Post-camp thoughts

[SWMOzebra]

OK boys and girls ... I'll be the first to admit that I hit it hard this year. Seven total camps from June 1 through July 31 sets my all-time record in five years I have been attending college camps. I have some random thoughts and observations:

1. Seven is too many: Physically I had no issues keeping up, but by the last one my ability to focus was not what it should have been and I know for a fact it cost me a staff position (and I'm the only one to blame for it).

2. Assignors/coordinators don't really give a rat's *** about mechanics: For all the big, lofty talk about consistency and everyone looking the same reporting it simply doesn't pan out in terms of who gets hired. Your court positioning/presence and call selection seem to weigh far heavier (and I have no problem with this).

3. Written feedback from clinicians is almost a thing of the past: At only one of the seven did I receive a copy of what the clinicians wrote immediately following post-game evaluations. I have saved every one of these I have received for the past five years and review them regularly to see if I'm making progress in areas previously identified. Why is this practice going away? This makes no sense to me.

4. Clinicians: There are good clinicians and bad clinicians, that's undeniable. The good ones recognize that an occasional compliment or postive reinforcement mixed in with constructive criticism goes a long way to making a point. The bad ones ... well, let's just say they are incapable of doing anything but criticizing and leave it at that.

5. Camp size: Small camps are not necessarily better than large ones, but the opposite is also true. I attended one camp with 150+ officials (men's and women's) and one camp with about 22 officials (women's side only). One was no better than the other, each offered its own advantages and disadvantages.

6. Post-camp communications: First, let me say that at seven out of seven camps, each assignor/coordinator stressed the importance of good communication to successful refereeing ... on and off the court, pre-game, during the game and post-game. Of the seven, the two assignors for whom I work were quick to e-mail and let me know what they thought of my performance. For the one which I was hired I received a brief congratulations e-mail with instructions for filing paperwork with the conference office within a few days; I've e-mailed three for feedback and only receive a response from one (and a poor response at that); and the last I received a "need to see you work next year" reply within a couple of days. One would like to think there would be a little "practice what you preach" coming into play somewhere. The two where I have received no response have been marked off my list for next year.

Yes, this was an expensive camp year for me and I was likely a bit over-exposed as I had the same clinicians multiple times at different camps. Sometimes this was to my benefit as they commented if I had improved in an area they identified and when I made the same mistake as they had seen at a previous camp I was called out on it. The lesson has been learned on attending too many camps.

Anyone else have similar observations this year?