Did my first “official” game two nights ago, a girls’ freshman game. Had a very helpful veteran partner and things went pretty smooth. There was somewhat of a foul imbalance but one team was simply more aggressive and no one was griping about it. What a thrill it was to be handed a check for doing something I really enjoyed. I was a little worried about foul reporting (remembering the numbers, correct free-throw shooter, signals) because we didn’t practice these in the scrimmages but it all flowed well.

My partner mentioned that I got my palm/fist signal for violations/fouls crossed a couple times but otherwise was fine. Will be doing a JV game tonight then I debut at Referee for another freshman game next week. While I observed my partner’s duties at Referee and will be able to again tonight, does anyone have any tips about the responsibilities of the R? What do you emphasize with the team captains, scorers, etc.? Thanks!

Keep it as short as possible -- they aren't listening to you anyway.

freshman bball already?
 

wow, freshman bball doesn't start in my neck of the woods for another month at least. and JV bball too!!! again that level doesn't start for at least another month around here.

ditto what bob jenkins said!!!

First game- I'm afraid I still remember my first game, nothign high, I belive it was 13 year old girls, and I had an elite ref as my partner; so it could've been worse. But my own oart was dreadful, luckily a lot has happened scince then, you seam to have done really good though, and I agree- nobody really listens until you mention the world technical anyway- so keep it short

Rizzo,

Mixing these signals up is pretty common at the first crack at things. I remember I certainly did it and I'm sure everyone has at some point.

Pre-game conference, keep it as short as possible.

I'm with John, things around here don't start up for another few weeks -- highschool.

Junior high starts in about 3 weeks.

WOW !!

We won't see high school ball till December in CT.

I hate when that happens.

If all your partner mentioned was a few crossed signals, you must have done really well for your first time out.

For a frosh game, you might want to spend a little time at the scorer's table before the game to find out if you have complete novices (perhaps school kids) or maybe (if you're lucky) some competence there. If it's school kids, you might need to explain the REAL basics to them (when to stop/start clock and how to record a foul in the book etc.).

Z

My first game was with a good friend of mine, very good offical that got me interested. As a joke, before we walked out on the court I said "Do you want to announce that it's my first game?" I'll never forget his response, "No, they'll figure it out!"

Great little story Crack it! Made me laugh out loud. Rizzo, a habit I tried to get in is after you call a foul, report it, number and all to you partner on the spot. Then hustle up to the bench and report. I also sometimes repeat the number to myself as I go to the bench. I reported a wrong number in a V game once. Coach raised holy hell. My partners didn't see it but luckily, the scorers table had the right number (I reported the offensive players number on a block call instead of the defensive player) I'm glad I had the V table crew on that one.

I didn't understand the question.

During the girls season I tell the girls not to hang on the rims, they will stand there,and all of a sudden they will get the jest.

Second game
 

Girls start in the Fall here in Michigan (unless the courts decide otherwise) so it’s nice to get going already.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Did my second game (JV) last night and it was a little tougher/uglier. Lots more contact, one of the coaches was more “excitable” shall I say. Called a lot of fouls first half then ran into the Varsity game officials at the half who had observed the second quarter. They reminded us to talk more to the girls before calling all the fouls. Sure enough we did talk more in the second half and things settled down a bit. They also stated the one coach was on the floor a lot, something I wasn’t even paying attention to. We addressed that second half and all was well. Also, as trail on free throws, I was standing too far back and heading down court too soon on the misses (forgetting that I shouldn’t assume the defense will always get the rebound).

Observed my partner and the referee duties a little closer. He does the captains meeting at 7:00 and the meet and greet coaches with just 1:00 before the horn. I’m sure you all are right, the captains aren’t really listening much and my partner didn’t make it very long.

Great time again, learned a little more about diplomacy with the one coach (the other coach never said a word to us but his squad won handily) and earned some more mad money. The only downer was that I have to wait a week to work another game (as Referee this time).

Re: Second game
 

Next time ask them if they want to buy "foul insurance".

\

I usually tell them that during warm-ups.

Mregor