Rookie-my hat is off to you veterans

[dan74]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

OK, the first game - after his awesome pregame - I would have covered my mouth and told him if he ever said anything like that in a pregame about how great he was and how inexperienced I was - he could work alone! I assure you, if he doesn't need me there - I'm heading to the house. There aren't enough games or there isn't enough money to put up with a$$e$ like that.

I'm insensed at his actions and words.

I didn't say anything after his comment before the first game because I thought he may have just slipped and didn't mean anything by it (I hadn't met the guy before that night).

I've been giving officials that partner with me a lot of latitude, as I'm trying to learn and not make waves. Once he introduced me the same way before the second game, I tried to distance myself from him as much as possible. He'd corner the coaches and drone on about unique basketball situations he's come across. All of his story's had a similar pattern, he was always right and others were idiots. Rather than confront him, I got out of there as soon as the home team hit the last second game winner. As the home team's players and coaches were running onto the court to swarm the hero, I was running for my bag to get the heck out of there.

[rainmaker]

Originally Posted by dan74

I didn't say anything after his comment before the first game because I thought he may have just slipped and didn't mean anything by it (I hadn't met the guy before that night).

I've been giving officials that partner with me a lot of latitude, as I'm trying to learn and not make waves.

If you do have to work with him again, God forbid, when he says that stuff in pre-game again, which he will, you look at the coaches, laugh flippantly and say, "He's such a card!" Then say seriously, "We're both going to work hard for you and with you, and give you our best game ever!" Then just turn and walk away. Let him stew in his own juices.

[Back In The Saddle]

Being around HS students working games frequently reminds me why I'm so glad that I'm not in HS any more. And reading your original post reminds me why I'm so glad I got through my first couple of years.

Being a rookie is tough. Setting aside those, hopefully few, idiot partners (hey, what else can you really do, you can't fix 'em!), just learning to do the job takes time and patience. You will make a lot of mistakes. You will look at a lot of plays and just scratch your head and wonder what you should have called or done. You'll look at plays and realize too late what you should have called. You will hear reactions from players/coaches/fans at something you called or no-called and wonder what game they are watching. Actually, that part never really goes away.

All the while, you'll be getting better at calling stuff that you previously missed, or mishandled, or just plain screwed up. Little by little, game by game, you'll get better.

And once you get the T thing sorted out, and learn when and how to use it effectively, you'll find that you get more respect, and coaches will begin to pick their battles more intelligently. Or could it be that by that time most coaches will have seen you and come to accept you more anyway. Kind of a chicken and egg thing for rookies.

Then, every once in a while you'll get a game where there is a lot of stuff that you've gotten good at, and nothing much that you're not good at yet, and you'll walk away feeling like you completely nailed that game. You won't be able to stop grinning for days. It'll remind you once again why we do this...

BECAUSE IT'S FUN!

So stick with it. Hang in there. Keep working hard. Find something that motivates you (perhaps even the thought of passing up all those D-level officials who made your life difficult in the early days), and keep on keepin' on.

And like Rainmaker alluded to, this time of year it just gets more intense. Around here, and I assume it's similar in most areas, we're just starting region play. Now it's for real. All the games up to this point were to get the teams ready for region. Region win/loss records determine who moves on. You get more rivalry games, the intensity goes up, and sometimes the ugly comes out.

Case in point, before this week, I have not had a single non-administrative T in any of my games. This week, I've had five. Three have been on players, two on coaches. Three were in one game. In both coach cases, I've warned and then (shortly) T'd, and the game became significantly better. I think you'll find equally remarkable results.

As for the whole to-stop-sign-or-not-to-stop-sign debate, new officials should absolutely make the stop sign a part of their bag of tools for controlling coaches. Inexperienced officials usually take too much crap. And then only T when they're completely frustrated and fed up with a coach. They haven't learned the skills of how to deal with coaches in the time between when the behavior starts and the T is warranted. Using the stop sign gives you a tool to use in that space. But if the coach runs the stop sign, T him immediately. And if the behavior has no "escalation," if it is immediately over the line, whack without warning.

Bottom line, stick with it. It'll get better.

[Terrapins Fan]

I have heard that about 1 out of 3 people who take the training, quit after the 1st year. In our association it seems to be much higher than that.

Lasy year we had 8 start and on 2 in the ned. this year, 10 started the classes and there are only 2 left now.

We start our officials off with middle school games, the pay is low, the travel distance is high sometimes. I was offered a middle school game the other day, the pay is $35 but the travel was 65 miles each way. I can see why someone wouldn't want to take an assignment like that. And on top of it deal with the fans, coaches and players....

[bigdogrunnin]

I would dare to say that 1 out of every 2 officials who get in, are out within the first 3 years after starting. A lot crap to put up with. Get in there, do your job the best you can, then get out of there and reflect on your performance. Don't let fans bother you . . . 99.999% know less about the rules of basketball than G.W. Bush. As you improve as an official, your confidence will also improve. Your issues with coaches will also decrease because of better game management. Hang in there!

As for your partner . . . YOU GOT HOSED!!! I would NEVER sell out my partner. As far as coaches know, we all have at least 20+ years experience calling NCAA D-I basketball, or at least that is what they can think.