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This is long…sorry. The way I look at advancing, and this may only apply in our association, is that I play the biggest role in my advancement.
My association tries to have evaluators watch the lower level officials work. The problem is that there are simply not many retired officials who are willing to do this task. In an attempt to compensate, the assignment secretary will try to assign a “prospect” to a sub-varsity game where the varsity match-up will be high profile…regardless of the quality of the sub-varsity competition. For example, early last season I received a call from one of our board members informing me he would be at my game to watch me work the first half…a game I almost refused because the visiting team is ALWAYS horrible (JV and varsity were not playing the same school)…because the assignment secretary wanted “feedback on my readiness”. He liked what he saw at our camp and wanted another opinion.
Just working hard will not assure advancement. I can work hard and be out of position, have lousy foul call selection and not be able to handle an irritated coach. I need to work hard on improving the areas where I am deficient. If you go to teaching camps, you cannot say you don’t know what those areas are in your game…you were given evaluations…go back and read them every week (if not before every game).
Speaking of camps…I need to choose them wisely. I can go to good camps that will not help in the short term. Living in Texas, going to Coast to Coast or similar camps out of state will not give the “powers that be” in my association an opportunity to see me work and measure my improvement. I need to go to camps where those people will either be on staff or always go to observe officials from my association.
I need to be physically ready when the season starts. Being 90 percent can be bad. Early in the season, at least around here, there are game on almost every night. When district play starts, the games are usually only on Tuesday and Friday. That means the people that need to see me will have to observe early in the season.
Become one of the rules and mechanic gurus in your association. You do not have to be the most athletic person in the association to know the rules and proper mechanics. I have found that if you can nail those two things you take a big step forward.
I also need to play “the political game”…volunteer or just show up and help with the training of new officials (because board members and the assignment secretary are there as well). Volunteer to serve of standing committees and help with special events (like the State Meeting we are hosting). Find out if any of those people have “pet projects” that they support and make an appearance. For example, the association president always plays in a particular charity golf tournament…this year I took a day off and played in it as well. I did not play with him, but had several opportunities to meet his friends and socialize with them…giving him a chance to get to know me better.
If you are doing all those things and still not progressing (or having obstacles thrown in your way) then you are facing a problem that may not have a solution.
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