Quote:
Originally posted by Jim Henry
I am a third year licensed basketball official and have been doing grade school games (5-8) only. I am becoming more and discouraged over the behavior of coaches at the lower grade levels. ....
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Good luck, Jim.
We may all have occasion to be confronted by "unreasonable" personalities in, and because of, hoops. Our best defenses are knowledge and poise.
As was suggested and implied, an association membership or a mentor may help you ease your pain.
Many of us have been disparaged and discouraged in our 3rd year. Years 3-5 can be a challenge. They are, in my opinion, commonly the years when we decide whether we continue, or whether we decide the grief is not worth the time. We should ask whether we should make a commitment to the avocation, or should we just be committed.
The period of years 3-5 is a mighty fine time to attend officiating camps. Officiating camps are pay to learn camps. We pay. We learn.
At officiating camps we learn, not only the mechanics of the game (how to stand, where to stand, how to hold our mouth), but we will probably learn game management techniques (disarming irate coaches, dealing with showboat players, interacting with ignorant fans, finding missing paychecks). By visiting and working with other officials we find out that we are not alone on this planet just because we wear vertical stripes in a horizontal world. We gobble up the experience; we digest the information. We may leave camps with more humility than we had expected, but a month later, ...two months later, we find ourselves standing a little taller on the court, ...more confidence, ...more presence.
Gleaned knowledge, experience, training, confidence is projected on the court. We make fewer fire-lighting mistakes and find it easier to say, "I kicked it. Sorry!". We offer fewer excuses. We become smarter and find it easier to share knowledge. Participants and observers react to that aura. We start having more fun.
We don't make a lot of money doing this thing, so enjoyment can play a larger part in our continued participation.
Have some fun and hang around this forum.
mick
The higher levels of basketball game are eaisier to officiate, better paying than lower levels. We must earn the right to work those games.