching a game.

“The actual play-calling is less important than the actual game management," Cluff said. "The interaction between the coaches, the understanding the flow of the game, when a coach is going to call a timeout — the same type of demeanor and deportment of the official is just as essential as their actual blowing the whistle and calling a play.”

The state does little instruction of its top officials once the postseason starts, but Cluff said he approaches referees with a few simple words when they are selected to work state tournament games.

“I try not to talk to them a whole lot,” he said. “The things I always do tell them is have fun; remember it’s about the kids; and stay calm. If those three things take place, most of the time, you’re going to get the best out of an official.”

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