NBOSTRIPES

The tipoff organizational meeting for the 2015-16 season for Nebraska Basketball Officials has been scheduled at the Omaha Burke High School Lecture Hall on Wednesday, August 5, at 7 p.m.

All basketball officials wanting to work in the Metro Conference this school year, both lower level and varsity, are encouraged to attend. Scheduling of varsity contests will begin in mid-August and officials must be registered and have their annual dues paid to be considered for scheduling. Annual dues will remain at $50 and includes being registered with Arbiter, NBO’s online scheduling system.

Officials working varsity contests in the Metro Conference will need to be registered with the Nebraska School Activities Association ($45 fee) and the NBO ($50 dues). No additional fees will be charged by NBO.

The meeting at Omaha Burke will be approximately one hour with Nebraska Basketball Officials’ assignor Al Monaco going over guidelines and expectations for the 2015-16 season. Lower Level NBO assignor Justin Albrecht will also be in attendance. Questions will be answered.

Officials wishing to write checks for their dues may do so to Nebraska Basketball Officials. Receipts will also be available for those wishing to pay with cash. The registration form is attached to this email. You can print it, fill it out, and bring it to the meeting to save time.

Anyone with questions can contact Monaco at monaco.nbo@gmail.com. Or, they can call Monaco at 402-214-7057.

2015-16 NBO Application

The following letter is for all Nebraska Basketball Officials officiating Lower Level games.

It has been brought to our attention that we have been having some problems following protocol for Lower Level games. Because of that, I would like to go over expectations for all officials working these games at member Metro Conference schools. These expectations must be followed by all officials.

1. All officials must contact the host school a minimum of 2 days prior to assignment. Schools have requested this be done via email whenever possible. Please also contact your partners to verify they have received the assignment and coordinate your times of arrival at the host school.
2. All officials must arrive at the host school 30 minutes before game time.
3. All officials must conduct a pregame meeting with their partner(s) and go over protocol and responsibilities for all involved.
4. At approximately 13 minutes on the clock before the game, meet coaches and get captains.
5. Officials should discuss with captains — sportsmanship and points of emphasis they will be calling during the game.
6. After the game, contact Justin Albrecht if there are any technical fouls or ejections in the game. If there is an ejection, fill out the NSAA ejection form online.
7. If you are going to be late for a game, contact your partner, Justin Albrecht, and the Athletic Director of the host school.
8. If you arrive late, contact Justin Albrecht and self-report when and why you were late.
9. Adjust to play within the game. If the game starts out physical, CALL FOULS. Keep the game under control.

10. If you have any problems with coaches, players, or school administration, please contact Justin Albrecht at 402-630-3948, or email him at Albrecht.nbo@gmail.com.

The Pre-Game Conversation before your game may be the most important communication you and your partners have every game. How well you go over your upcoming contest and get on the same page with your partners can dictate the success of your crew.

Here is a Pre-Game sheet I have put together and tweaked over the years. You can use this as a template for what you go over with your partners before every game. Feel free to print it out and put it in your bag.

Good Luck

Al Monaco

PRE-GAME

We are two days from our first games and I wanted to send out a few quick reminders. No. 1, if you have been assigned games this Thursday, Friday or Saturday, you should be emailing the home team athletic director to confirm your game. This applies to both lower level and varsity officials. You should confirm at least two days before your scheduled contest. It doesn’t hurt to make contact with your partners, as well. Even if you are working lower level games, communication is vital to us doing a good job. No. 2, please ask for a return email from the athletic director, confirming that they received your email. Let’s make communication a priority this season.

I have watched a few of the Hall of Fame preseason games and I am seeing some things I felt we should address. I do not want us to become the uniform police, but the NSAA directive on matching under garments is something we should be prepared to handle in game situations. If you see players with contrasting color undergarments, I would like you to have your Referee take it to the head coach. Do not go to the players. If you are an Umpire, go to your Referee and inform him of the players that have contrasting sleeves, tights, etc. Remind the head coach of the NSAA directive and let him handle the situation. He can make the decision of who wears what, and who has to remove the items. If a team has on long warmup pants and you do not notice the situation until teams are ready to go on the court, let’s allow the teams to change at halftime. Do not hold up a game to do this! Let’s be proactive early in the season so this is not an issue after the first weekend.

We are doing a good job with the new hand check and contact rules. Our board members went to every Metro school this preseason and made presentations with every team. They should be educated with the new directives. Try to talk players through contact. Tell them to get their hands off and move their feet. If they cannot do this, call the foul. We want to do a good job with this and most of all, be consistent. Discuss it in your pregames. Make sure you are all on the same page when you walk on the court.

I’m excited for another great season of basketball in the Metro Conference. Nebraska Basketball Officials is here to help you if you have any questions, concerns or issues.

It’s time to play!

Al Monaco

Nebraska Basketball Officials and the Omaha Sports Academy officials group will be hosting a review for the NSAA Part 1 Open Book test tonight at 7 pm at the Omaha Burke High School Cafeteria.

NBO President Al Monaco will go over National Federation and NSAA rule changes and points of emphasis. OSA Officials Assignor Brent Robinson will then go thru the 100-question Part 1 test. Everyone is encouraged to print out and bring a copy of the test.

Applications to officiate for Nebraska Basketball Officials are available on this website. They will also be available at the meeting tonight. Dues for NBO are $50 per season. NBO lower level assignor Justin Albrecht will also be at tonight’s meeting.

If you have further questions, please feel free to contact Monaco at monaco.nbo@gmail.com or Albrecht at albrecht.nbo@gmail.com.

Nebraska Basketball Officials will be hosting two meetings early in November to prepare for the upcoming season.

The first meeting, Wednesday, November 5, will be held at 7 pm in the Omaha Burke High School cafeteria and will serve as a rules meeting where Omaha Sports Academy Director of Officials Brent Robinson will lead a group discussion and go over the Nebraska School Activities Association Part 1, 100-question, open book test. Officials will also have the opportunity to pay NBO dues and register in preparation for the upcoming Metro Conference season. NSAA registered officials are encouraged to bring a printout of the 100-question, Part 1, test.

The second meeting, Thursday, November 13, will be held at 7 pm in the Omaha Burke High School cafeteria and will be the final organizational meeting before the season starts. NBO Director Al Monaco and lower level assignor Justin Albrecht will go over expectations and procedures for all Varsity and Lower Level contests. Once again, officials will have the opportunity to pay NBO dues and register in preparation for the upcoming Metro Conference season.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Monaco or Albrecht at monaco.nbo@gmail .com or albrecht.nbo@gmail.com.

If you haven’t joined Nebraska Basketball Officials, here is the application form. Fill it out and send your membership check for $50 to Al Monaco at the address listed on the application. You can contact Al Monaco at monaco@nbo@gmail.com or Justin Albrecht at albrecht.nbo@gmail.com for more information.

NBO Application

Welcome to NBOSTRIPES, the new website for all communications concerning Nebraska Basketball Officials. We are excited to introduce you to the NBOSTRIPES site and hope you will click on the Follow button at the bottom of the page and register your email with us. This will allow you to automatically receive all information we post on the site via a convenient email. You will not need to check back to the site from time to time (even though we invite you to visit anytime). If we post it, you receive it! Keep up to date with all the happenings with basketball officiating in the Metro Conference. If there are weather postponements, you can hear it here first. If there is a last minute lower level game scheduled, we can let you know with the click of a button and an email is sent out.

We are excited to have this new communication tool with all our officials in the Metro Conference. Welcome to NBOSTRIPES!