2014 Tournament Schedule Just Arrived--Now What Do I Do With It?

One of the most frequently asked questions by new officials is, "How do I get to work?"  Seems that is an age old question and not one that is easily answered; however, the new 2014 TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE might become a helpful tool for new officials.

Here are some guidelines you might consider when looking for new places to work in 2014:

*   Study the booklet and become well acquainted with the terminology and listings of various tournaments.

*   Determine the tournaments for which you are available and would like to work.

*   Find out the name and email address of the referee for those tournaments.

*   DO NOT call the referee to tell them you are available and would like to work.  That would probably ensure that you would not be invited to officiate that tournament.

*   Send an email to the referee letting them know that you are available to work a specific tournament.  DO NOT copy the tournament information and attach it to your email--the referee knows the tournaments he/she is working and all the information contained therein.

*   If you do not know the referee and are reasonably sure they do not know you, then put a brief description of your work experience in your email.

*   REFERENCES are huge when trying to get into the officials' workforce.  If you are new, the referee may not know you or even heard of you so be sure to list some references in your email.  Try to put references that the referee would probably know.  Don't include your best friend who is also a brand new official and don't put the name of some national official in NYC that you shook their hand in a receiving line one time.

*   Once you have sent your email, leave it alone.  The referee will look it over and make their decision and can do this without your follow-up phone calls and emails.

*   Remember that just because you send your availability email to a referee that doesn't mean you will necessarily be invited to work.  It takes a while to get into the rotation so be patient.  If you aren't invited to work it also doesn't mean that the referee doesn't like you for some imagined reason.  They simply may not know you or already have a full staff.

*   Sign up for as much training as possible.  There are lots of training opportunities in Texas and the more training you receive--the better you become.  Remember that the trainers share the names of good trainees with other referees...

Good luck as you put your new 2014 Tournament Schedule to good use...