Rookie Referees

[thereluctantref]

The first game I ever reffed, I did it informally without any training. It was for an alumni league game at my old high school. The thing I remember is that I kept on second guessing myself. I kept asking myself, "Did I really see that contact?" I ended up not blowing the whistle for the whole first half and heard an earful from players, and I deserved it. Not deserving because I didn't have former experience, but because I wasn't prepared for the job and wasn't doing it efficiently. My partner told me at halftime he understood that it was hard to make that first call, to hear that whistle blow and your own voice telling everyone what you saw. He told me that foul calls had everything to do with one player gaining an advantage over another through contact. I think even the first call I made, I wasn't sure if I actually saw the contact but blew my whistle anyway. It got much easier after the first whistle was blown.