Tough Game

[garn05]

Newbie here. I had a girls jv game this morning (my 4th "official game" of the season, not counting middle school and rec games). My partner is a 4 year official. The game was pretty ugly; it started with a crash under the board and it was pretty much like that the whole way. I am the first one to admit that I need to have a better understanding of the switches on time-outs and be more attentive when subs need to come in. Anyway, halftime came and my partner told me that he thought I would be better than I was. He said I needed to use my ovaries to blow more powerfully into the whistle, and especially since I was a woman, that I needed to show those girls who is in control out there. He went on to comment on pretty much every aspect of my referee skills (or lack thereof). Second half, I did try to work on the things that seemed to bother him the most (I could tell by his frustrating looks what those were), but I am certain I wasn't doing a whole lot better than the first half. It was the worst game I have worked yet. I am trying to take the positives, while not dwelling how awful the game was. I am upset that i didn't do a better job (maybe call everything which would have meant a stoppage every 35 seconds or so) or what?? The few games I have worked prior to this were also girls jv games and I thought (based on my evaluation by varsity refs & my partners) that I was "progressing" alright. I don't know what I want to ask you all except do I just chalk this up to a learning experience? It just made me feel like I just want to throw away my whistle. Sorry to vent.....