Wow. What a bummer.
Even though I felt like I was so much better this year, I managed to drop significantly in the rankings on the varsity list. I went from the middle third to the bottom fifth. That's weird. I feel like my comments were pretty good, but alas, there I am, crashing down the list.
A closer look at the scores show some big surprises...one of last year's state finals officials is deep into the bottom half, and a first-year kid who really struggled through camp is solidly on the playoff list.
I feel a little frustrated because I don't get a sense from the (mostly very kind) comments that there's a consistent shortcoming that I can really work on.
In any event, these scores don't matter. I'm moving to a new town anyway. But it's a little slap in the ego. I wish I could go to camp...that'd help. But as is, we'll see how it goes.
8 Comments:
My ratings in my college association suck every year. I consistently receive an overall rating in the high 6's or low 7's (out of 10), which places me in the lowest fifth of my region.
And I recently made three D1 staffs.
So guess how much stock I put in ratings? I had a D1 assignor once tell me the only thing worse than not having a rating system is having a rating system. Officials often do not rate their peers objectively. They rate their friends high and they give low ratings to people they don't know.
It's lousy, but it works that way sometimes.
I'm sorry to hear you have to pack up and start over somewhere new. Will that mean you start over with freshman games?
Massref--
Thanks for the reply.
I've always promised myself that if I get too worked up about numbers, that I'll hang 'em up. It's just not worth that level of upset. But 24 hours of being bummed out is natural. It means I care.
The rankings aren't done by my peers. They're done by evaluators. I'm not as bummed out about being in the lowest 20% as I am about the fact that, in spite of another year of experience, a camp where I listened to a lot of people, and much more comfort with three-man, my scores actually went -down-. There's absolutely no way that I was worse this year than I was last year. Zero chance. So it's not that I'm ranked low in the association. It's that I know I got better, but the scores got worse.
I've thought about it, and it's possible that my loosey-goosey mechanics and poor running style might have more of an impact on how I'm perceived than I'd like. But that's damn hard to work on, and that's not going to be solved this summer.
Oh well.
I don't know what the situation will be in the new home. I would imagine I'd have a transfer tryout that would allow me to start our with varsity games. If not, I can trust myself to work up.
I must say for me as well that even though I am new to the varsity list I was a bit sad how the scores came out. There are some people on my list who much higher then some top officials who lost a lot of spots on the list this year.
I think the issue with paid evaluators as I see it is not only do they give large scores to people they have seen and know are good or friends of there’s, but they grade much more on your looks. Running style might have been issue with you as you say and age with me perhaps, but this was put into much higher consideration then I believe it should have been.
I agree it is hardest that the comments they put are all positive or close to that and then a score of 93 or 94 shows up. Very sad, but I am new and young so I guess time will tell.
I hope all goes well in your new area.
-Young Guy
"it's possible that my loosey-goosey mechanics and poor running style might have more of an impact on how I'm perceived than I'd like. But that's damn hard to work on, and that's not going to be solved this summer."
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Mechanics are something that you simply have to put your mind to. You have to say, "I'm going to work on X tonight" and focus on doing it. I was able to "learn" to use either arm for foul calls over the course of about half a season. Prior to that, I was strictly using my right arm.
In my case, I lucked out b/c I worked on my mechanics as a new ref and now they are second nature. I don't have to think about my mechanics at all (except when I notice some slippage from time to time).
Ok, here's my thing on running style. This was pointed out to me at camp 3 years ago. I used to run with my arms swinging down by my waist, sort of parallel to the floor. One observer suggested that I try running with my arms perpendicular to the floor, much the same way that a sprinter runs. Now, my hands are up near my shoulders most of the time as I run. I think it looks more athletic, and it keeps me more upright instead of bent over while I'm running.
And I meant to add that the running style thing was cleared up in a week. It's a very easy adjustment to make.
Thanks, friends, for the input--
I don't want this to turn into "poor me." So I took a little shot to the ego. So what? It's not even going to have any impact on me, since I'm leaving town.
Young Guy--first of all, your first year on the varsity list should have absolutely no importance. Your day will totally come. Will you be officiating when you relocate next year?
Second, when you say that the evaluators overemphasize physicality and appearance, well, I'm actually okay with that, for reasons I'll blog about in the next few days.
My issue is that learning physical things is extremely difficult for me. Unlike most officials, I am not and have never been an athlete. Just like it's hard for some people to learn math or write, it's very hard for me to learn how to run. I sincerely hope I can do it in a week like you did, Massref, but last time I worked on running style, it took hundreds of dollars and a personal trainer.
I'm still developing a plan. For about 5 minutes last night, I wanted to quit officiating, but now, I want to get better. I'm just not positive how.
"it's very hard for me to learn how to run. I sincerely hope I can do it in a week like you did, Massref, but last time I worked on running style, it took hundreds of dollars and a personal trainer."
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First of all, I didn't think you were trying to turn this into a "poor me" thing. :-)
Second of all, if I can help with the running thing, I'll only charge you ONE hundred dollars. How's that?
Here's what I do. If it works for you, great. If not, I won't be offended. Make two "thumbs-up" and as you run, make the thumbs touch your shoulders. (Not at the same time, obviously!!) As your arm swings back down, your hands should not fall lower than your sternum (roughly halfway between your shoulders and your waist).
Eventually, you won't need the thumbs-up gesture and the motion will become more natural.
I hope it helps.
Young Guy--first of all, your first year on the varsity list should have absolutely no importance. Your day will totally come. Will you be officiating when you relocate next year?
Second, when you say that the evaluators overemphasize physicality and appearance, well, I'm actually okay with that, for reasons I'll blog about in the next few days.
I won't have a car my first year out, so working basketball will be hard in DC. When I come back for a month or so I will work to get my evals in.
I don't mean pure physical appearance really, but more about who you are and if the evaluator knows you or not. Someone brought up a good point that if they know they can give you a low score without you raising hell, they will do it. I wish it we could wear a bag over our heads so they could not see who it was and see how the scores were different, wouldn't that be interesting...
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