Instruction Camps

[Freddy]

Originally Posted by gojeremy

I'm a new official for 2013-14 and I'm going to some instructional camps in the next few weeks with classroom and game instruction. Can anyone give me an idea about what these camps are like?

This is perhaps the best choice you could have made to get your officiating off to a great start! Excellent choice! And be sure to return to this forum with any questions you have or observations you have to share.
And though it would be best to advise you to use the "Search" function to view all the recent, previous replies to this exact same question, let me just state these few things...others will likely chip in with their perspectives to give you. Those, along with your "search and study" of previous threads on the topic, will give you some great answers.

#1 Resist defending what you're doing which they're critiquing. Your clinicians are probably right and you probably aren't.

#2 Find like-minded campers who are there to learn and form some networking bonds that can last beyond the days you are at camp (I still keep in touch with officials I first met my first year at a camp years and years ago).

#3 When you're done, formulate a list of what you've learned are the key things you want to keep in the front of your mind prior to each game your first season.

#4 Go to camp again next year.

PS - What area is the camp you're going to?

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Freddy

#1 Resist defending what you're doing which they're critiquing.

Translation: Never, ever, ever respond to a critique with a, "Yes, but ...".

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by Freddy

#1 Resist defending what you're doing which they're critiquing. Your clinicians are probably right and you probably aren't.

Honestly, clinicians do not care what you have to say. They are telling you something for a reason. If you are talking while they are talking, you are interrupting what they are trying to say to everyone. Sometimes a clinician is pointing out an issue that will help everyone. The more you talk as a camper when the information is being shared, you are taking up time. A lot of time we only have 1 or 2 quick things to mention (at a timeout or half time) depending on the structure of the camp. We do not want to hear your input unless we ask you a very direct question. And if you annoy the clinician, they will stop telling you stuff in the first place and you just wasted your money.

Peace

[peachbasket]

I would make sure to realize that if you are a very experienced camper within the camp you are attending. Your attitude and behavior will be on display as it relates to how you deal with inexperienced partners.

This is a chance for you to show leadership, work hard in supporting your partners, being a good partner, and displaying the type of attitude a supervisor would look for.

It also is a chance for you to work hard in your secondary and show your ability to make calls that need to be made in a game without over officiating. A good clinician will recognize what you are doing.

Just my two cents when you are part of a crew that is much less experienced than you.