3-person crews haven’t improved GSL officiating

If you’ve had a chance to take in a Spokane-area high school basketball game this season, you’ve probably noticed something different.

There are three people in striped shirts running around out there.

Two more eyes. An extra whistle. More help keeping the game under control.

Is it working? Not really.

But maybe that’s because there’s been another change in our area. A subtle one probably unnoticed by the casual fan, but a change that made three-person crews in Spokane a reality.

When the WIAA decided it was time to have three-person crews at the state basketball tournaments, leagues and local officials associations had to decide if the change would also be made during the regular season. But there were some problems to overcome.

The first was the cost. A league like the GSL was paying two officials $52 apiece for varsity contests. In tight budget times, it would have been impossible for the league to add another $52 dollars per game.

So referee associations statewide gave a three-year commitment to split the current payout of $104 three ways, giving each official $34 per game. It was a magnanimous gesture aimed at improving the game.

For most refs, officiating high school basketball games isn’t about the money. There’s no way anyone would want to take the abuse prep officials receive just for $34, or $52 or even $100 a game. Still, a 33 percent pay cut would hurt anyone. And it’s bothered some of the rank and file in the local association.

I’ve heard many officials express sentiments that they still love doing what they do, and, yeah, there is a little less running involved, but they don’t like earning a paycheck that was appropriate 20 years ago.

Whether you think our officials do a good job or a poor one, you have to admit it is a tough task that receives little or no thanks. The job is also vital to the success of high school sports.

But cost was only one problem in using three-person crews. You also have to have enough officials.

In the Spokane area, we’ve had two associations for a while, one handling men and one women. Neither had the experienced manpower to cover all their varsity games with three people.

So, according to Steve Ayres, the veteran assigner for the men’s group, a deal was struck. It’s not a merger, but more like a trial marriage.

In February, the two associations will vote on whether they want it to continue. But for now, the two are assigned to games as if they were one, with Ayres doing the assigning. It was a change needed for three-person crews to work, according to Ayres.

It’s also the biggest problem.

Let’s face it, the two games are different. They move at different speeds. They feature different levels of contact. They have a couple of different rules.

They need to be officiated differently.

Contact that wouldn’t move a 6-foot, 225-pound O-lineman-turned-post-player an inch might knock his female counterpart down. Are they both fouls? You decide, and decide 25 times one night with boys and 25 the next with girls.

It’s a rare official who can go back and forth and do a good job with both. It’s a sad fact, but we just don’t have many of those.

Will more experience doing both games help? Maybe, but right now it’s a struggle.

Ayres says the part behind the scenes is working “real well.” But on the court?

“Whether or not we are where we would like to be in terms of how we are calling the games, I don’t think we’re there (yet),” said Ayres, who constantly observes games. “We’ve got a long ways to go. I think we are over-calling the girls game. And then on the boys game, we’re probably not calling enough.”

The mixture of the two associations hasn’t jelled yet and the question is whether it should be given enough time to. As of now, I would vote no.