Officiating varsity games at age 20

[Cvincentsmith]

Originally Posted by just another ref

It is only natural to expect a certain amount of extra scrutiny when doing a job at a young age. If your performance is good enough, this should take care of itself soon enough. But coaches can/will twist anything into a negative.

On any given night your age can be used against you:

"WHY DID THEY SEND ME THIS ROOKIE?"

against your partner:

"The kid is twelve years old and he's way better than you."

against both of you:

"Hey, kid, take your grandfather and go on home."

Funny story about the grandfather thing, Monday I worked with two very veteran officials one 78 the other 76 and they still are in better position then guys I've seen work that are half their age. My problem is with coaches challenging me on every call I make regardless of it was obvious or not. I had a veteran coach chew me every time I ran up and down the court he was a well respected veteran coach and never did it so anyone else could hear it always standing next to me. After the game while walking to our locker rooms he shook my hand and said I did a good job. Testing me alright.