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young, good, officials
First off, let me congratulate you for even taking the time outside of your season to improve your officiating skills. That is not always a gimme, with new (or many other) officials. When I first started (15+ years ago), I had confidence, was loud, knew I was good, and told everyone who would listen. Well, a couple of missed rule interpretations and the ensuing chaos in one of my first "big-for-me" games and the resulting visit with the association's officers, made me re-evaluate things.
1) I was an "okay" official... it was still WAY to early to tell if I could/would go far.
2) My rules knowledge was lacking. Yes, I passed the tests, but I was never the one who was asked about such and such rule, etc. Strive to be the guy who everyone asks for information on ALL the rules. Note: I am not saying this type of person necessarily becomes a great official.
3) Knowledge of the game/officiating was lacking. Yup, I played in HS/College and I repeat... Knowledge was lacking. Watch other officials in and out of your association work. If it is accepted in your pool/association... be present for their pregames, halftimes and postgame. LISTEN to what they talk about, remember you are not there for unsolicited comments. Being present for a few of these meeting, will go a long ways towards (re)building your credibility with your peers.
4) I was deemed "unapproachable".. heck I didn't even fully understand what that meant. After some time, I kind of believed this came from things like.. selling ALL my calls, not taking ANYTHING from coaches (players are different), and probably arrogance. Just do your best with becoming "approachable" by your definition. I am not saying you have to be anyone's best friend out there, work on body language/facial expressions when talking to coaches, etc.
There is a ton of things a person can do while you are learning, a lot of things in this thread apply so I tried not to go over them again. Take it from experience, listen to the old guys, lol, they were in your shoes once too believe it or not.
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