Has this ever happened to you?
I was assigned to a JV game and my partner (who I don't know-I seldom know in this league).Does not show up. I begin the game by myself and am doing the best I can. At halftime I notice that the Varsity Officials (who I don't know) are obviously there because their bags are in the dressing room. The AD confirms that they are there but he doesn't know them and isn't inclined to ask them to help me with the second half. Is this some kind of lack of official etiquette not to pitch in and fill out the crew for the second half? My opinion is we are there for the kids. At the end of the game the Varsity officials asked how it went and wasn't I lucky to pickup the double paycheck.

Officials will generally help if they're asked.

I WOULD HELP OUT IF I WENT TO A GYM AND SAY A GUY WORKING ALONE. I BET IF A VARSITY REF NEEDED A PARTNER THAT JV REF WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN HAD TO BE ASKED. LIKE ME I ALWAYS OFFER IF THE VARSITY REF IS A NO SHOW...

Hey bludevil... on the left side of your keyboard you'll see a key labelled "Caps Lock". Do me a favor & press it, will ya? Thanks! :)

my bad, im at work and we use all caps!!

There is another button or two on the keyboard you may want to investigate- the shift key, and the enter key.

Or perhaps you would be more comfortable at a website like:

Teen Talk - http://www.teentalk.com/
Teens helping teens and parents with dating, depression, life, school, friends, and family.

You all are brutal...

Wow,thanks dude! Awesome site!

Back to the Topic
 

My son Derek was playing a middle school game last year on the road, when only official showed up. I felt that the precieved conflict of interest held more weight than the fact that he was short handed. I did not offer my services, and the gentleman did a fine job (of course Derek's team won). ;)

Blackhawk

One Official
 

I'm a new official this year, and have not had the "pleasure" of working a game by myself, although it will happen sooner or later.

My question is this, how do you do it? Do you stay pretty much in trail position most of the time? Just something I've been wondering about. I'm sure it's not easy!

http://www.officialforum.com/thread/7527

Not sure if I put the link in correctly but if you page through the topics you will find a thread on working alone (should be second page). I posted an article that will give you some ideas.

If you can't find the thread, email me [email protected] and I will send you the article.

My advice: work from the trail, unless you have a baseline inbounds. If you are comfortable in dealing with coaches, work from table side because you will have the same view as the coaches and it will save you steps in reporting fouls. If you are not comfortable listening to the coaches, or if one of them is giving you a problem, work trail on the opposite side from the table.

Call it tight, especially early, to keep the rough stuff away from the ball down. Try to keep a panoramic view of the players, as opposed to watching the ball. You'd rather miss a travel or a carry than a hard foul away from the ball.

The varsity crew should have at least offered to help you. Halftime is the cut-off point to ask a 2nd official to join you.

Early in my career, I had a vars official join me in the 4th qtr of a JV game, even though I thought I was doing okay solo as the game was close, but smooth.

Well, my partner proceeded to call the next three fouls, and then a marginal 3 seconds for the first time in the game with less than a minute left, then T'd the coach for arguing.

No longer a close, or smooth, game...DOH!