A first I did not want

[Welpe]

I know this is a part of growing as an official but I had a first last Friday that I really wanted to avoid.

I had my first blarge.

It was during a freshman game while I was at trail. Dribbler drives in from outside the three point arc on my side, secondary defender slips into the paint, and stays rock still. Dribbler gathers, takes a step and levels the defender. Since the play came from my primary, I hit the whistle hard and come out with an offensive foul....just as my partner is signaling block.

$%&@

I didn't even hear his whistle.

I get together with him and confirm we're going double foul...he seems rather...lost but hesitantly agrees. I report the double foul to the table and mass confusion is unleashed. We sort it out and give the ball back to Team A for the throw-in.

At the half, I ask my partner what he saw. He had the defender turning his shoulders at contact. We simply saw it differently. I explained why I made the call, since it came out of my primary.

I screwed up in a couple of ways:

• I didn't pre-game this situation with my partner. I did ask if he had anything to pre-game and instead of taking his answer of "no", I should have persisted and gone over a few things.
• I didn't hear his whistle also and rolled right into the call. Not sure how to deal with this one. Perhaps hesitate a split second to make eye contact with my partner on these types of plays, even if I don't hear a whistle?

Thanks for letting me vent.

Ugh, I need a shower now.