First Time on the Floor

[Stat-Man]

Originally Posted by ChuckS

Passed the written exam easily, but I knew actually being on the floor would be much harder. . .and it was even harder than I imagined!

Girls did not have uniform numbers, so reporting fouls was different than what I had practiced.

[...]


I am very overwhelmed!

For any scrimmage, camp, etc. games where players are wearing shirts or plain practice jerseys, I report fouls on anyone without a number as #0. That way, I can still report something and work on keeping good reporting habits.

For my first game, I saw two players fighting for a loose ball ball on my sideline and came in with an emphatic held ball signal... only to have my partner tell me it was two players from the same team! To make matters worse, I called a travel instead of an inadvertent whistle . I'm surprised I didn't get yelled at by the offended coach.

I won't repeat what others have said, but I'll offer something i haven't seen mentioned. In the past, someone suggested keeping a journal of games and using it to keep track of times to work on and improve in future games. if you have the time, I suggest it and using it to record a couple of things you think you did right and a couple of things you want to improve for next game.

Although I don't use that format as much now that I'm in my fourth season, I still journal each of my game dates, especially as veteran partners give me feedback so I can process what feedback is most useful and apply it in future games.

Your first season will be rough; it comes with the territory, so to speak. That said, if you study the rules, remain open to constructive feedback, and work hard at improving each time you're on the court, you should do fine. And just maybe you'll have some fun in the process.

Good luck this season.