Should I stay or should I go

[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