How much do you talk to coaches?

[fiasco]

Originally Posted by referee99

... is that you don't get to hear the conversations/communications of more veteran partners with coaches, in order to learn both positives and negatives. Soldier on. It gets better/easier.

One of the things that really helped me the last couple of years is going to some games -- not just the games that followed my JV games, but really going to games on nights when you don't have an assignment -- and watching the veteran guys and how they interact with the coaches. Go into the locker room at halftime and after the game and find the appropriate time to talk to them about what you saw.

ie, "Hey, I saw you talking to the coach after that PC foul you called. Can you tell me how that conversation went?" or "You really seemed to defuse that situation with that coach...what did you say to calm him down" or stuff like that.

No, we can't be immediately privy to those kinds of conversations, but going out of your way to learn from veteran guys not only shows that you want to learn, but there's a lot of value if you'll ask questions and listen.