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Interesting insight into where college (women's) basketball officials come from. I'd suppose that refs on the men's side go through something similar (from WomensBasketballOnline via Women's Hoops Blog):
Assigners and coordinators play a major role in the successful elevation of an official through the ranks. In many ways Patty Broderick, as the supervisor of a consortium of conferences (Big Ten, Big 12, Summit, Conference USA, Horizon League, Mid-American, Missouri Valley Conference, and the Great Lakes Valley Conference (Division-II)), has the ideal set up to do just that. She outlines a five to seven year process: “I can bring them in and start refereeing some Division II,” explained Broderick, “and if they’re good, bone up their schedule (10-20 games). Maybe get them in to the Division II Conference Tournament. If they get to that level, maybe start them out in small Division I, see how they do there. Beef up their schedule a little bit, maybe get them to do an early game in a tournament and now we see, “Oh, yes, they can go in to the major conferences.’”
Coordinators choose who gets the “plum” assignments, when someone is ready to deal with a challenging coach, and try and put together a balanced team of officials. “I think a coordinator has to do a better job at assigning officials to games,” added Broderick. “They can make an official look good. You know you’re not going to take a rookie and throw them in the Tennessee-Texas game. For God’s sake, you’ve set them up to fail right off the bat. But you can take them and put them in against Tennessee and Podunk U. Put them with a strong official, a couple of veterans and then they’re going to be able to earn their stripes.”
If coaches are concerned about the officials in their conference, Struckhoff encourages them to go to their commissioners and ask some the questions. “Tell me about our officiating program? How do we pay our people? How are we set up for travel? I’ve never seen a coordinator or observer at my site – why is that?” The answers they get may inspire positive change.
Coordinators choose who gets the “plum” assignments, when someone is ready to deal with a challenging coach, and try and put together a balanced team of officials. “I think a coordinator has to do a better job at assigning officials to games,” added Broderick. “They can make an official look good. You know you’re not going to take a rookie and throw them in the Tennessee-Texas game. For God’s sake, you’ve set them up to fail right off the bat. But you can take them and put them in against Tennessee and Podunk U. Put them with a strong official, a couple of veterans and then they’re going to be able to earn their stripes.”
If coaches are concerned about the officials in their conference, Struckhoff encourages them to go to their commissioners and ask some the questions. “Tell me about our officiating program? How do we pay our people? How are we set up for travel? I’ve never seen a coordinator or observer at my site – why is that?” The answers they get may inspire positive change.