Being The Best Official That You Can Be

 

 

Every off-season, after the state tournaments are over and everyone has received their paycheck, there is one event that captures the interest of every official. One thing that happens that gives us a chance to think about the previous season and look forward to next season. That is the day that the ratings come out. Everyone wants to see if they advanced in the ratings since the previous year and everyone hopes that they make a move towards the top.  It is true that ratings aren’t the most important thing in the world, but we should always be working to make ourselves better officials and, in becoming better, we hope to also move ourselves up the ladder.

 

There are several things an official can do to help that move and become the best ref possible.

 

Elevating your game:   If you are not getting better, you are getting worse in comparison to other officials and in comparison to the game of basketball. You can never stay the same because other officials are improving and the athletes that play the game are becoming bigger, better and faster.

 

Always have something that you want to work on every game, even in the off-season.  It doesn’t matter what it is, just work on a particular aspect of your game.  Mechanics, louder voice, positioning, anything that you think needs improvement will work. You can even tell your partner(s) or other officials watching the game and have them observe what you are working on.

 

Another way to improve in the off-season is to attend at least one officiating camp.   Camps are a great way to improve your game.  That is exactly what they are intended to do and you will always learn several things to improve your game at camp.

 

When you have a night off during the regular season, go watch a game that is being called by officials that you respect.  If you observe something new that you like, try it for yourself in your next game.  If there is something you don’t like, think about your own officiating game and make sure that you don’t do the same thing.

 

Be receptive to feedback:  Make sure you are always receptive to feedback you get from veteran officials or camp clinicians.  If you give excuses or reply to their comments with “yeah but”, you will notice that you won’t get any feedback anymore.  Once you get a reputation of being someone who doesn’t want to improve, good luck becoming a better official.  No matter where you want your officiating career to take you, having a good attitude will take you a long way and will make other officials want to help you. It is amazing how much your personality will affect your career. It’s just a fact of life, people would rather be around positive individuals with a good attitude.

 

Have someone to talk to:  It is always good to talk about games and situations with a fellow official.  Find someone, or a group of people, that you like as an official and bounce ideas off them.  Talk about your weird game situations and find out how they would have handled them.   Many officials utilize e-mail to communicate about game situations and bounce things off of each other and that works great too.   It is also a good idea to find a mentor.  Choose someone that is at a higher level than you are. Watch their games and have them watch your games. It is much easier to move up when you have someone helping you than it is to try and go it alone. Don’t be afraid to ask because most officials want to see other officials improve and are willing to help. It makes our crews better and it makes us a stronger association. 

 

The players are getting better every year and officials need to keep raising the bar as well.  No matter what you want out of your officiating career, you should want to do your best for the players, your partners, and yourself.