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Originally Posted by JRutledge
It is not about being "text-book" it is about knowing what you are looking at and what your basic responsibilities are. The more I observer and evaluate officials in a couple of hats I have worn, the more I realize when someone is lost about the mechanics; they are lost in officiating the game. A good example is how a Lead official will call on the other side of the lane because they are reverting to 2 Person philosophies that do not apply in 3 Person. That does not mean someone cannot overcome some things, but if you lack understanding, it can cause an official to call things they have no business calling or even doing things that will confuse his/her partners. This is why I would be concerned when I work with people that have little or no experience in the system and I have to work with them. There is only so much I can teach them in a pre-game. My state has done a very good job giving our officials information so most are not totally lost. But I can tell you when I work a varsity game and one of the officials might not show up, the first question I ask to the sophomore officials, "Do you have any 3 Person experience?"
Peace
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No doubt everything works better when people understand the mechanics, how to be positioned, where are their responsibilities, etc. That much is obvious.
But what's also true is the original poster here is going to work his first 3-man game very soon, whether he's ready or not. So I'm hoping we can help him as much as possible - regardless of whether he's "ready to go" or not. The truth of the matter is many officials will go 3-man for the first time in a game. Might be JV, might be Varsity. Hopefully they'll get a scrimmage or two, or even better a camp, but my guess is that outside of one or two pre-season scrimmages, most officials are thrown right in.
Bottom line, experience working games and scrimmages is the only thing that will fully prepare an official, and this guy doesn't seem to have the luxury of any "practice" priot to the real deal. So here's to giving him all the help we can. And I'll stick to my best advice in that situation - learn as much as you can in the book, do as much pregaming as possible with your partners, and then go out and officiate hard.