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I worked my first game over three years ago with a guy who had been doing basketball for about four years. It was two 7th grade boys games in a Saturday evening league. I told him it was my first game, he was very relaxed about it and went over a few things he liked his partner to do. Eye contact, communicate the location of the throw in spot, how many shots, who is the shooter etc. He told me that I would probably have tunnel vision at first (I did) and to just relax and call what I could see. Told me afterwards that I did a great job and gave me a few pointers. I would cover the basics with a new guy but wouldn't overload him or her. The biggest thing that helped me that night was his relaxed demeanor and confidence in me. I might also add that I still occasionally do games with this gentleman and that he now considers me his peer, not still "a new guy." There are some veterans that work a game with you early on in your career that never stop thinking of you as a rookie, even though you may have several hundred games under your belt. That can be frustrating for officials trying to establish themselves.
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