Just found this message board. I did my first three basketball games today. Took a course, took a test, studied, went to watch other officials work, and then did three games this afternoon.

All I can say is, "This is hard."

I know the rest of you already know this. I've been around sports forever as a player and media type, but this was my first time on the court in this capacity.

I was not good the first game. I wasn't good the second game, but I was better than I was in the first game. I wasn't good in the third game, either, but I was better than I was in the second game.

I'm doing three more games tomorrow (this is 5th and 6th grade girls, so I can't really hurt anybody).

I couldn't believe that what you'd think were the simplest things just aren't - I haven't even blown the whistle correctly yet.

Luckily, I was working with one very experienced official on the first game and a semi-experienced official in the second and third games.

Sorry to ramble, but my question is - does everyone feel this way after the first time you do this? It's hard and I'm a bit bummed I didn't do a better job. Do we all usually do badly the first time?

Thanks.

Welcome to the board and the club.

What you attribute to doing a better job each game is probably just your level of comfort about being on the floor
and believe me that is a big part of improving. If you keep working hard, studying (the rules and other officials), ask questions and respond to advice you will continue get better
good luck.

Yes! Most of us felt just like you after our first game. It's funny how easy it is to be critical of the refs until you try it for yourself. ;)

Don't feel bummed though. Even the most seasoned officials still have games or at least calls during games that we wish we could get a "do over".

Sounds to me like you have been doing the right things to get ready for your first time on the court. Continue to do these same things. You might even want to get someone to video you. It will be a great tool for you to evaluate yourself.

Welcome to the club. :D

Thank you
 

Thank you.

I hope that what I'm feeling is recognizing that you can improve and wanting to do so. I guess if you feel you did great, you probably didn't.

It does bring another perspective to it, and I applaud and respect each and every one of you. I know today was just the first step, and tomorrow will be the second. I'm not looking any further than the next time I blow the whistle. Hopefully I will figure out how to actually DO that by tomorrow. :)

Welcome to the Forum! It should be one of the frequently-referenced tools in your bag of officiating knowledge and experience!

Just an observation about the above quoted statement:

The most important game you EVER officitated is the one that you are currently working. This is an attitude that you need to maintain for each and every game; regardless of the level or your officiating experience.

OK, I am off my soapbox now! :D

Yes, we all recall "The first time!" and we have all learned many "tricks of the trade" to help ourselves as we advance in our officiating endeavors.

Best wishes in your new avocation!

Willie

Thank you again. I realize that it's the most important thing (to them) that those kids will do all week, so I treat it as if it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals. I'm just out there trying my best.

I just meant that the folks at that level are a little more lenient than at higher levels, I reckon. And that I probably can't screw up badly enough to have things thrown at me. :)

Welcome to the forum and to officiating.

Most of us remember our first game(s) and how good/bad we did, and this is normal. Some of us still screw up. I have been doing this 10 years and I had an absolutely crappy game tonight. Had girls JV/Varisty d/h and the JV game was a thriller. The varsity game sucked. They played worse than the JV and I really had a hard time concentrating on some of the action. No flow to the game and everything was helter-skelter. Both coaches were convinced we were favoring the other team. We talked about it at half-time (3-person) and we all thought we did not bring our "A" game tonight -- it's bad when all 3 feel that way. So, 99% of the time you feel pretty good about it and sometimes that other 1% makes you wonder what the heck is going on.

Welcome to the club. Yep, my first games felt just like that. Time and experience will help. Keep working on the basics. You'll start to feel more comfortable out there when things become more habitual. Then you don't have to think about every little detail.

Oh, and you'll want to hang out here. It's a great place to learn from other officials.

I agree with the threads above
 

We all had starts like you. Hang in there.

I would suggest that you work on two things. First, see it and call it. Get to the point where you are comfortable seeing a volation or foul and immediately hitting your whistle. It will be automatic from then on. Second, keep studying the rules to get better. If you see a play and aren't sure you called it correctly, look it up when you get home. Then you'll know for sure the next time.

As all have said welcome to the forum.

Sometimes I look back on my first “years” and it is a wonder I was not run out of town. ;) It will take time to get into your groove don’t get disheartened.

Let me throw a few things your way and take them, as you will…

Every game you do will not your best but strive to make the next one your best.

You are not doing Duke Vs Kentucky but to the kids the game is just as important. Stay alert and don’t let self -doubt set in until after the game. When you are along then go over the game in your mind with the rule and casebooks at your side.

Though I do not do this enough and I know I should – One of the instructors for our association preaches that one should keep a dairy of every game we do. What we did right, wrong, and what we saw.

You will hear a 100 times to slow down, I like to call it one step at a time. Whistle, hand/fist up, sign or direction are three individual actions so make them so.

If it is a foul, before you make your move the reporting area take a breath and make sure you know the number of the offender and the shooter if it is to be a foul shot. Let your partner know what is going on so he or she can set up the shot or inbounds as you are reporting to the table.

Be it a rec game or a middle school game treat it like your associations BOD is sitting in the stands. Make sure you do the proper switching. If you don’t reinforce it now you will have trouble in the future (Take it from one who knows first hand.)

You don’t know everything and you never will. (As in my post on Saturday) Don’t be afraid to ask questions, either here or a more experienced ref. Take the answers, weigh them and find the best for you.

Coming from a rec league background I feel it is extremely important that you do such “low level” games. These include middle schools and elementary schools if they play in your area. This said for 2 reasons. One is that you will see more fouls per game at these levels than you can count. This is a very, very, very good way to learn advantage/disadvantage. The other is that you teach the kids what is allowed and not allowed.

Remember, it is called a Basketball “Game” so have fun.

There are two attitudes that you must continue to maintain at the same time.

1. The morning of any game, you should wake up and think, "Yippee, I get to work today!" and

2. "I can see I need to work on some things."

As long as you keep thinking these things about 95% of the time, you'll keep improving and keep enjoying yourself. If you ever find that the dry times are lengthening, you might want to reconsider your part-time income opportunities.

Most of us here are completely addicted, and love to talk about the whole thing 24/7. Any questions you may have will always be willingly answered. And when the Dinosaur and Dan start getting smart-a**ed with you, you'll know you've arrived!

Thank you all. I have no grand illusions about where this could lead, it's just another way to be involved with sports and to try something different. Right now I'm trying not to be afraid to screw up in today's games - trying to banish those thoughts. I am looking forward to doing the things right that I know I did wrong yesterday.

So Overandback how did the games go today?

Over&back - hang in there, it gets better, much better, if you want it. And remember - when you turn on your TV to watch the game today those 3 folks on the floor started *exactly* the way you did.

And pay no mind to that rainmaker woman, she's been a pain in the keester since way back when. :p

Update
 

Well, three more games late this afternoon.

I had a blast.

7th grade boys, 6th grade boys, and 8th grade girls, all in the same church league as yesterday.

I was fortunate enough to be partnered for all three games with a super nice experienced ref. He could not possibly have been cooler about my lack of experience - really helped me out with just a nod and a point and answering questions at every time out and quarter break.

After the second game (which was a barnburner) he told me I had an "excellent" game and said "nice job" when it was all over.

Fun, fun stuff.

Yesterday I felt like the seventh caller, some guy who won a radio contest and got to ref for a day. Today I actually felt like an official.

I punted a couple, and I still have to work on doing A, then B, then C, instead of right now when I find myself trying to do ABCD all at once.

But I felt 100% better today than yesterday. Thanks for all the encouragement. Can't wait to get out there again.

All right! I've arrived!! Now, uh. . . where am I? :confused:

When did you change your name to Dan? I don't remember any vertically challenged dinosaurs. :D

Hey, OverandBack. If you think you're going to pursue refereeing as a serious avocation I suggest you try to attend a camp or two. Like camps for players, you get to see a lot of work in a short period of time, and you're surrounded by people who are generally as good or better than you.

At least, that's what they tell me, anyway.

Re: Update
 

Well said. Congrats and you'll have tonnes of fun, I guarantee it.

Forgive the newbie question, but how exactly would I go about that? I would like to.

I'm not a ref, so can't really give you an answer. A lot of the regulars go to camps, however, so I hope one of them will weigh in. If you don't hear from anyone in a day or so, I suggest a new thread, asking specifically for camp info for your area.

This is the key. As a very new guy, you probably do not want to fly across the country for a camp. So let us know where you are, and somebody from your area will probably chime in.

I'm in suburban Chicago. Is there some sort of clearinghouse website for those types of things?

What association do you belong to? Do you want to work girls, boys or both?

Feel free to contact me off-line for more information.

Hey, what do you know? I was thinking I wouldn't get to do any games this weekend, and I was bummed because I didn't do any games last weekend, and my assignor just called to give me three games Saturday! YAY!

It's a different feeling now. After the first day I wasn't sure I could do this. After the second day I thought "Man, this is FUN!"

I'm looking forward to Saturday. Thanks for everybody's encouragement and advice.

Okay, folks, he's hooked now! O&B, don't ever stop having fun. Yea, there'll be days here and there, even the odd week, when you really wonder WTH you're doing. But as long as it's 85% or more unadulterated fun, you just keep running and whistling. Life doesn't get much better than this. Around the end of March, check back in here for a list of Whistles Anonymous meetings around the country. Meantime, Happy Hoops!

Bump because I was once again bummed that I had a whole weekend with nothing to do and no games to call, but my guy just called and gave me two games late this afternoon.

You guys were right - now my feeling is "Yay! I get to do games today!" where a few weeks ago I wasn't sure that was such a good thing.

Time for a little rulebook study before I polish my shoes. Thanks for everybody's help and encouragement!

Turned out to be 2 1/2 games. I got there early for my game, and the guy working the game before me had his partner not show up, so he did the first half alone. I jumped in and did the second half with him (8th grade Girls A, the highest level I've done so far), which was good. I'll take all the action I can get.

I blew a couple - nothing earth-shattering, but things that at least make me say "Okay, I need to work on that," which is the point, I reckon.

But one thing I've definitely improved on is something that I think is very, very important for an inexperienced official that most of the rest of you probably take for granted because you've been doing it for so long - confidence. That's a huge hump to get over. Having a court presence is so valuable, I'm finding out. How I feel now when I go on the court versus how I felt three weeks ago is like night and day, seriously. I feel like I'm supposed to be there, at least, which is a good part of the battle. Now I can deal with finding a few things in every game I do that I do a little better than the last time and try not to make the same mistakes over and over.

Season's almost over. Hope I'll get a few more games in.

Progress....
 

Great Attitude! Charge forward. :)

One of those primitive, but essential officiating skills is

EYE CONTACT with your partner EVERY time before you administer the ball for an inbound play.

I will slip in a minor addition to this and include ALWAYS glance at the table before administering the ball for an inbound play (and occasionally during play). It is an easy way to make the coaches feel that you are "on top of your game." If you are consistently missing substitutes during dead balls it will cause grief in MANY areas. Yes, the table should blast the horn to alert you, but you should know well before the horn is sounded.


"Whistle While You Work!"

Thanks. I always do the first one (usually with a thumbs up when we're ready to go, whether I'm administering the throwin or not) and can do better on the second one.

I reckon eventually all these places that you have to think about constantly looking to will become second nature.

Hey O&B. Nothing much happening on the football part of this forum so I thought I'd come back over here and read some posts. I used to work basketball and got out due to other obligations (but still work football).

Just a word of encouragement.

Confidence comes when you KNOW you know the rules. Presence comes when you show you can apply those rules fairly, correctly, and consistenly.

This group is OUTSTANDING! When I worked basketball, it was amazing the breadth of knowledge provided by my fellow posters here. Please keep coming back and posting your experiences and questions.

So my advice is this: read your rulebook religiously and ask as many questions as you can.

Glad to know that you are enjoying yourself and welcome to the world of officiating!

Starting off with 6-7-8th grade girls is probably the toughest grades to officiate. Why, cause if its gonna happen, its gonna happen in those games. And yes it gets better every game you do. After my first game I could'nt make up my mind to $hit down my leg or run off the court. Helpfull hint...every one will tell you about the rules, or mechanics, but they tend to forget about the all mighty whistle itself. Blow it hard, crisp, and with conviction. A soft weak whistle tells most people that you are not shur of your call. Keep your toung in front of it, remove, blow, replace. Kind of like when you have a real small piece of something in your mouth you want to spit it out. Clear as mud. Not shur how else to explane it.


[Edited by TPS2859 on Feb 16th, 2004 at 03:38 PM]

Blowing the whistle correctly, was, strangely enough, one of the major problems I had early on (besides feeling like I was standing in the middle of the tracks with a train bearing down on me). You figure you've blown whistles and things since you were a kid, how hard can it be?

Going back over last night's games, I can see some calls I just out and out blew. I'm convinced (even at this early stage) that you can read all you want and watch others all you want, but a rule doesn't really coalesce in your mind until it comes up during a game and you either (a) get it right (hopefully) or (b) get it wrong (which may be more useful to you in the long run). At least, that's how it's happening for me.