Should I stay or should I go

[Karin]

My advice?Take some time off-basketball should be a fun part of your life.Reffing is at times fun and frustrating but if you find there is more frustration than fun take some time off and come back fresh.
Often I tell officials I train to take a break and yeah it is tough to roster(at times) without them but I find the holistic approach is best-refs come back fresher and with more enthusiasm if they are not burnt out.
Today an official came back to junior ball because I left him alone to be a teenager and focus on other aspects of his life and he came back to help beginner officials and enjoyed offering his knowledge to young ones.He said he felt that he was pushed to do more and more previously and that he 'owed" his trainers-better he took a break and came back on his own terms.

[JRutledge]

If you are going to games and you are not enjoying the experience, it is time to give it up. Do yourself a favor, you do not need this. But if you really think you will miss officiating, cut back on what you do. I would reduce those games in half. Work only 50 games and cut back on the worst part of that schedule. I would leave the "wreak" ball alone and work only high school or junior high if you can stomach this. And if you need to cut back on girl's basketball or boy's basketball, I would do that too. Focus on other things than whether or not you can work the most games and try to enjoy the experience again. Maybe then you will find your love back for the sport. If you have invested 15 years to this thing, I am sure you will love officiating more if you just focus on a smaller part of the hobby.

Peace

[Back In The Saddle]

There's some pretty good advice in there Philz. I have felt the end of season burn out before as well; it's not good. Here's some things I noticed in my own officiating.

1. The season I really felt burned out, I was working too many nights. No matter how much you love officiating, you need balance in your life to feel contented and complete. Scaling back to where I had no more than 4 days per week that I worked, helped.

2. Sometimes you have to step away. I took most of a season off. When I came back, not only did I come back with new fire in my belly, I came back with a new and much more mature perspective about why I was doing this. I think the shift in perspective has helped me more than just the time off did.

3. It has to be fun. When I started scaling back how much I worked, the first thing to go was the least fun level, men's wreck league. The games I that remained on my schedule, though more "serious" were a lot more enjoyable.

4. I started taking up new sports. Which has been an interesting challenge, has helped me see bball in a little different light, and gotten me some new skills that transfer nicely. But then I tried to take on one too many. Lesson learned: Just as I need balance during the week, I also need balance during the year. (Or as BillyMac might phrase it, "to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose".) And I think the same extends to a lifetime. Perhaps you'd find it better to drop one sport, or cut back to keep them both "in season". Or try something new. Taking up lacrosse or soccer or football or volleyball might just ignite a whole new passion and being an experienced official you're already half way to competence in a new sport.

5. Hang around the younger kids. I picked up an interesting volleyball assignment earlier in the week. A charter school junior high tournament. The level of play was not good. But being around the kids, helping them and their coaches figure some stuff out, providing some experienced officiating, and just being around some folks who are starting out and building a program was very refreshing. I called the assigner right after and offered to work the next day as well. (In fact, I had my first college games scheduled for the next day, learned I would be off in time to do the vball, and made the offer being as excited about the jr. high vball as I was about the college bball).

Anywayz, I wish you luck in finding your answer. In the mean time, hang out here with us too and keep us on our toes. Talking, arguing, and bantering about officiating here, for me at least, is a really good part of being an official. And some times I even get to give a little back

[BillyMac]

One of my goals this upcoming season is to have fun. Seriously. It was suggested to me by one of my evaluators, so I'm going with it.

[irp]

I would agree with all the above; at one point I could pick up a game or two a night and not worry; but then it became a pain because there was no balance.

I cut out the 'wreck' ball except as a favour to the guy who runs the league, and only walk on the court 3 days a week now instead of 7. The upside of this has been that I found the fun in my kit bag again, it had gone missing. The downside is, I will come back to you on it.

BillyMac says he is trying to have fun this season, he is right, unless you want to be a zombie about it you have to have fun. One bonus of cutting back is that I am more relaxed, smile a little more, and my assigners give me 'better' games because I am obviously more relaxed.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by irp

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes.

Is that like the fox guarding the henhouse?