Lower Level Games

[zebraman]

ChessRef,

The questions that you are asking are the right ones. It shows that you are thinking critically about the calls you make and not just out there blindly blowing your whistle.

I rarely work a lower level game anymore, but last night my assignor called me to fill-in on a sophomore boys game. The skill level was very poor. My partner was very green and called an extremely tight game. It made for a long night. I had to call a little tighter than I like so that we weren't calling completely different games from each other. Not that big of a deal as we were consistent so both teams knew what to expect.

The coaches last night were whining a bit in the first quarter so as I ran past them I said, "we'll answer questions coaches, but please let us do the reffing." They seemed to understand that and backed off. There is a fine line between quick conversations with coaches and talking to them too much. You'll figure it out as you progress and you'll get better and better at handling the coaches.

The good news for you is that as you progess to higher levels, the talent level gets better and the coaches generally are better at letting us ref while they stick to coaching. Varsity games are the easiest to officiate. Keep it up.

Z