What Do You Know Now That You Wish You Had Known When You First Started?
 

I finally am going to start emailing/applying to become an official for grade/high school games in my city. I don't really plan to make a career out of officiating but I feel it'd be incredibly fun.

If they do call me in, what could I do to leave a good impression?

What mistakes did you make early that you wish you had known before?

Self-control. Controlling my own temper.

What I wish I'd known then, and still haven't mastered is how to judge when to be stern with a coach or player, and when to ignore, and when to laugh something off.

I wish I had known how to keep the seams straight on my fishnets! :eek:

I wish I knew how much I didn't know........

Meaning - like many I played and coached for many yrs and thought I knew the game. I really didn't know the game until I started going to clinics, reading the manuals, reffing games with senior partners, and even joining this board......it may be rough at first, but it gets easier with experience. Show enthusiasm, a positive attitude, and the willingness to learn.

PS - I probably made every mistake possible.....poor signals, out of positions, poor communications, etc. I also developed bad habits in rec league that needed to be corrected at the higher levels.

I learned that early. Must have come from being married for 30 years!! :D

Game Management
 

I learn more about this every game.

Know when to call and what to call. Every touch is not a foul.

I had a good game about 3 weeks ago, I made 2 very good calls, they went against the home team and the crowd was getting on my case, I understood, but they were both the right calls. As I go by the home coach, he yells at me that I was missing a good game. I "T"ed him up in a second. Sounds harsh, but with the crowd on my back, I didn't need him on it too. It took him out of the game ( Vocally ) and stop the crowd dead. It was the best "T" that I had ever given, because of the results.

Game management.

Primary Coverage Area. I was ball-watching and making calls all over the floor when I first started.

It is a great avocation but plan on spending a good amount of time studying rules and case book examples and learning the proper mechanics.

Be yourself and exhibit a good sense of discipline tempered with a great sense of humor.

Asking for advice and getting a mentor.

I wish I knew better to handle some things before getting on the court:

1. Rules - know the rules, how to apply the rules and don't just be a rulebook official
2. Make sure the uniform is good to go. Chances are something will have to be tailored - get it tailored. You may not want your shoes to have a high gloss shine, but don't have them looking dull and dark grey either.
3. Sticking around will accelerate your growth. Watch games you are not working.
4. They say a trained dog is a happier dog. A trained ref is a happier ref. No matter what level you think you "only" want to do now try to be good enough to do one level higher. IMO, this mindset will allow any official to be a happier official.

Hmmm. Quite a few things. I'll try to scratch the surface. Some of these things I did fairly well from the start, either because of excellent teaching or luck. The rest came with years of experience and screwing up.

1. Learn your signal mechanics and work them by the book and stick to the ones in the book. Don't get lazy and don't pick up bad habits. Just because someone with experience is doing something doesn't mean it is correct. The better your mechanics are from the start, the better you will be perceived as an official by coaches and your peers. It will take game experience to learn floor mechanics and positioning, but you can start work on your signals NOW.

2. WATCH THE PLAYERS. During a dead ball, freeze your eyes on the players. It isn't your job to chase the ball -- get the players to do that. In boys games, they almost always do it. In girls games below JV (and in some cases, Varsity), you have to tell them. Either way, unless you've got business to attend to -- e.g. foul reporting -- freeze your eyes on the players.

3. Until you become experienced dealing with coaches, do NOT respond to comments by the coaches unless you are taking action by rule (i.e., technical foul). Respond to questions, but not comments, at least not verbally. Later on, you can pick and choose your spots, but even now, I still don't respond much at all. The two best letters in your vocabulary are "OK." Say "OK" when a coach tells you something -- but wait until he's through. You've told him or her that you are listening, but haven't committed yourself to anything else.

4. Ignore the fans. Always. Don't respond, engage, or anything else. If there's a problem, get a game admin to handle it.

5. When you warn, don't issue an ultimatum. Don't say, "coach, the next time you say something, it will be a ..." Instead, say (e.g.), "OK, coach, that's your warning about being out of the box." Then, blow your whistle (assuming dead ball or soonest one) and say, "coach/bench has been warned about being out of the box" loud enough for your partner(s) to hear it.

6. Don't tolerate any abuse or bad behavior by players.

7. After a game, take your whistle off and and get off the court. Even if you have another game following. There's no reason to stick around and doing so asks for trouble. Make sure there's no problems at the table, but after that, leave.

Only do this if the more senior officials in your area are doing it, and if it's expected by the assigners you're working for. It's not an "approved" mechanic, and it's not done in all areas. I can say it's not done that way where I am, and if I did it the other officials would look at me crooked.

I never take it off on the court; I just tuck it into my shirt. Other than that, you're right. Get off the court. No reason to give the knuckleheads extra time to be knuckleheads.

Sometimes you have to know how to fall on your face so you can get up again. I would not change a single thing. I learned many things by making mistakes and if I did not make those mistakes, I might take those situations for granted today if I knew those things already.

Peace

That controlling the game is the most important thing in officiating.

I take mine off while walking (not running) off the court. I wrap it around my hand and take a direct route off the court without making direct eye contact. I don't make direct eye contact because people will either say things to you straight up or suck you in by thinking they are about to say good game and then let you have it.

Interesting. I was taught to tuck and go. Some take it the whistle off.

Agreed on the eye contact. I make eye contact with my partner(s), and we get off the court. I keep forgetting to pregame this with the newer guys, though, and sometimes find myself having to use some less discreet communication to get them off the court.