Well, I certainly apperciate all of your suggestions and will definately use them. But when you say work on a couple things at once what would be the most 2 important things I should begin working on first? Besides the rules..I definately know I am going to have study the rules and learn them.

Thanks

EYE CONTACT WITH YOUR PARTNER
 

ALWAYS make eye contact with your partner BEFORE you put the ball in play.

THIS IS ESSENTIAL.

Hmmmm. Let's see. Just off the top of my head. . .

1) Hustle. As Lead, beat the offense to the endline. As Trail, get into the frontcourt so your partner doesn't have to officiate 8 or 10 players by him/herself.

2) Position. If you can't see the play, move to find a good angle. If you have to move your head to see around a player, move your feet. Don't get stuck in one spot.

3) Signals. Fist for fouls; open hand for violations; thumbs up for held ball. Get into the habit of giving a signal every time the whistle blows. (Sounds basic, but for a new guy, it's really hard to remember.)

4) Reporting. When reporting a foul, hustle to the table; then STOP! Then slowly give the color and number of the player who fouled. Then signal (don't say) the type of foul. Then indicate what will happen next (possession or FTs).

5) Off-ball officiating. Probably the hardest thing for any new official. As a fan, you're so locked into the action of the ball-handler, you don't realize how much goes on with the other 9 players. But as a ref, when the ball is not in your primary area of responsibility, you need to train yourself NOT to watch it. Instead, officiate the players that are setting screens and defending the cutters. Very hard. Don't worry when it doesn't come right away.

6) Knowing your FT shooter. Again, very hard to do. You make the foul call, it's a great call and you're ready to hustle to the table to report it. You come back and realize -- oh, crap! -- you don't know who's supposed to shoot. Try to make a mental (or better yet, verbal) note about who will shoot the FTs.

Ok, that's more than enough. You should get through this list in about 4 years. :D I'm not kidding, either. But if you work a little bit on one at a time, you'll make great strides. Good luck!

YoungBBall,
I am so jealous that you have committed to start officiating at such a young age! You will be past what level I am at by the time you are 25! A few thoughts I have: Make sure you get an officials manual and use the proper mechanics for the rules you are officiating. Usually at lower levels you will use fed. mechanics. Sometimes, in varsity games officials will use a combination of college and fed mechanics and may not necessarily be proper. Also, some older official just choose to do things the way they always have regardless of the proper mechanics. At your age, appearance and how you present yourself is very important. If you look like you know what you are doing, you will get more respect right away from the coaches and the players. How you present yourself is how you conduct yourself before and during the game. Know where to stand during warm-ups and don't find yourself talking to someone on the sidelines or another court. Remember, the game you are scheduled to do is the most important game in the world at that time. Don't get impatient that you aren't moving up as fast as you think you should. You have alot of years to get there. Above all, have fun and never do it for the money. You can always get a job that pays way better than officiating. Well sometimes do it for the money.....

1.Blow the Whistle!

2.Put up a fist or open hand!

3.Give a signal!

Learn these three in the first game you call.

A few hints that i've been given by veteran officials, or that i have read on this board, or that i have learned from experience.

1. Never blow the whistle, BLAST IT!!!!
2. Use your voice, make sure everyone that needs to can hear your call
3. Use nice crisp signals
4. Use only the mechanics specified in the manual.
5. Keep your shoes shiny, and your uniform clean and presentable.
6. Don't worry about when coaches b*tch and moan about the calls you are making. The majority of the time, you're right and they don't know the rules.

I'm not sure if i read this on this forum, or someone said this at one of my association meetings, but its an invaluable piece of advice that you'll do well to follow.

Always tuck your whistle inside your shirt when you go to the bathroom. :)

I can relate to your posistion, because when i started officiating, i was 15. The one thing i learned about reffing when your this young is, not to expect high school level games. I've been doing this for 2 years now, and i'm still waiting for my first high school game. I get the high level grade school stuff, and i've done a few gold medal games for tournaments involving kids under grade 8, but no high school games.

Its good to start at a young age, because you have more time and oppertunities in your life to advance up the officiating ladder.

Good Luck!!!

Thank You ALL
 

Thank you EVERYONE who has given me advice and I will surely use it. Just to let you all know. lol, I just completed the "exam" mhsaa sent me and will be sending it back this week for results. Will let you all know how I did. Appreciate your time and efforts in helping me.

Thanks

camps/associations
 

im from michigan and am in my 2nd full year...best thing i ever did was join an association and attended a summer camp for refs...with an assoc. you will have the benefit of experienced refs to work with and an assignor to help locate games for you. with the camps you find young and old, 1st year refs and 30 year refs...one that i would recommend is jim eastman camp at saginaw valley university...depending where you are located maybe this would help you his e-mail is [email protected] luck

The two things that you can do from your first game are a strong whistle and voice.

Everything we do is about communication and perception.If you have a strong whistle and are loud and clear with your voice everyone knows what you have and you give the appearence of confidence.

Everything else comes with practice,studying,observing and working lots and lots of games.

Good luck.

2 things to do on your first game and every game that follows - relax & have fun!

It's easier than that
 

<b>if you have any tips on officiating or anything let me know I am open to suggestions. </b>

I can narrow everything down to one suggestion for you: Don't ask open-ended questions on this board looking for wisdom unless you're really sure that's what you want, because we refs love to grace everyone else with our knowledge! :D

I'm just glad there's someone here who's greener than I am. :)

Yes, know the rules. Yes, work on your mechanics. Yes, go to games and do nothing but watch the officials - where they go, where their eyes look, how they do everything. Watch how they communicate.

And then the first time they blow the whistle and the ball goes up, it's all going to go out the window anyway, and you're going to feel like you're on the tracks trying to outrun the train.

As people here can tell you, the first day I did this (just last month), I felt totally overwhelmed. You think you know the "easy" things like how to blow the whistle. It all looks easy, but it's not. The first day I thought I was so bad, I found this board and came on here to ask if everyone felt like that the first time out. Turns out most do.

The second day was much, much better. Had a great experienced partner, had a much better feel for what I was supposed to be doing out there. I felt like an actual official, and not somebody they just pulled out of the stands because they were a man short. Last weekend I was bummed because I didn't have any games to do. :(

So good luck. Take a deep breath. Hustle, be in good position, know the rules, keep your cool, look sharp, feel sharp, be sharp, all that stuff.

And then just know that it takes time.

Watching other refs
 

I had to do officials evaluations as part of a Basketball officiating class. I found these to be very helpfull in learning and watching officials. I went to a nearby HS and watched a JV and V game, I didn't know anyone from either team so that helped in not making any of it personal.

I used 2-3 different eval sheets, the one on NASO website, IHSAA (Indiana), and Big Ten. They all helped me look for specific things while still letting me watch positioning, calls, etc. I would also agree to bring Rule Book, Case Book, and Officials Manual. Especially Officials Manual!!

BTW anyone know of any good camps in Indiana?

Mike,
Like cloverdale said the Eastman Camp would be a great place to start. I've been there twice.
Once, my roomate had not even then been registered at MHSAA.

138 miles away from you and ~$200.00 Friday, Saturday, Sunday morning, probably in June. Ask your mentor, maybe he'll be happy to attend, also, although you and he will probably be in separate groups.

mick

Re: camps/associations
 

cloverdale,
I agree. Good camp.
Welcome to the forum !
mick