attending a team practice

[Hawks Coach]

Probably the ideal would be to go to a practice where you have no chance of getting a game for that team, such as varsity if you are a JV ref, JUCO if you are a varsity ref, private school if you only ref public leagues, etc. But I think you can also get overly worried about potential conflict of interest. They aren't buying you - you are just getting an opportunity to learn from a team. And you will see different things in a practice than you will in a scrimmage.

I have heard of a number of teams that have a ref come to a practice and go through rules wiuth the players, so why not stay and learn from them? If you attend a practice right after tryouts and see how fundamentals are taught and performed (especially if you haven't played the game at a serious level), it might help you recognize things better on the court.