"Welcome back to the big time," Bert, my assigner, said with a hearty handshake and a toothy grin. Over the weekend I had called and told him I was finally ready to work some high school ball.

If you’ve followed my deliberations this season, you know that I cut back my schedule due to family and work priorities. It didn’t turn out exactly as I had imagined; I was sidelined for most of the season. But my extra-basketball obligations have now been met. I am glad to be back. So happy, in fact, I told Bert that I didn’t care if he gave me all freshman girls’ games, just so long as he gave me games. That kind of rookie exuberance could have gotten me into real trouble!

The good news is that I had taken care of business by communicating with my association leadership about my situation. Because I followed the established procedure, I could actually have missed the entire season and come back the next year at my current ranking. That’s just dealing smartly, and I would encourage you, if you find yourself in a similar situation, to do the same. Don’t just disappear; communicate with your leadership and follow any procedures they may have. You never know what may happen in the future, so leave yourself all the options you can.

But none of that is the point of the story.

Continued...