SEC and Sunbelt officials...and me before a Kentucky scrimmage
Some of you may know in addition to my love for football officiating, I have recently become a high school basketball official. I’m in my rookie season as a JV official with the Kentuckiana Basketball Officials Association. I’m having a lot of fun and this experience reminds me of my rookie football season 7 years ago.
So I’ve been thinking about how to apply what I’ve learned from football to basketball, and there are definitely parallels. Let’s take mentoring for example. I want to move up to varsity in the quickest amount of time. There are some officials that are working JV for the 7 and 8th year. While that may be okay for some, its not how I’m built. I want to improve and advance. Just my nature.
So I have been thinking about the topic of mentors. The KBOA has a nice mentor program where the rookie officials are teamed up with an experienced official. This has worked flawlessly for me. My mentor is considered one of the association’s top officials. He has made time to attend some of my games, complete written evaluations and is always available to talk about basketball. He’s even thrown a few Saturday church league games my way to pad the wallet a bit. I couldn’t be more satisfied from my end.
So the other night, I had a JV game at a prominent girls school which was followed by the varsity contest as oftentimes happens. My partner and I met the 3-man crew during the break between games and introduced ourselves. I don’t know many of the fellow basketball officials yet so I always make a point to say hello and put a name with a face.
The crew working the varsity contest appeared to be one of the better collections of varsity officials so I decided to stick around for the first half and observe.
Tip #1: Never miss a chance to watch officials that work the level to which you aspire
There was one official in particular that I immediately noticed on the court (you could easily substitute “football” for basketball and “field” for court and this story is immediately relevant). His movement was with purpose, his signals were crisp, his communication with coaches, players and his partners was impeccable, you could feel his presence on the court. I was impressed.
I continued to watch his performance for the remaining minutes of the first half and left the gym excited and motivated. Excited because I just love watching good officiating. Motivated because I saw components of his game that I could borrow and apply directly to mine.
Tip #2: Beg, borrow or steal from your mentors. Take a small part of their game and make it your own.
As I drove home, a plan began to formulate in my mind. I really wanted to let this official know how impressed I was with his performance. I kept coming back to the question, “how would I feel if I made an impact on a less experienced official?” Well first I’d want to know that it happened.
Tip #3: If you liked what you saw, give them some love.
I got home and I looked up this guy’s email address and penned a short complimentary email. Just a note to recognize the impact his performance made upon me. Very short. Not too mushy. Don’t go overboard here.
Tip #4: Follow-up
Almost immediately, a reply came back. (people are so connected these days) He appreciated the comments and he too liked what he saw. If I’d call him on Monday, he had a few tips for me.
Not only have I made a new officiating friend, possibly another mentor who I admire…I’ll also pick up a few tips on how to improve my game. Priceless.
Tip #5: Take action. Don’t think about it, do it.
For those that have been following the blog for some time, you may recall that this is precisely how I approached my NFL hero, Mike Carey. My efforts resulted in a phone call from Mike on a cold day in December 2008 where he thanked me for the kind words. Still moved by that experience.
We can make a difference, one official at a time. Go find a mentor. Do it now, don’t delay.
