Game tonight sucked
 

This is the first year of officiating for my son and I. Tonight we had a game and we really sucked....the game got out of control on us and the coachs were irrate. Officiating is something I thought I always wanted to try and tonight made game 4 for me....It was a JV game and I even had a coach call a time out to give me hell and tell me I was horrible....I didnt call a technical because honestly I did let the game get out of control. But looking back on the game they were 2 rough playing teams that had little form but instead ran as hard as they could and would have made better football players and it went that way on both ends of the floor. I learn alot from every game and this game has left me with alot of studying to do.....Has anyone else had a game like this in their career?

I hope your assigner didn't know what he was doing to you by sending you into this game in game 4. You should have a senior partner for your first tough game.

That said, everyone has had a bad game... some worse than others. Don't take it personal. Just live and learn. Remember Gigdgo- "Get in get done get out".

We dont have assigners in this league

I am taking the advice from some on this board and have written down what bothered me most tonight....what mistakes I made and am going to study on them and not make those mistakes next game....life goes on.

I've had more than 1 of those in my career. Yes, I was inexperienced.

I'm sure you learned a lot. Reflect on it and talk about the game with your son. You'll both be better after that one! Also go and watch a premier match-up with some veteran officials working the game. And ask to hear their pre and post game.

Seohio - it's part of the process. I've had a very up and down season so far, with several games I wish I could do over....and then, other games like tonight which were just great. Tonight, I had two great P's and a good game.

Hopefully, the more games you do, the more good games you'll have and the bad ones will be fewer and further between. Learn and move on!

Good luck.

Everyone of us is my guess! Even after 10+ years in the business I still encounter rough, erratic play that is challenging to officiate and keep reasonable control of. The first thing I would do is T the coach when they get out of line, this will reduce your stress considerably. If rough play is allowed, it usually escalates into a football game. Its too bad that both (I'm assuming it was two man) officials were inexperienced. Coaches are quick to notice inexperience and will take a mile of rope if you let them. If there is any way you can work with a veteran hopefully doing a game with them, I would strongly encourage you to. If you can go and watch well polished officials doing varsity games and then join the half time talk and end of game conversations this is very beneficial as well. If you know someone that is a tournament official I would closely watch them work games and copy most of what you see. Hang in there, things get better the more games you do.

I appriciate your comments and I can guarantee that we will never lose control like that again.. We won't let this game beat us..My son and I have talked about this game and we have talked about improvements we are going to make immediatly. And yes I wish we could do this game again.

First...Welcome to this fraternity of officials! You will be rewarded with good feelings of accomplishments as the years go by.

Curious...how many Varsity games have you watched this year?

Probably 8 varsity games watched this year.

That is a good start. Sounds like you and your son want to get better...so you probably will.;)

Thanks

The short answer is YES, and the best solution is another game.

Thats what Im thinking Bainsey

you got the first step right, you recognized that the teams were out of control. now all you got to do is put some air in the whistle and start calling fouls. players will adjust or you will just shoot free throws all night, but either scenario is better than having a fight because you didnt call fouls. also, dont hesitate to t the coach, even if you are not having your best game, you cannot let him walk all over you. stick with it, it gets easier as you gain more experience