[RILAX]

Originally posted by Ballen
Thanks RILAX!!!

I trust that you copied and pasted this and didn't type the whole thing into the forum post window.

I'm a second year LAX official in Kentucky. The sport is growing quickly here and the need for officials is greater than the supply of experienced players that can officiate. We have some folks in the area that want to officiate and they tend to come in two varieties. Those that have played the game and have never officiated sports and those that have officiated sports but never played the game. That's me.

I'm crossing over from football and basketball. The mechanics and coverage for LAX come pretty naturally, however the rules and nuances of the game are tough as I've never played it and lack a certain feel; do you know what I mean?


I worked a scrimmage yesterday afternoon and I went through a pre-game the went like this:

A. Walked from truck to table across mid-field; bag on shoulder.
B. Put on cleats, stripes, hat and whistle.
C. Chatted with table person; somebody's mom.
D. Tested horn.
E. Called captains to center x. Told 'em to play clean and sportsmanlike. Asked coaches if teams were properly equipped.
F. Didn’t have a coin to flip so I drew an X on my card (piece of card stock with athletic tape wrapped around so that I can peel it off and have a fresh surface for the next game) and had the visitor call "x or other". Flipped it up and let it hit the ground. Home won and chose goal and informed him he had the AP.
G. No line up, they just went to positions and I realized I needed a game ball.
H. Etc, etc.

I'm glad to get a scrimmage under my belt. I've got the season opening game between the defending KY state champs and a team traveling in from another state next Fri. My act will definitely be more polished.

And now that we have a pre-game outline we'll be even more professional.

Thanks.

First, yes I had a word document with the outline on my computer. Second, are you doing one-man games or do you have a partner? It is a very tough game to do by yourself. The mechanics etc is fairly easy to get, it seems to be a lot like basketball (even though I don’t do that sport) on a really big field. The rest of it you will slowly pick up as you do more games. (Most of the times I realize a team is offside before I get the count done etc.) Noticed a few things in your list:

1) I am not a big fan of putting you gear on at the table area before the game, it takes about the same amount of time to do it at your car.
2) You should get a coin, also you should have a tape measure for stick checks as well. The tape measure should be about ¼” of a inch wide and about 2”x”2 they are fairly cheep and can be used as a coin if you forgot yours.
3) For the line up you should get the teams 5 yards apart and at the very least say these are the 5 yards I want everyone to give the player putting the ball in play.

Even if you don’t get to go though the pre-game with your partner it should give you an idea of the few things to ask him/her to make sure that you are on the same page.

Mostly have fun and ask questions about what does not make sense.