Fresh Meat

[UNIgiantslayers]

I'm a younger official in my area and still under 5 years of experience. I also have the benefit of a baby face, so I know what he's talking about. You can take what I say with a grain of salt, but here are my thoughts:

1. I try to communicate confidence through my demeanor on court. Sell the calls and get to where you need to be quickly.

2. Answer questions with as few words as possible and with as much language from the rules as possible within those few words.

3. Don't be afraid to take care of business. I'm sure I'm probably at or near the top in the state for coach technicals, but it makes no difference to me. If they can't figure out that I'm done with them after I warn them, it's not my issue that they gave the other team 2 fts and the ball. There is no other aspect of your life that you get to treat another adult disrespectfully, and the basketball court is no exception. I'm not going to listen to them talk to me differently than they talk to my partners just because they've not had me before or because I have a baby face.

4. Do what works for your personality. If you can get a good one-liner in, do it. I am not quick enough to do that, so I don't get too far away from a very business-like approach but some of my partners can. One in particular is able to build a good relationship with coaches by being a bit more chummy than me, but at the end of the day whether they want to have a beer with me has no effect on how hard I work on the court to call a good game.