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I came back to hoops last year after a layoff which was longer than yours. From that perspective, let me chirp in on a few things:
1. Conditioning. Even though you aren't that much older, you are still older now. Your mind is probably sharper than when you left, but your body isn't. Get yourself in the best condition possible.
2. Injuries. A follow up to 1. I never had injury issues before, but now I have struggled with a couple of nagging ones. My new best friend is ice, and I use it almost always after any kind of exercise, officiating or working out. But I also pay a lot more attention to injury prevention through conditioning and stretching. I'm having to work harder and harder now, but that's part of the reason I got back into officiating: for the physical benefits.
3. Some skills may have to be relearned and might come back slower than you expect. I think I had developed into a very good basketball official in my mid 20s. As stated above, my mind is sharper now, but there are things I did before my layoff that I'm trying to get used to. One is ampidextrious signalling. I use to have easy use of my left arm to stop the clock and have an out of bounds so I wouldn't have to go across my body or turn around. Now, I haven't got that back yet, though its getting better. Just be aware of these things and plan on working on them.
4. Rules changes may disrupt how you've called. I've always been VERY focused on the action on the court, but since coming back, I have to deal with coaches calling timeouts. Since a visible signal is sufficient by rule, I have to learn to keep an eye on that in certain situations.
Much of everything else is the same, frankly. Hopefully, you've improved in your communication skills and you might find some things easier to deal with.
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