[cmathews]

When I first started officiating, at one of our early meetings the situation of a mens league tournament in town was brought up. Our president said that those that wanted to could do it, but recommended that it be avoided. He went on to say that you newer guys, I strongly recommend you not go anywhere near the place to officiate it. Now that I have done it a few years, I have this philosophy. I have no intention of taking that abuse on a weekly or nightly basis. I do however work one mens league tournament a year. About 20 percent of the player are ex college players, and there has even been an ex NBA guy or two involved. I do it because it is a road trip for myself and 4 or 5 other guys I officiate with, we go for the weekend, and it is actually a lot of fun. Yes there is a lot of talking and such on the court, but since we have been going over there for a while we know most of the regulars and have a decent rapor off of the court anyway LOL...One final thought, if you do use mens league games to get experience, dont fall into the lazy "camp mechanics" way of officiating. Use it as a place to work on mechanics. I do believe long term exposure to mens league games is more detrimental to a young official than it is worth... IMHO