Raised hand - or not?

[stripes]

You'll notice I didn't say to *not* attend college camps. What I did say is that he was ill-served at this particular camp. I said that because the people running it should have realized that he works HS & is there to improve on that. I agree with you that it's never too early to attend any camp, as long as you go to learn & improve. You're not improving if they make you use mechanics that are not appropriate to your level.

I disagree with your premise here. Mechanics is not the only thing in officiating. Very important to be sure, but not everything. To say that one is not improving if one uses mechanics not appropriate to one's level is blatantly wrong. Anyone can improve their athleticism, stature, game awareness, game management, handling of coaches and players, judgement, concentration, focus, positioning, etc. regardless of the mechanics used at a camp. I do not believe that danvrapp was necessarily ill served at the camp, but did he get what he wanted out of the camp? If it was to improve NF Mechanics, maybe not, but if it was to improve his officiating, he probably did.

Often we get bogged down, IMO, on things that are not that important. Good judgement and game awareness are much more important than mechanics. Why? Because bad judgement or lack of game awareness will get you into a lot more trouble than bad mechanics will. Mechanics are simply a matter of practice. Anyone can learn them--and they are important, but if you go to a camp and think the camp failed you because the evaluators told you to use NCAA Mechanics and your NF mechanics didn't improve--then you didn't do a good job as a camper. Go and learn--anything and everything you can. "Be a sponge" is a term you'll often hear at the beginning of a camp and it is good advice--soak in as much as you can from the evaluators, the director and the campers.

That being said, choose your camps wisely. Don't just "go to a camp", go to a camp that will help you get to where you want to go. Have your goal in mind before you go.

Off the soapbox...