New Ref

[BigJoe]

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.....