OK so here I am in my 3rd scrimmage ever. I am a brand new official and this is the 3rd time I am on the court.

I show up early and it turns out that the school rearranged the scrimmages so varsity is first then the JV and Frosh boys games.

And the school we are at is Palo Verde, the team that won the state championship last year and is a very big and athletic team. At least two guys are playing D1 ball next year.

So only two other officials show up. Of the two, one is experienced and one is a 2nd year guy who had never worked 3 man.

I volunteered to help out, even though I barely know 2 man let alone 3 man.

What a blast!!! I had a great time.

On top of all that, the assigner for the whole association showed up and after he got over being pissed that more people didnt show up to work the scrimmage he had some real nice things to say about what I did. A senior official arrived after our first 20 minute period and he subb'd in for me. But I stayed. And they put me back in to work the varsity game some more. And I stayed and worked the JV game that followed afterwards. A few other seniour guys showed up to evaluate (thinking, I guess, that there would be more senior guys there working who wanted evaluation) and they were super helpful to me.

It was great to be put in that situation and just have to do it. I tried to just call the game first and worry about positioning second. The JV game we went back to 2 man mechanics. But I got a ton of whistle time--two 20 minute periods (running clock) for the varsity (at a high level of competition, the opposing team was good too) and then 5 10 minute periods (running clock) for the JV. I really saw some improvement in my calls and most importantly in my signals and my reporting and communicating with my partner.

"Hey, newbie, you work 3 man varsity today on the team that won state last year."

If they had told me that before I showed up I might have been nervous, but basically thats what happened by default.

Clark

Great story!

Looks like you're gonna be hooked.

Opportunity knocked and you were there.
 

totalnewbie,
<font size = +6 color = red>Attaboy!!!</font>
YU.P.
Good story.
Stay pumped. :)
mick

Way to step up, newbie. Your story is a little like my first varsity college game. The school moved the game time, but neglected to tell the assigned officials. So I got grabbed at the last minute (right after finishing my HS game that day). Never worked 3-man in a real game before, and I got thrown onto a D2 game. Great experience. Amazing what you can do when you have to, isn't it? :)

Yeah, I like trial by fire.

It is funny, at my stage of my career, to be the "new guy." I am a Chief Deputy District Attorney and a seasoned trial attorney. In fact, I teach trial advocacy to the new attorneys in the office. Now here I am being the new guy who doesnt know anything. Its fun.

I'm just trying to do the things that I tell the young attorneys to do: listen, be open to advice and criticism, remember that there is something you can learn from all the senior guys (usually good, but sometimes you can learn what not to do, you just need to learn which is which), be coachable, take advantage of opportunities given to you, love what you do, always look to keep improving, do your homework (I always tell my people that there is not excuse for not being more prepared than the other side), and have fun. I'm trying to keep my own advice in mind as I learn to be a new official. Practice what you preach, I guess :)

If you cant tell already, I am totally hooked :)

Clark

Good work on your games. Being open to critism is the best thing you can do. The evaluators want to make you a better ref, and they need your help to do it. Good job with being open to them.

Finally we've someone on the board who can answer the legal questions of officiating. ;)

Here's my legal advice: dont touch anyone and dont say anything.

Seriously.

Clark