1 Week to go for debut
 

I have one week to go before I step onto the court the the stripe shirt..

I feel a bit nervous and honestly slightly under prepared...

Any words of wisdom on thsi upcoming event??

Be in the right place. Look in the right place. Call the obvious. Crisp mechanics. Never put the ball in play before making eye contact with your partner.

Try to relax. You will make some mistakes and blow some calls. We're all human. Try to take something positive and something you can work on from each game.

Just remember that if you make any mistakes, the world is not going to come to an end. Put it in perspective. Use it as a learning experience. Rely on your partner(s) for help.

BTW - congratulations and welcome to the club.

Padgett you're not going to tell him not to forget the first rule?:p

Be comfortable. Others will be comfortable with you, if you're comfortable with yourself.

Yep. Two words: Slow Down. Then Slow Down some more. You'll see what I mean when you get going.

Good luck! :)

+1
They aren't going to play without you.

Here's something else. Remember the words of Ed Hightower - "Be in control of the game without controlling the game." Without a doubt, one of the best quotes about officiating I've ever heard.

On the subject of slowing down: SLOW DOWN reporting fouls. I've been working JH games with 1st and 2nd year officials this fall and a lot of them report fouls extremely fast. We had several issues with the table in a couple of games because of this.

First piece of advice is to have fun. If you don't have fun then no other advice will matter much.

Second is to slow down. You'll see a foul and think that everyone needs to know immediately what it was and what's happening next. They don't. If you try to do this immediately, your signal will get lost.

One of my first partners told me that the people in the game and watching the game are doing just that, being involved in the game. If you call something, give them time to divert their attention from the game and onto you prior to making your call. Slow down at the table too. Too fast and they won't understand a word you say.

Your job as a referee is to first judge the game, then communicate your judgement to the players, coaches and fans. If you're too fast, the communication breaks down. Stay smooth and slow down.

Your very first game is going to be overwhelming. And that's ok. There's simply too much to get it all right. My advice would be to concentrate on ONE THING that you are going to get right all night. If you can focus on one thing and get one thing right all night, you will be WAYYYYYYY ahead of most first-year guys.

Officiate the whole game (which I understand is impossible :) ), but keep in mind that ONE THING that you're going to get right all night.

Some suggestions for the ONE THING:

1) Raising your hand and giving a stop-clock signal every time you blow the whistle.

2) Calling the ball out of bounds on the lines that you are responsible for and NOT blowing the whistle for out of bounds calls on your partner's lines.

3) STOPPING at the scorer's table to give a slow, clear report after a foul.

4) Communicating the number of the player who will attempt free throws BEFORE going to the scorer's table.

5) Indicating the throw-in spot to your partner after every (non-shooting) foul or violation.

There are plenty of others, and you've already gotten some other good advice. But I would just pick ONE of these per game this entire season and improve that one aspect of your game. Otherwise, you're biting off more than you can chew.

Have a great game. Let us know how it goes.

Two more words
 

Have fun. It is easy to get overwhelmed. But, look at it this way. You got into a game without having to pay. And you have a better view of the game than almost everyone in the gym. I think most of us still get the butterflies before the opening tip. Trust your partner. He is your best friend. Congrats. And have fun.

All that's been said and ... focus on our primary. It is the best building block.

My first tomorrow evening as well, jv girls (scrimmage actually) at a private school . kind of nervous, but determined to sharpen my mechanics and communicate with my partner. Also I need to slow way down on reporting ,one of the trainers in our association joked that i was going to poke out the scorer's eyes from being so close to him while reporting during practice ! :)

Ol' Blue Eyes ...
 

Lots of eye contact with your partner.