[JRutledge]

This has more to do with your area you live. In the Chicago area, many assignors are not going to assign you with a regular partner. There are a couple of assignors that I work for that do have partners, but most do not. But I started officiating in West Central Illinois, where ADs and coaches did the assigning for their games. You could not get varsity games in that part of Illinois without a partner.

But if you live in an area where having a partner is acceptable or necessary, any time is good. I do many games outside of the Chicagoland area, I need a partner or partners for those games. Having a partner has great advantages. If you have a partner, you know what to expect from them. You know what not to expect from them. And because you know what your partner is like on the court, you can officiate your area or if an unusual situation comes up, you can handle it better. And usually a partner will give you an opportunity to have a smoother game. Not because they officiate just like you, because you can go over many problems that happen over a season. So that weird play that happen in the first couple of games, your partner can discuss that situation over and over again.

The problem with not having a partner, you have to deal with different personalities and different officiating philosophies. Just on this board alone, you have guys with all kinds of attitudes about rules and mechanics. Well not having a partner or doing games without one, you have to eventually officiate with people that you do not agree with or share the same philosophy with.

I started off with a very good partner in my first year. Having one made me a better official because he shared a philosophy with me. And his desire to get better was on par with my attitudes about improvement. Actually, he was much more experienced than me and had to mold me a bit, but having him as a partner in Basketball and Baseball made me a better all around official. And to this day I would not be the official I was if I did not have my partner as a mentor and a friend when things got rough and out of hand.

Now the partners that I have today are very similar. My original partner moved out of state, but the guys that I work with now are very simular. They want to improve and be as good as I want to be at the level that we officiate at. Going to camps and talking basketball.

And if you are good partners, these people can be like a brother or sister or even a spouse or girlfriend. Many because if you have a good partner and you have been working with them for years, you can have a trust on and off the court that is unlike any other type of relationship. Some of my best friends in this world are officials that have been my partners. And that bond and friendship extends to the court and field.

Peace