Advice

[gojeremy]

Thanks for the help. A friend of mine is a veteran official and I'm going to be involved in some summer leagues this year. So hopefully those two things will give me a bit of an advantage in preparation. Along with this forum.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by gojeremy

Thanks for the help. A friend of mine is a veteran official and I'm going to be involved in some summer leagues this year. So hopefully those two things will give me a bit of an advantage in preparation. Along with this forum.

Well that is a good start. We all need a mentor in this business. Someone we can talk to and someone we can discuss things when we are unsure or have some adversity. Also do not be afraid to have more than one mentor. As your career progresses, it is good to get the perspective from other officials as everyone has different experiences and some people are more familiar with a specific level or conference or even different partners you might work with.

Peace

[#olderthanilook]

Originally Posted by gojeremy

Thanks for the help. A friend of mine is a veteran official and I'm going to be involved in some summer leagues this year. So hopefully those two things will give me a bit of an advantage in preparation. Along with this forum.

Working summer leagues, esp if they are JV and/or V level, will be a tremendous help. Even competitive youth leagues will be valuable.

Seeing as many plays/scenarios as possible will be a huge asset.

[gojeremy]

JRutledge. Thanks for the insight about philosophy. I had never thought about that before so thanks for the advice and that is something I will work on when I start working games. I have a question about mechanics though. My friend who is a veteran official told me recently that an official can have the worst mechanics in the world as long as he/she gets the call correct. I debated him a little on this issue, because my theory is that good mechanics will help convince player/coach that the correct call was made. Also, here is another silly question but do you guys prefer to be called refs or officials?

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by gojeremy

...do you prefer to be called refs or officials?

Yes.
There are a lot of less preferable things I've been called.

[JRutledge]

Perception can be reality. You can be the best official in the world, but if you are 300 pounds, no one will believe you can keep up or got plays right because of how you look. So yes getting plays right are the ultimate goal, but part of being seen as getting plays right are what we show them. That is why your mechanics need to be sharp. You will not have great rules knowledge for some time until you have screwed up some rules so the mechanics can make you look more confident. Let us face it, coaches we deal with often are clueless and judge us based on perceptions that are not always true. Unfortunately their opinion often matters more than even fellow officials in certain situations. But the more you do this, the more you will find what works for you and then do that. When something stops working as well, change. In may nearly 20 year career I have changed things several times and considered many different attitudes about different things. Many were changed because of personal experience and talking with others.

Peace

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by gojeremy

Also, here is another silly question but do you guys prefer to be called refs or officials?

I prefer "Your Majesty".

One time I asked my wife to call me that and she laughed for about an hour.

[#olderthanilook]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

I prefer "Your Majesty".

One time I asked my wife to call me that and she laughed for about an hour.

I've heard some coaches address you as "You're Heinous".

[APG]

Originally Posted by gojeremy

JRutledge. Thanks for the insight about philosophy. I had never thought about that before so thanks for the advice and that is something I will work on when I start working games. I have a question about mechanics though. My friend who is a veteran official told me recently that an official can have the worst mechanics in the world as long as he/she gets the call correct. I debated him a little on this issue, because my theory is that good mechanics will help convince player/coach that the correct call was made. Also, here is another silly question but do you guys prefer to be called refs or officials?

Official is an all encompassing term...as technically speaking, in a NFHS/NCAA game there's a referee and 1/2 umpires and in an NBA game, there's the crew chief and the two referees.

In reality, it doesn't matter.