Newbie questions

[euby]

I've been lurking here for awhile and decided to jump in.

First a little about myself. I am a fairly old fart at 44 years old. I played Varsity HS ball and then did a couple tours in the Marines. I started coaching AAU for the little ones in 1993 and continued until a couple years ago. I gave that up to focus on Admin of our local league of which I am the President for the past 4 years (about 700 kids). So I have been around the block a few times and saw how the officials were at the youth level but I am the type of person who either "puts up or shuts up" so I started officiating little league in-house games last year and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. Anyway I figure if your going to do something...do it right so I joined our local officals association and will be starting classes here in a couple weeks leading up to the exam at the first of October. I have bought the rule book, case book, and handbook and read thru them.

Now my questions...FINALLY

What was the hardest transition to make during your first year?

As a newbie what should be my primary focus be on... rules, mechanics, networking, conditioning?

What should I avoid while dealing with AD's, coaches, other officials?

Anything else?

Thanks for any response and I'm sure I'll be bugging you all for awhile!

Steve Eubanks