Tell me what you would try to teach him about officiating in that hour.

I am scheduled to work with a 6 game veteran and I offered to cover a few things with him over lunch before we work.

I have about an hour.

A couple that come to mind:

Court Coverage
Violation and Foul Mechanics

Anything esle you would cover?

Thanks

Larks

Geez, this happened to me once.
 

Many years ago, JV game. I'd been working around two years, my partner had zero experience. ZERO. No classes, no meetings, NADA. Don't know how he ended up with an assignment. He had a shirt and a whistle, and I had about 10 minutes to teach him.

We went over basic court coverage, the importance of actually blowing the whistle, and taking your time in signalling your call to make sure you've got it right. And I got to play traffic cop for most of the game.

Of course, this had to be a game where the varsity officials were there in plenty of time to observe. And they filled out eval forms. One of the comments on mine: "Needs to pay more attention to area of responsibility." Duh!

Don't forget to remind him that the rookie official always buys the beverage at the post game :D

Then you can grill 'em on court coverage and fould situations ;)

Very good advice!This is a situation where a post-game conference can be more beneficial to the new guy than the pre-game one.

My no-games-under-my-belt days are not long gone and my memory of those first few games are still quite fresh. Some of the errors!! What helped me the most was a partner who did not step in without being asked, but did step in when asked. That first game, he said, "I will never override you, but if you look at me with that lost look, I"ll come in and bail you out." I know that's not According to Hoyle, but it was exactly what I needed.

For pre-game, I'd choose one rule to go over, such as 3-seconds, or the basics of travelling. And one court coverage issue, such as "Take the play that is coming toward you" or "Step down and out on the shot." That's about as much as anyone can be expected to remember.

The most important part is the post-game. Give the old love sandwich Compliment-suggestion-compliment. The compliments could be as vague as "I've never seen a rookie do better!" Or as specific as, "You got every block/charge correct!" Then go out for that cold one, and let him/her do all the rest of the talking.

At least, this is what would work best, if it was me.

Actually, I was thinking of telling him to bring an extra set of shoes....just in case.

Naw,you never puke on the shoes of a new official that is trying to learn.You save that for the old guys that think they don't have to keep learning,or that new guys can never teach 'em anything.:D:

I still remember my first couple games, and they were definitly "learning experiences", but I learned from them and went on. That's the key, if you can tell that rookie something that she/he can take on to the rest of their refereeing career, then you've done a good job as a senior official.

First rule for sucessful officiating... HAVE FUN!