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I only started officiating basketball in my thirties but my first officiating experience was when I was 16. I was umpiring in a local rec softball league. In one of my first games, The shortstop on one team was my high school phys ed teacher and he was a legend in my hometown. He had played minor pro hockey and he had been a tremendous baseball player growing up. To say the least, I was intimidated by him. There was a close play at second and "local legend" gets on my case. It gets quite heated and I threaten to throw him out if he doesn't calm down. All I could think of is that people probably noticed that I was shaking in my boots trying to stand up to a huge man in his thirties. After the game, many people came over and congratulated me for how I handled the situation. It gave me confidance to continue because there was nobody more intimidating in that league than him. My three years of umpiring as a teenager was one of the reasons I decided to come back to officiating in my thirties. Now I work basketball and baseball.
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