Being young...

[Official99]

CLH... welcome to the club. I am in the same boat you are. I am 23 years old, in my 8th year of organized officiating. I call it organized, because when I was younger I would do little games here and there, but never belonged to an association or any formal training.

I am just starting to get into the college circuit and it was rough getting here and I haven't even "made" it yet.

A couple things that I found really helped me was networking and camps. Last year when I was trying to get on the board I went to as many camps as I could. At one point during the summer I was away from my house for three weeks straight because I went from camp to camp to camp. At these camps not only did I talk with my partners, but I also conversed with the instructors and evaluators getting to know them beyond basketball. That helped the most. I think evaluators like to know what type of a person you are outside of basketball as well as in the sport. If you are committed outside of basketball, there is a good chance you will be committed within the sport as well.

Make some business cards and hand them out. Networking has been great for me. I have "referee" friends all over the country, and actually all over the world. These friends have invited me to tournaments in Vegas, Orlando and beyond allowing me to meet more people and get my name out.

As far as giving that year goes, I can understand that. We both are fighting the age. Regardless of how good an official we are, we still are and certainly in my case, look young. In the college setting that hurts us more than in the high school setting. Coaches, which I've definately seen this year, take advantage of younger looking officials thinking we don't know what we are doing. Work that to your advantage.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Give it time. Just remember everything happens for a reason and eventually you will get where you want to be!

-Paul