Besides what the others have said, the one item that worked for me is to have a mentor that works the conferences you want to work. When I went to camps, there were other officials who ran well, looked athletic, and were very solid in their play calling and mechanics; however the assignors/evaluators had no idea who they were. They had very little credibility to other officials established in the conference. In every conference I work, I had a mentor "vouch" for my officiating ability to the assignor and thus had an upper hand on getting hired.
Now that I'm an established "veteran", newer officials (usually from the HS association) who are eager to learn and get better, have asked for me to mentor them. If they indeed have the talent, I have often passed a good word to the assignor who in turn hired them. It is a cycle/tradition that was passed down to me and I hope to continue.
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