I finally did my first game after becoming "official." Actually, it turned out to be FOUR junior high girls games. (Legs were a little tired.)

All went pretty well. I missed a few calls that I was aware of...and I'm sure some more that I wasn't aware of :)

But, I got some nice compliments from my partners (two games with one guy and the next two with another guy) and from the guy who runs the league.

Thanks to all on this forum. I was a bit nervous, but I've learned a great deal reading discussions here and that gave me some degree of confidence.

Way to go, Nu1. Stick with it and it gets even better. :)

I can remember the first time I had a good game. It took me a while, maybe 15 games. I still made mistakes (known and unknown), but I didn't interfere with the game.

Then I got on this post and started really reading more and more cases and philosophies. I SUCK AGAIN!!!!!

Girls Jr. High, what a way to get started. Ouch!

If anything can or will happen on a court, it will in a jr.high game. As you move up, you'll find the high school games easier. Much, much faster, but the goofy "did that really happen" stuff doesnt happen.

Good Luck and Welcome!

Sounds like you had fun Nu1!

First few games are a little overwhelming at first, aren't they?

Welcome to the club. Hope you have fun and continue to enjoy it. :)

Attaboy, Nu1!
mick

Just curious. On average, how many times per game did you have to go to the AP arrow? More than 20?

Also - are you now convinced that this level of girls game should be referred to as "Slap-A-Rama"?

Funny you should ask about the AP arrow...
Actually, the arrow was used most in my fourth game. That is also when the most agressive team of the evening was playing. There was one sequence where we went to the arrow three times in a row. I remember thinking, "Geez, are we ever going to get this game going again."

Not too much slapping though. I think I went about 12 minutes in the first game without blowing my whistle (with the exception of a couple OOB calls). A friend of mine who used to be PIAA certified (I'm in Pennsylvania) was kidding me about how I would be timid and not blow my whistle. I do think I'm a little slow on the call right now, but maybe that's better than being too fast to make the call. I'm sure I'll improve as time...and time...and time goes by:)

Do not worry about this. It is almost a universal problem with brand new officials. It's not just you. There are so many things floating around your brain (position, mechanics, oops, don't ball-watch!) that it's easy to forget to blow the whistle.

Even as a "veteran" basketball official, when I first started officiating lacrosse, I went through the same thing. Watch the play. . . ok there's contact. . . hey, he can't do that!! . . . shoot, the play's already in the other half of the field.

You're absolutely right that you'll get better at this over time. The more basketball you work, the more easily you'll recognize the illegal contact and the quicker you'll be able to react to it.

You're right on on that one - if you're too fast, you're going to have a lot more problems than if you're too slow.

Also, it's easier to speed things up (as you learn and can recognize more) than to slow things down.