[JRutledge]

I think it depends on the sport you begin to do. If you are doing volleyball or football, you are going to have a totally different situation and experience level or number of officials compared to basketball and baseball.

Now this really depends on the area you live, but in my area, you can get varsity games in your first season whether you have been officiating other sports or not in volleyball and baseball. There are not enough officials to cover the games. So to have officials to cover games, it is not a matter of ethics, it is a matter of common sense.

Now if you are doing a sport like football, you have other crew members to work with. Depending on your position on the crew, your rules knowledge does not need to be that extensive. Your experience might help in handling coaches and players.

Now if you do basketball, I think you have to have much more experience all together. You do not get a free lunch during any basketball game. You and your partners have to call the same things. It does not matter if the partners are people you work with on a regular basis or not, you still have to work with those individuals like a team. The game moves much more faster and the action is pretty constant. You are constantly having to make rulings and blowing your whistle, unlike baseball or football where your position might not have you call anything the entire game. And if you are going to do a basketball game, you need more experience and more rules knowledge to be able to work a game compentently.

In conclusion this is a personal decision. I really do not think it is a matter of ethics at all. It is a determination of what you want to do and what is offered to you. I personally did many varsity game in all my sports during my first two years. I was asked so I did them. This is not for everyone, but maybe again I had a different approach. I did not want to embarrass myself.

Peace