I called football, basketball, baseball and softball for 10 years. Really not hard to get into if you just find an officials association near you and contact them.

Biggest thing is just make sure you know the rules and be confident when you are calling the game. With the majority of coaches you won't have a problem if you look confident and act professional at all times.

One of the worst things as an official is having to call a game with another official that doesn't know the rules.

Another issue to be prepared for is simply that some officials are total jerks and won't work with you.

I was line judge for a high school football game. Visiting team defensive end barely jumped offsides right before the snap. I threw the flag but forgot to blow the play dead. Home team QB avoided the blitzing DE, threw a nice pass downfield, WR caught the ball and scored a touchdown.

I told the white hat what happened. Typically in this situation (and what 99.999% of head officials will do) is that the head official will realize that the mistake didn't harm anyone, signal a defensive holding and let the touchdown stand.

This guy walked close to the home sideline (where I was working) said "The official forgot to blow the play dead, replay the down." Coach obviously asked him to decline, official told him it was not able to be declined.

Very next play the QB throws a pick 6 and I proceed to get cursed out the rest of the game.

On the flip side if you work with a veteran and very good official they can really help out if having a bad game. You will learn very quickly which officials are good to work with and which ones aren't.

Also run into officials that think they are "too good" to call game at small schools (Class 2A and below). They'll basically go through the motions and act like a massive a-hole to everyone.

If you work hard and do a good job then you will usually get assigned to good crews and get to avoid working with the idiots. Vast majority of officials are really good guys though that just love sports.

Loved officiating and if I could I would still officiate. (Current job prevents me from officiating)