Looking to Get Started

[Welpe]

Greetings everyone, I've just recently found this forum and have been perusing some of the older threads on here.

A bit about me: I currently live on the Central Coast of California and am attending a Division I-AA Great West football school. I will be graduating in June and returning to the Bay Area. I have umpired baseball and softball for 10 years now and am looking to start officiating tackle football. I officiated a couple years of flag football here and that perked my interest in doing the real thing. I also played throughout high school and was also an assistant youth league coach for a couple of years.

I've found the contact information for a few associations in the San Francisco Bay Area. What I am wondering is what I should be looking for in a football association? There are many to choose from and other than location, I'm not really sure what I should be looking at. It seems most of them handle both youth and high school leaguess. Also, what level of football should I expect to start out in? I would assume youth leagues for the first couple of years but you know what they say about assumptions...

This seems like a great resource and I look forward to absorbing a whole lot of information. I would appreciate any advice you folks have to offer.

Cheers and thank you,

Monty

[elarbitro]

Monty,
You could start out at the JV level, but that depends on the association that you affiliate yourself with. Now which association should you go with depends on what you want start out with. If you could start with one that offers both youth and HS level, then I would suggest that you start there and ask the assignors of that association where they place first year officials. You're right, never assume. Good luck to you this coming season.

[HLin NC]

you can attend - travel with gas at $3.00 a gallon is a consideration. Your class schedule may have some bearing on when you can attend meetings.
You will probably attend weekly meetings at some point beginning this summer. You may also want to attend study sessions with fellow officials.

Most rookie officials can expect to get a mix of youth f.b. and middle school/jr. high games. A JV schedule may or may not be in the mix, depending on your ability to learn the rules and grasp the mechanics.

[JMN]

Welpe,

There are a number of associations serving the Bay Area. You may want to consider two things: 1. Where you will live, 2. Where you will be leaving from on Fridays (taking the commute into account).

Most associations will have meetings this summer and then scrimmages in August that you must attend. Also, plan on working youth games, freshman, and maybe some JV games your first year.

Let me know where you're going to live and/or work and I can direct you to the associations closest to you. Associations are based in San Jose, SF, Oakland, Walnut Creek, Santa Rosa.

Good luck!

[Welpe]

Hey folks, thanks for the responses. I do appreciate them.

JMN, I will be living in the Concord/Pleasant Hill area and will be working in San Ramon. I've been looking at the Contra Costa Football Officials Association and it seems the schools they service would work for me. Are there any other associations you'd recommend looking at?

Thanks!