I'm 36 years old, and for the last couple of years, whenever I've mentioned my age to an observer/evaluator, I've gotten the same response: "Really? You project much younger than your age."

Usually, that means that if they'd had to guess my age, they would've chosen a number around 30 or lower. From a personal perspective, I guess this is nice. But from an officiating perspective, I'm wondering if this has hurt me. Do I not look (or perhaps, act :p ) mature? Is "projecting young" causing an assignor to decide to wait a year or two on me?

I'm just curious as to opinions. Please understand, I'm not vain; staying awake at nights worrying about my looks. I'm just wondering if my appearance is helping me or hurting me.

Chuck

Chuck,
You'll probably have to put up with that problem for a while. Too bad! :(
Your skin won't start to go until you are 51. Tough luck!
mick

I'll swap with either one of you. I am 59, but with my good looks and charm, everyone thinks I am 69:D I still have most of my hair and all of my own teeth, so I guess things could be worse.

looking young
 

I don't think that looking young is a bad thing. I just turned 24 last month and have had one of the best high school and college schedules that I could have wished for. I think as long as you work hard at trying to be the best referee you can be, then your 'young looks' will never hurt you.

However, for some reason, those old farts (ie ignorant fans) in the stands think that we "young bucks" don't know a thing.

I had a long time D1 official tell me, "you can never be too young or too thin" in officiating. Don't know that it is true (I was worried about the too thin part of it), but that was his opinion.

Looking younger than about 25 may be a problem at some levels of work. Appearances really do matter in this pursuit, and youth might be a handicap. I would think looking 30 wouldn't be too much of a problem. Do I remember correctly that you think of yourself as short? I have a good friend who is a ref, who feels that being short is a distinct disadvantage. But we also have a member in our association who is about 6-6 who says coaches think "If you can't do, you teach" and regard him as a washed-out player. So maybe you just can't win.

Looking young can't hurt you any worse than looking female. If we look "too feminine" we are perceived as being weak and flimsy. If we look "too butch" we are "trying to prove something" or "have a chip on our shoulder." Hint: There is no happy medium.

6-6......must be Pete!

We have 2 female officials in our association that are very tall. One is 6'5" and the other is 6'7". I am 6'5" and the 6'7" official is the only one I look up to (stature wise). I remember a JV girls game we worked last year and as we were observing warm-ups, the young ladies kept staring at us and finally one of them asked if we were married (both tall and blonde). Thought that was cute. My wife is vertically challenged at 5' even and when I work with the 6'7" official, I see what my wife goes through looking up at people. Although after 34 years of wedded bliss, my wife is usually looking "down" at me because she has chopped my legs out from under me. :D