The good news is that he's so new that he won't have (m)any two-person habits to break.

Given a blank slate, I don't think it's any harder to learn 3-person than it is to learn 3-person.

I do agree that the most important thing is to officiate first and worry about the specific positioning / movement second. Let the others fill in when you make a mistake / miss a rotation.

Perfect.

turn on EPSN and watch some NCAA guys work or even better get in a gym near you and watch a varsity crew work. Don't just key in on where they move but "see why" they move. For instance if you are trail (ball on your side) and the ball swings to the other side...begin to close down and anticipate a rotation. Bigger than that though is having a patient whistle as lead and be aggressive as center. People will rarely notice that there are two trails/centers but if there is a double whistle every call when you are on lead it will make the whole crew look bad. Good luck!

If you are serious about officiating don't follow this practice.

It's a problem with one of the local officiating association here where I live. I used to hear all kinds of snide remarks for attending camps. Don't' let other officials try to make you feel like you're doing something wrong if you are trying to improve.

The arrogance of this forum sometimes....

I am wishing this "new" official the best of luck. Learn from your partners, take their criticism and get better. It will be important for the fans and the players, but they won't remember you 10 years from now when sports aren't the biggest thing in their life.

I know more than one AD who will pay for three man with a "rookie" official for a sub-varsity game to get them experience and get them interested in officiating. There are a lot of places that do not have camps to practice 3 man - in fact, I find the coaches around our area during the summer are even worse than the season. They know they there are rookie officials there and so they cross the line frequently.

My one piece of advice, is freeze and look to your partner if you get stuck. Officiate the game and let the coverages, transitions, and rotations come with time. What a great opportunity!

If your assigner and partners are on board with everything that’s one set of worries out the window. Look in your IAABO manual and try to absorb as much as you can. Watch some NCAAM games to get an idea of the rotations and switches (they’re the same as IAABO if I remember correctly) but also focus on certain areas. When the ball is in the frontcourt, pretend you’re the L/C/T and look at the action in that person’s PCA. Just try to get yourself as comfortable as you can before you step on the court.

Then, when you step on the court, officiate the game. Don’t get so concerned with where you’re supposed to be that you miss a call (though you’re going to miss a few calls for that very reason…we all did it when we started so don’t beat yourself up for it when it happens). Just deal with what’s in front of you. If you handle your segment of the world properly (i.e., have a good game in your primary) you’ll be way ahead of the game. If your partners are truly versed in the Art of Three-Person they’ll be able to compensate. Regarding switches: when in doubt, fill in the hole on the court. Again, your partners will know – hopefully – where they’re supposed to go. Once they get to their spots, you go to yours and everyone will be fine. As was said earlier, the three of you are the only ones in the building who are going to know you’re in the wrong spot.

Once the confusion dies down and you get a decent amount of games under your belt I guarantee you a few things: you’ll become a better two-person official and you’ll never want to do two-person again. ;)

Assignors make mistakes too sometimes. I agree that is a hard way to do your first game in that system. And just because you have two veterans on the game does not mean that there will not be problems. There is only so much partners can do unless they are helping you with the coaches. I do not see anything wrong with pointing out some issues doing this. I know I would feel uncomfortable working with someone with that little experience in a real game. But I would deal with it. It is just so easy when you have experienced people working with you as you do not have to worry about basic stuff.

Peace

Great conversation everyone but we will have to revisit it shortly as now the assignor called me and needs me to fill in a game tonight due to an official having a knee injury. However I have about 6 more night I can go with these guys with 2 or 3 of them being 3 man. I understand the reservations people have about just jumping into the game, however to the best of my knowledge there are no camps near that cover three man and none of the early preseason scrimmages are done 3 man. Due to these circumstances how else could I learn other than being thrown to the wolves? I'm actually asking. I have done a lot of film/game watching, and reading. What else can I do for when this night comes in the next month?

There are camps around. Seeing how earlier you said guys in your association don't camp, you probably need to do some of your own leg-work in finding them.

As I said earlier, don't let the "no camp" mentality drag you down.

I did find a couple 2 to 7 hours away but they didn't say 3 man. Perphaps more will pop up closer to the offseason and I will be able to find one then.

Find a crew of two and ask them if you can go work 3-man in a preseason scrimmage. You may not get paid, but it's a good way to learn.

Good idea.

Check your PMs

Friday night I was a replacement brought in to work 1/2 of JVG, VG, VB games. The two guys I worked with were older and I know have worked some state playoff games. Normally we take turns with each official setting out one game. However the one vertern said that He and I would knock out the 1st half as the 3rd partner had just arrived 20 minutes prior to tip and then we will do the other 2 games 3 man. I told them in the interest of fair reporting I had never done 3 man but I feel that I probably have a better idea than most rookies as I have done alot of book reading, watching of games, etc. They both said that they would show me the way.

Overall I feel it went very well, only missed one rotation as my partner rotated late which moved me from the C to the T. Fortunetly I caught it late and make it as the New L before anything could happen. It probably did help that my partners did not rotate much. It was a very interesting and eye opening night on how much easier it is to cover the court.