Welcome to the WBOA!
Thank you for your interest in becoming an official with the Wisconsin Basketball Officials Association (WBOA). You have taken the first (and most important!) step to becoming a basketball official with the WBOA.
Established in 2012, the WBOA was formed to provide a comprehensive instructional program to prepare individuals for officiating basketball. WBOA's mission includes upholding, encouraging, and promoting high ethical standards among institutions, spectators, participants, coaches, and officials involved in the game of basketball.
The WBOA has partnered with the California Basketball Officials Association (CBOA) and the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) to provide its members with high school training materials unparalleled in the industry. Using technology, curriculum-based instruction, video training and online testing, WBOA provides its members the greatest platform for improvement and success.
REQUIREMENTS FOR BECOMING A WBOA OFFICIAL:
If you are new to officiating and joining the WBOA AFTER the Fall training series is completed, or were not able to attend or otherwise complete 4 of the 7 Fall training sessions, additional expectations are listed below.
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES FOR NEW OFFICIALS:
Attending classes, and/or working with an experienced official, are wonderful avenues to get you started with officiating. However, continued education, your personal effort, and investing time to get better will determine the success you have within this avocation.
Many resources exist for improving your officiating skills, and below are a few resources that can assist your efforts to become a better basketball official. You may not get access to video of your own youth games that you work, but one of the best ways to improve your skills and become a better official is to watch video replay of games, game clips, and game situations. Many resources exist online including, but not limited to, some sample video provided below to get you started.
NFHS – National Federation of State High School Associations – the WIAA and WBOA follow all NFHS rules and guidelines. Basketball Articles, Rule Changes, Publications, Basketball Resources, etc. can be found at:
https://www.nfhs.org/activities-sports/basketball/
California Basketball Officials Association: 3000 members strong, including WBOA membership, the CBOA provides our membership with quality instructional materials, a video library, testing, and documentation to become successful officials at whatever level they aspire to officiate. A login for full access is provided with your confirmed WBOA membership. More information can be found at:
https://www.cboa.net/newTopLevel.cgi
National Association of Sports Officials (NASO):
www.naso.org
ArbiterSports: the WBOA uses ArbiterSports (www.arbitersports.com) for all game scheduling activities for youth and high school level games. Once you are an approved member, please contact Tom Bray for access to the Arbiter site.
‘WBOA Scheduling’ Facebook Group: Once you are an approved WBOA member, please join our ‘WBOA Scheduling’ Facebook page. Here you can find some available games, or work to find a substitute if you are unable to work WBOA games that you have been assigned to work.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, clarifications, or concerns. Thank you!
Tom Bray
WBOA Youth Assigner
414-507-4919
tombraysr@gmail.com
Thank you for your interest in becoming an official with the Wisconsin Basketball Officials Association (WBOA). You have taken the first (and most important!) step to becoming a basketball official with the WBOA.
Established in 2012, the WBOA was formed to provide a comprehensive instructional program to prepare individuals for officiating basketball. WBOA's mission includes upholding, encouraging, and promoting high ethical standards among institutions, spectators, participants, coaches, and officials involved in the game of basketball.
The WBOA has partnered with the California Basketball Officials Association (CBOA) and the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) to provide its members with high school training materials unparalleled in the industry. Using technology, curriculum-based instruction, video training and online testing, WBOA provides its members the greatest platform for improvement and success.
REQUIREMENTS FOR BECOMING A WBOA OFFICIAL:
- While case by case exceptions can certainly be reviewed, the WBOA recommends that new officials be at least 16 years of age and have a valid Wisconsin Driver’s license.
- ALL WBOA officials MUST be registered with the WIAA. The WIAA provides background testing and will send all members current NFHS Rule Books –
- All officials must complete a WBOA Membership application online and pay the appropriate WBOA membership dues –
- In the Fall of each year, the WBOA offers a seven-week preseason training series. Officials are broken into classroom settings relative to their experience level. ALL WBOA members must attend four (4) of our seven (7) scheduled meetings to remain in good standing. Please keep an eye on our website at www.wisboa.net for times and location of the Fall training series.
If you are new to officiating and joining the WBOA AFTER the Fall training series is completed, or were not able to attend or otherwise complete 4 of the 7 Fall training sessions, additional expectations are listed below.
- All membership requirements noted above must be met. New officials will review and study all provided rule books. The WBOA will provide a complimentary one-time NO CHARGE membership to NEW officials joining after January 1st, provided training requirements below are met in place of the Fall training series.
- All members new to officiating will ‘trail’ an experienced official on the court for a minimum of three games. This allows the new official to learn game management responsibilities, see proper court positioning, understand appropriate mechanics, review live game situations, etc. This training is an unpaid effort.
- After the new official ‘trails’ the experienced official for a minimum of three games, the experienced official will then in turn trail/observe the new official for a minimum of three games and provide feedback to the new official. This training is an unpaid effort.
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOURCES FOR NEW OFFICIALS:
Attending classes, and/or working with an experienced official, are wonderful avenues to get you started with officiating. However, continued education, your personal effort, and investing time to get better will determine the success you have within this avocation.
Many resources exist for improving your officiating skills, and below are a few resources that can assist your efforts to become a better basketball official. You may not get access to video of your own youth games that you work, but one of the best ways to improve your skills and become a better official is to watch video replay of games, game clips, and game situations. Many resources exist online including, but not limited to, some sample video provided below to get you started.
- Learn to Referee Basketball: Intro to Two-Person Mechanics – 15 minutes
- Do you use proper NFHS signals? Let's examine how to signal properly – 10 minutes.
- 2 person Mechanics – Positioning, Mechanics, Rotations, Reporting – 35 minutes
- How to Analyze your game video - two-person Mechanics – 45 minutes.
NFHS – National Federation of State High School Associations – the WIAA and WBOA follow all NFHS rules and guidelines. Basketball Articles, Rule Changes, Publications, Basketball Resources, etc. can be found at:
https://www.nfhs.org/activities-sports/basketball/
California Basketball Officials Association: 3000 members strong, including WBOA membership, the CBOA provides our membership with quality instructional materials, a video library, testing, and documentation to become successful officials at whatever level they aspire to officiate. A login for full access is provided with your confirmed WBOA membership. More information can be found at:
https://www.cboa.net/newTopLevel.cgi
National Association of Sports Officials (NASO):
www.naso.org
ArbiterSports: the WBOA uses ArbiterSports (www.arbitersports.com) for all game scheduling activities for youth and high school level games. Once you are an approved member, please contact Tom Bray for access to the Arbiter site.
‘WBOA Scheduling’ Facebook Group: Once you are an approved WBOA member, please join our ‘WBOA Scheduling’ Facebook page. Here you can find some available games, or work to find a substitute if you are unable to work WBOA games that you have been assigned to work.
Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions, clarifications, or concerns. Thank you!
Tom Bray
WBOA Youth Assigner
414-507-4919
tombraysr@gmail.com
