Advice for a VERY young official

[Nikki]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

My son started at 15... and the hardest thing was getting him to stop being afraid to put some air into the whistle.

I've talked to him about this and he acts like he gets it, but we'll see that first time he's actually on the floor

Originally Posted by SE Minnestoa Re

My son started at 14. For the first couple of years, I worked with him at youth tournaments on Saturday mornings. I usually had worked the night before but really wanted to be out there with him.

He had a couple of advantages--first he was a big kid and coaches likely thought he was older than he actually was. Second, he had me watching his back. Even the youth coaches figure out really quick when a varsity level official is working their games and I think they behaved better than typical.

I always stressed he had to know the rules and had to work on proper mechanics.

Now that he is grown up, lives two hours away, is a lawyer, and married with a small child, I will always cherish the days we reffed together.

My son also has that advantage, he's tall for his age. I used to be so annoyed when my dad would call me to work the 8th grade championship game at st. so and so, but now I get it. He loves every chance he gets to work with me and he's very proud (if you asked him about me, you'd probably come away thinking I worked a final four ). So no matter how this turns out, the time we spend together on this will be invaluable to me.