Lessons in survival

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by LepTalBldgs
I was disappointed (but not surprised) by the level of interaction by the senior members my first year. I think I am an above-average first year official and the only interaction I got was just before, during or after a game. I'm certainly going to stay in our unit, but I would have hoped that one of the board members would have contacted me early in the season outside of normal basketball hours to inquire if I had any questions or issues.

I think this is pretty unrealistic, personally. While I would agree that senior officials should be available to the younger officials who have questions, I don't think you can expect 20-year Varsity officials or D1 college officials to seek out a first year guy outside of "normal basketball hours". This is especially true if the association is a large one, with a lot of new guys coming in.

LepTal's disappointment might be avoided in the future in a couple of ways.

1) Institute a formal mentoring program, in which every official with less than 5-years experience is assigned a mentor who works a full HS Varsity schedule (or better). The problem with that plan is finding enough experienced guys who are willing to participate.

OR

2) Stress to your new officials that the experienced officials are available to help them. Make it clear that they will not be a nuisance, but that the responsibility for getting help is theirs. Encourage them sincerely to contact the veterans with questions, game situations, etc. Maybe not all the veterans will be happy to get that kind of phone call; but the young guys will figure that quickly and stop calling those guys.

This post is quickly becoming too long, but a couple of quick stories.

About 4 years ago, just as I was getting a full Varsity schedule, I was working a pre-season HS scrimmage. Everybody, regardless of experience level, is encouraged to work at least a couple of these each year. So I was there, along with a D1 official, along with a mixed bag of other guys. I overheard a new guy say, "Look at Mark (D1 guy). He just sits there and hasn't said a word to me about my calls." I wanted to turn around and say, "Look at you. You haven't asked Mark even one question about your game." Most guys won't go out of their way to help out, but are more than happy to help if you'll go to them.

I help out with new official training at the beginning of each season and this season, when I arrived for one of my HS games, I saw one of our newer guys there, watching the JV game. So after talking to my partner, I invited the new guy into the locker room to listen to our pre-game. I had never worked with this partner before, so it was a thorough pre-game. Ok, so I went out of my way a little bit, but I think the new guy really appreciated it.

If any of that is helpful at all, I'll be amazed. I'll shut up now.

Chuck