New college ref advice

[JetMetFan]

Originally Posted by Sharpshooternes

Hey guys, I have been fortunate enough to get hired by a small JUCO conference and am very excited about it. I am rather new, (Completed four seasons of freshmen to JV ball) all two man and have never worked a varsity game in season. I have attended two camps every year for the last three years. I realize that I am pretty inexperienced, but thanks to you guys my rules knowledge is great, thanks to YouTube and videos posted here I think my call selection and play calling is decent as well.

My questions to the forum are:
What are some of the pitfalls of starting college so early and what are strategies to overcome them.

I had a friend suggest that it may be possible that my future HS schedule will be penalized because of me working college. Any thoughts to the veracity of this?

Suggestions on how to make a good transition or to lessen the learning curve.

Thanks, everyone, I owe a lot of my success to the people on this forum.

To join in the chorus, congratulations! To go to the questions, in order:

*The only pitfall I can think of is believing you're better than you are or better than your partners, either in HS or JUCO (not to say you would/do). The basketball gods find great ways to humble you when your head gets too big. There's always something to learn from every game, every video and every partner.

*You shouldn't have any issues with your HS schedule. I say shouldn't because the vast majority of HS assignors understand officials - especially younger officials - want to move up. There are some who flat out don't want you to turn back one of their games for an NJCAA/NCAA game and/or want you to consider them as #1 in your hierarchy. I know of one or two in my area who feel this way. I opted not to try to join their HS staffs. Ask your HS assignor(s) about their policy.

*The learning curve is what it is. Don't try to move too fast. You're going to make mistakes. A partner I've worked with more than a few times was involved in a "six on the court" scenario in a D3 game last season that was caught on video. He was devastated by it for a while...until he saw a friend of his get stuck in the same spot on national television. The guy who had it happen on national TV? Zach Garba in the NBA Finals. Moral of the story: Everybody screws up. The trick is to learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again. Apart from that watch video, ask questions and get into your rule book and CCA manual.