Young Person Needing advice
 

Hey as some of you know I am 18 years old, a senior in Highschool. I am in my third year reffing my second as a MSHSAA ( Missouri) offical. I love every minuite of it, I read the rule book nightly and do everything possible to learn the game better. In recently thinking about college and stuff I realized I want to continue officiating and dream of some day officiating D1. What are somethings I can do now to help me. My current assignor says that I am just as good if not better then some of the JV refs in our area. Besides doing a godd 7-10 games a week that I do what else can I do.
Thanks
P.S. one thing I know I need is a mentor however I can not find anyone that does college stuff. any ideas on how to find a mentor.

Camps
 

Try to find a camp or 2 to go to during this coming summer. That will go a long ways to helping you move up.

I wouldn't worry too much about finding a college mentor at this stage. A good hs mentor will serve you well for the next few years. Go to a D1 college where you can work the table and ref some really top notch intramurals. Work hs ball, too. You are starting young enough that you can afford to work your way up to the college level over 5 or 6 years. Keep thinking college, but work hard at hs for the next three years or so.

Go to a lot of games at the level(s) you want to ref and watch the officials. Watch their game management and how they communicate. Get a feel for how they call things. Analyze their calls--anticipate the calls and decide what you would have called.

Hey fonzzy07,
I see that you are in the Missouri area. If you need someone to talk to, feel free to hit me up. As a 20 year old, the majority of my games are varsity and high school junior varsity. I also do some jv college.

I do not think there is anything wrong with finding someone that works college. In my experience college officials are better teachers overall. College officials are better trained and willing to be flexible when things change.

Peace

A college official in many cases can be a great mentor but there is nothing wrong with a HS official either. I agree with Rut in that many times college officials can be better mentors but that's not always the case. Another reason college officials have experience with the next level, they can better help you prepare and have already made contacts.

But when it comes down to it I feel that the best mentor is someone you can be friends with. Not someone who looks down on you, someone who you can joke around with and can talk about anything (not just officiating). The best way is to work games and eventually you'll run into someone you like. It's important not to rush your pick because you may change your mind once you talk to them more. Just be patient, the right person will come along (just like marriage and dating crap).

Like I said, don't get stuck on a college official, if you find a good HS mentor go with it. There's no rule saying you can't have one mentor.

Camps, clinics, and more camps. We almost all work a good number of games as young officials. However the best way to learn from "senior" officials would be to get to summer camps, preferably those which feature college officials as featured evaluaters. If they are watching your games, they will be able to offer very valuable insight as to what parts of your game that you need to work on. It also is a good idea to get some game tape of your games and watch yourself on film, nothing is more honest then a game tape!

I don't know, I've had some master officials at camps that were definitely more honest than game tapes!