Instruction Camps
 

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?

Great Start!
 

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?

No Ifs, Ands, Or Buts ...
 

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

Another rookie
 

I am also starting my first year in 2013/14. The impression that I have gotten, and, I may very well be wrong, is that camps want you to have at least some experience. I have been working hard on my fitness, and studying both rules and mechanics, but I have no game experience in basketball. I have been working both baseball and football the last few years, but, basketball is new.
Is it pre- mature to seek out a camp experience?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

If you don't have any experience, don't worry. Just be up front about it with the camp and your clinicians. They'll be gentle with you.

And no, it's not too early. You're experienced in other sports so you know already that the only way to learn is to get out there and do it.

Just remember not to wear your football shirt on the court (yep, I remember a guy doing this at a basketball camp years ago). Those wide stripes and pockets are dead giveaways :)

All Gaul is Divided into Three Parts -- Camps...Two
 

Depends on what kind of "camp" you're attending. Some are purely instructional, with separate clinicians dedicated to various levels of experience. They might have newbies learning how to blow Fox 40's in the mirror room while vets are doing 3-man over on the courts. Others are meat market exposure "camps" organized for assigners to cull the herd for prospects for his upcoming NCAA officiating pool. Others are a blend. A veteran hoping to step up might be disappointed with the former; a rookie might get very little out of the latter.

Best to ask around to identify what kind of camp you're attending and make sure you're in one that offers what you hope to get out of it.

Give a general location of the camp you're registered for and perhaps a member of the forum has experience with that particular camp and can advise you precisely.

Hope it goes well for you! :)

BTW - Studying and being in shape prior is a key to getting the most out of any camp you might attend.

All this said, I personally avoid any camp where there's one group of campers and there's no minimum experience level in place. Why? Because I want to go to camp to work on my game, not be paired with one or two newbies who I need to worry about every trip down the floor.

One camp I went to -- they took the six most experienced officials and made them group "leaders" -- I ended up playing surrogate clinician all weekend. I love being a clinician (and I've been one for the camp I just mentioned), but when I pay my money to work on my game, I'd like the opportunity to do just that.

That said, it bothers me less when I pay $50 - $100 than if it would happen when I pay $300+ for the weekend. I can always learn something in any environment.

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

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.