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I will help you with #2. Generally there is no mentoring program in the association I am with. You have to be aggressive and network, then hope things fall in place. I was lucky enough to hook up with an official with 17 years experience for my rookie year. Off the bat he was impressed and was in disbelief I was a first year official. So he helped me fine tune my game. When we would work together, he would take the line, I would umpire. This would allow me to specifically watch him. Then we would switch and I would try to perfect my technique. After 30 games or so, you dont have to think about the little things. I also would go to varsity games and record seasoned officials then watch the tape at a later date so I could learn from them. I think confidence played a big role in learning. If you are timid, you could get left behind. Another method he used was constructive criticism. When he corrected me, he always did it in a positive way.
This was a good question. I really think more organizations need this if they want to produce quality officials.
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