Really new partner
 

I had a sophomore boys tourney DH yesterday morning and my partner walks in and tells me it's his second high school game although he's worked 10-15 park district games, he needs some help. I thought he was kidding me at first as he was in his mid forties and I assumed he'd been at it awhile. It was fun and rewarding helping a new guy out and I remember starting out myself and having mostly understanding partners and a few condescending jerks along the way.

He was clearly nervous and I tried to keep him loose both in pregame and on the court. To his credit, his calls were fine, but really needed work on his mechanics. He admitted he has barely read any of the NFHS manuals and I told him I have the complete 'library' handy whenever I hit the throne.

All in all, he did a great job, and not a single peep from coaches other than a casual moan or beef.

I left the gym with having a nice workout, a few bucks in my pocket, and feeling good about helping a fellow ref.

Not a bad friday morning.

He left the gym with a nice workout, a few bucks in his pocket, a little more experience, a couple good lessons about mechanics, and one great lesson about how to treat a newer partner (the most valuable asset gained on Friday). Way to go Fullor!

I believe it's a mark of maturity for an official to be able to work a game, especially a lower-level game which is generally harder to call than a higher-level one, with a newer/weaker partner and keep it all running smoothly. Kudos to you on a job well done. :)

Good job. Every one of us officiated our first HS game at some point. I wonder how many were treated as well as you treated him?

Thanks, years ago that guy was me, so I remembered.

Funny, yesterday I had a partner for some kids games and he must have had a six pack of redbull and 40oz expresso before the game. He was all over my area, doing counts as the lead on the weak side, grabbing calls in back court as the new lead and a host of other annoying traits . He's been reffing for 3 years and clearly wanted to be 'Da Man' I debated saying anything to him and decided to ask him respectfully at half time if I could comment on something. To my surprise, he was all ears and we had a good dialogue on quick whistles and trusting your partner. Quick whistle is something I constantly have to focus on so I told him I do the same thing.


We wound up having a good afternoon.

That is what I really like about the current association that I am in after moving here 3 years ago.

This association is fantastic about scheduling games for the 20+ schools they take care of and they even load up games for the new guys and pair them with more experienced guys.

I have 12+ years of experience, but in the last few years I have just been focusing on Varsity games and they have been wonderful about pairing me up with veterans to help me out. My mechanics and judgement are good, I just really need to continue working on my game management, etc.

I can honestly say that I have had 2 bad partners in the total 3 years that I have been in this association which is a change from the last association I was in when I had 2 bad partners every other week. HAHAHAHA!

[QUOTE=mrmotivation]That is what I really like about the current association that I am in after moving here 3 years ago.

This association is fantastic about scheduling games for the 20+ schools they take care of and they even load up games for the new guys and pair them with more experienced guys.

I have 12+ years of experience, but in the last few years I have just been focusing on Varsity games and they have been wonderful about pairing me up with veterans to help me out. My mechanics and judgement are good, I just really need to continue working on my game management, etc.

I can honestly say that I have had 2 bad partners in the total 3 years that I have been in this association which is a change from the last association I was in when I had 2 bad partners every other week. HAHAHAHA![/QUOTE

I wish we had more mentoring here for Varsity games, pair two strong officials with an new guy who wants to learn.