I'm off to my first camp tomorrow. It's a HS camp, and will be attended by all three assocation presidents in the state. I'm going for the instruction, not so much to be seen. But, I want to do well and make the most of the opportunity.

Any advice?

Be open to advice & criticism. You'll get many people telling you what to do, not all agreeing. Don't argue with the evaluators. Do not even think of a sentence beginning with "Yeah but I..." or "Yeah but he said...". Try and incorporate what you're being told during the next game. Keep what works for you. Hustle and work hard. Ask lots of questions. Relax. Have fun.

Have fun-
Work Hard-
Be open to feedback-

Good Luck

AK ref SE

Offer to buy the evaluators dinner, especially the thin, bald ones. :D

1. Call you primary

2. Listen to evaluators--Act like you agree with their advice.

3. Set goals for the camp--For example, you want to get hired or you want to just improve.

4. Most of all, have fun--If you cannot do this, you should not be out there. :D

Peace

The most important mechanic for camps is this one - nod your head up and down several times while saying "Yes, I understand"...remember that one when speaking with the evaluators and you will be fine!

Offer to buy the evaluators dinner, especially the thin, bald ones. :D [/B][/QUOTE]

-with bad feet. ;)

Absolutely.
 

Nodding is mandatory.
Nodding with your mouth closed is beneficial.
Have some fun! :)

First camp.
 

Also, bring a big gym bag of humility.

-with bad feet. ;) [/B][/QUOTE]

Offer to buy that one drinks too. :cool:

I forgot one.
 

If you do not do anything right, you better sure hustle. You can do many things wrong, you might just be rewarded because you huslted a little.

Peace

BITS, I just found this quote today. It sort of relates to what others have said. Take it for what it's worth. . .

Good luck. Have a great camp!

BITS,
Please give us the post camp wrap up. I especially will be interested in what it was like. I'm off to my first as well at Miami (OH) University in late June.

BITS is nodding his head, listening carefully to the advice given, definitely not answering with "Yeah, but...," and looking forward to the experience.

Thank you, everyone. I will report back on how it went.

As for the thin, bald evaluators...do you think they prefer Mexican or Italian? ;)

In Utah, definitely the Italian. :cool: See you there. Be sure to introduce yourself, I might be late getting there.

I have a different idea
 

How to win friends and influence evaluators:

1. Interrupt your evaluator as soon as he/she disagrees with something you did.
2. Start every sentence with "I know but...."
3. Keep your shirt untucked, it is cooler that way.
4. Wear white shoes
5. Never rotate in a 3 - person crew, because you may screw up the other two people
6. Hang out with the "guys" everynight until the wee hours of the morning and consume lots of alcohol.
7. Find an evaluator you like and whenever you are not on a game find them and follow them around. This gives you a great opportunity to critique other officials and demonstrate your superior knowledge.
8. Start every pre game with "I hope you two are better then the last group they stuck me with"
9. Pace yourself. If you go all out early you may not have a lot left for the rest of your games.
10. This is a great opportunity for you to work on those clever NBA mechanics.

I looked for you today, but didn't see you. I'm in Daren Jackson's group (group 4, I believe). Was at Bell in the a.m., and Laker Gym in the p.m. You working Anchor Gym or the Riverdale Rec? Hopefully I'll run into you tomorrow.

Is there any good Italian in Ogden?

Post camp report
 

Just one word...Wow!

What a great experience. Thank you, everyone, for your great advice. It all helped, a lot. I nodded a lot, and listened a lot...and learned a lot!

Thanks, Jeff, for the reminder to hustle. Good hustle definitely got me noticed. And I overheard the evaluators commenting on others who did not hustle.

Wizard, I don't know if your camp will be the same, but here's what happened. On the first day, we met together and listened to a few speakers. They focused mostly on the stuff you need to know to be a good official. Very worthwhile stuff, especially with me being a newbie and all.

Then they broke us into groups that worked together for the rest of the camp. The camp was spread over several sites, and so we travelled from site to site to be seen by each evaluator. At half time and after each game, an evaluator would take us aside and discuss what they saw that was good, and things to work on. We got a written copy of the eval. It was all handled very well, and very positively. I came away from each one feeling good and excited to try what they suggested.

One big benefit of the groups is that we got to know each other, and I was able to talk to the veterans (which was everybody in the group except me ;)) when I wasn't working. They had a lot of good stuff for me as well.

One thing that helped is that when we all introduced ourselves, I clearly stated that I was brand new to officiating. I have worked six months, actually, but close enough. I found that everybody was very helpful, and I was generally perceived as being more proficient than they expected.

One thing I wish I had paid a more attention to was hydration. It's summer and most of the gyms I worked were very hot. I fatigued my first day because I didn't have enough water and gatorade. I fixed that the second day, and the results were much better.

One thing that was hard for me was being aware of being evaluated. The first day especially, I was constantly reminding myself to "work my game" and ignore the evaluators. One of the veterans suggested that I let the stress drive me to do my best, but not to focus on it. Good advice.

I got to meet our friend, stripes. When I originally met him online, I met him under his real name. So I spent the whole time looking for two different people, before he helped me figure it out. :)

I'm pleased to report that I evaluated very well. Almost universally the evaluators were shocked when they found out I was a rookie. Considering all of the banter here, I had to try not to smile when several of them told me I had good "presence." :D Many of the things I learned here were noticed.

I was able to incorporate some changes recommended by my first evaluator, before I was seen by my last evaluator. I think I've made a good first impression. And I've got a list of things to work on before the next camp in June. :)

Thank you again, everyone!

Re: Post camp report
 

Ya pays yer money.
Ya takes yer chances.
... An "Attaboy" to you.

Big thumbs-up, BITS! Good for you. Build on it in June. Good luck.

Glad you had fun.
 

Glad to see my advice helped. :D

You actually mean that officials in a different part of the country, actually believe in "presence" besides me on this board. How could that have happen? :D

Other than that, glad to see you had fun. If you do not mind me asking, what was the name of this camp and where is it located? Also what kind of camp was it? Was it just a camp for learning or did it have an evaluation aspect to it?

Peace

Re: Glad you had fun.
 

It was a high school camp, run by the Northern Utah Basketball Officials Association in Ogden, Utah. I think it's mostly geared toward allowing the state assigners to evaluate officials hoping to move up to do Varsity. There was an evaluation aspect to it, but only for high school assignments, I think. Although there were a few college officials who were doing the evaluating.