"Seasons of Love" (RENT)

Last night was my first night as a referee for Urban. I thought I would be nervous but the situation had familiarity written all over it. First, I got assigned to Brandeis which I feel is like my home base for volleyball. Over the last few weeks, I've been watching them put up the nets during set-up for open play and never did it by myself. Well, I had to do it alone when I arrived to set-up for the games last night. They said it was easy and it was once I looked things over first, but I put the net on the poles upside down when I cranked it up, which takes a little time, so I had to re-do it which took about 20 minutes and backed up my games just a little. I had to make up some time so I had to make my calls quick and make the pace of the game move steadily. I had very different divisions to call which was really interesting, including my own division, D11 co-ed, where the Dinkin' Do-Nots hope to have another great season. I was a little nervous in the beginning but once I got going then everything felt so comfortable up on that stand. I had a couple of calls that could have been better, more firm in its execution but overall I did okay. My assignor agreed and I'll continue to get calls for matches which is awesome. I also did a self-evaluation and with each time you ref there are calls you think about and how you can do better in making those calls. I want to make sure that I'm the kind of referee that the players enjoy, may not always agree with the calls but respect the call. Now that I'm doing this, I'm also hoping to get some boys matches this spring season if my schedule permits. I didn't get a chance to work any girls games in the fall because we were in the midst of our fundraising drive but I'm hoping to get a few matches in for this spring season with the boys season. Anyway, I'm happy to be up on that stand and growing in this sport that I enjoy so much.