Advice for first year ref...

[jgunn]

This is my first year as an official, and it has been a great experience.....i've done 2 varsity games, 3 jv games, and a few jr. high games.....i've learned a lot, and i feel as if i've done a pretty good job overall.....however, Monday i had a jv game and i feel as if i had a horrible game....i think i missed several calls....the coaches were all over me about several calls that they say i missed, and i started questioning myself...

with that said, i feel as if i learned maybe more in that game than any other game i've done..

how do you guys put a "bad game" behind you, and get ready for the next..

[grantsrc]

First off, ignore the coaches. They always think you miss calls no matter the level. It is hard, you feel that you should explain yourself everytime but you can't. That opens the flood gates. One thing I'm working on is not reacting to every little thing. If the head coach asks a reasonable question, I will find out the answer, but I am ignoring the "he's holding!" Stuff like that.

If you have a bad game, learn from it. Were you in the wrong position? Did you hesitate on a rule? Did something come up that didn't look right? Find out, read the rule books, post here or other boards. No matter the level, we all have games where we just aren't on top of things. Level/quality of play has a huge role in that too.

Shake it off. You'll be fine. Take the things you're questioning and turn them into positives. As the say, "If you're through learning, you're through."

Good luck the rest of the way out.

[Jim D]

One of the keys to good officiating is to shake off "bad" games and calls. If you have a questionable call and either you wonder about it or a coach goes ballistic, you have to learn to put it out of your mind - at least until the game is over. If you have such a call and everybody's mad at you and your thinking about it, you may miss a new call because your mind was on the first play. Now you got two calls to ponder and you know what happens next - you'll miss another. So CONCENTRATION is the key. Rehash calls after the game if you must but learn to concentrate on the play at hand and ignore the rest of the stuff.

Remember - the best (and most painful) way to learn is to have a play and blow it. If you were unsure of the rule or were in a bad position, you'll make sure that will never happen again so if you do screw up - relax, we all do and think of how much smarter you'll be!

[sj]

Not much to add to what the other guys say except one piece of advice for new officials that will help things at least not get worse..... Always take your flag and bean bag out of your belt when you go to the bathroom.

Seriously coaches are wrong 9 out of 10 times. And the other 1 out of ten times they only might be right. They just want calls and they don't care if you make the right one or not. They just want you to make it for them. So they will always yell. Since your off the field now I would take the time to think through the ones they were questioning and if any of them had to do with an application of a rule go right to the rule book and look it up. That way you will solidify your thinking about what is right and what is not. If something they complained about might have had to do something with your mechanics go to the manual and make sure you were looking in the right spot etc. If something had to do with a judgement call talk to your partners and get their feedback. One other thing. Since you admit to starting to question yourself they might have sensed it that you were new. Some of all that begging might have been an attempt to get you to get them a call. As you get more sure of yourself in responding to coaches a lot of that goes away.

[Texas Aggie]

The other night I didn't have my best night. Was working R on a crew of 3 and had a terrible time with the field as the hash marks were hard to distinguish. Ended up placing the ball outside the marks at least 3 times, and allowed myself to lose concentration because I was so concerned about the damn field. The no-huddle offense one team was running didn't help matters.

I don't think I really missed anything, but I did sense a loss of concentration, which is never good. But I learned, again, that I need to clear my head of all distractions and concentrate on what I need to do for that one quarter. Then the next, etc.

[jgunn]

thanks for the advice guys....i really feel i learned more from that game than any other game i've had...thanks again

[FootballRef05]

Originally Posted by jgunn

This is my first year as an official, and it has been a great experience.....i've done 2 varsity games, 3 jv games, and a few jr. high games.....i've learned a lot, and i feel as if i've done a pretty good job overall.....however, Monday i had a jv game and i feel as if i had a horrible game....i think i missed several calls....the coaches were all over me about several calls that they say i missed, and i started questioning myself...

with that said, i feel as if i learned maybe more in that game than any other game i've done..

how do you guys put a "bad game" behind you, and get ready for the next..

Good advice from everyone, but I do have a question for you. Where do you work that you are out doinf Varsity football in your first year of officiating?!?!?

[irefky]

One thing I would suggest and I apologize if someone already mentioned it and I overlooked it. Go to the school who had the complaints or the other team and see if you can get a copy of the tape. Some schools do tape jv games. Take the tape to a fellow official to have them view it and give you an evaluation. You should be able to sit down and view it yourself and be honest with your view of your mechanics and such.

I have viewed a few of my games and I beat myself up pretty bad. I was too fast or did not give a good solid signal. If you are that concerned in your first year, you will become a great official in the future. Just keep hanging around here and asking questions to these knowledgeable guys and you will learn.

Good luck to you and please ask if your are not sure.

[bisonlj]

Originally Posted by FootballRef05

Good advice from everyone, but I do have a question for you. Where do you work that you are out doinf Varsity football in your first year of officiating?!?!?

There are many states facing a shortage of officials and some need to use first year officials on varsity games. It may not be for the entire year but if you have a guy who can't make it for some reason and you have to find a fill-in, you may only have a first year guy available.

[jgunn]

Originally Posted by FootballRef05

Good advice from everyone, but I do have a question for you. Where do you work that you are out doinf Varsity football in your first year of officiating?!?!?

I work in MS.....we have 4 new schools and hardly enough officials

[FootballRef05]

I was just curious. My organization had quite a long, long training program and it takes 4 years to work up to Varsity.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by jgunn

This is my first year as an official, and it has been a great experience.....i've done 2 varsity games, 3 jv games, and a few jr. high games.....i've learned a lot, and i feel as if i've done a pretty good job overall.....however, Monday i had a jv game and i feel as if i had a horrible game....i think i missed several calls....the coaches were all over me about several calls that they say i missed, and i started questioning myself...

with that said, i feel as if i learned maybe more in that game than any other game i've done..

how do you guys put a "bad game" behind you, and get ready for the next..

I've been doing this for quite some time and the coaches are still yelling.

Last Friday night, the visiting team head coach was yelling that a lineman had his hands in his lineman's face. I told him we'd watch for it. That wasn't good enough -- he had to run his mouth and tell us that "we're paid to see that" and "how could we not see that."

Naturally on the next play, one of his linemen decided to wrap arms around waist and tackle another lineman, drawing flags from me (the R) and the umpire. Coach is screaming that this is a "retaliatory flag." I managed to ignore his ranting and raving until he tried to stop the crew at halftime. That's a story for another time, though.

Back to your post. Don't let the coach's reaction (or lack of reaction) define your success as an official.

[NewGuy]

Up here in Idaho, we have a shortage too. We brought in about 8 new guys this year, but with a couple new schools opening in the area, most of us new guys have done a varsity game, I've worked 2 after getting a couple good reviews at lower games. Although Im enjoy working varisty games already, I do really wish we had more guys and a better training process, would make us all better. In the meantime, I spend way too much time reading the books and these forums to be as prepared as possible rule wise at least.

[referee20]

My first year on a varsity crew I had the ultimate error, an IW. Here's my advice, get it out of your way early and hope you never have another one

[Rich]

Originally Posted by referee20

My first year on a varsity crew I had the ultimate error, an IW. Here's my advice, get it out of your way early and hope you never have another one

If IWs didn't happen, they wouldn't devote a section of the rulebook to it. I've seen two D-I deep guys blow IWs on muffed punts in the last year.

It's a mistake, yes, but not a thing that should define your career as an official, certainly not at the high school level. In other words, the guy that puts his career inadvertant whistles in his signature is going too far. Why highlight something like that?

Guys on my crew have had IWs. Now, they do get to buy all night at the watering hole, but I'm more interested in seeing if they go in the tank after such a mistake. Being able to put such a mistake behind you is very important.