Art Of Officiating
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Covering conflict management, the psychology of officiating, best practices and officiating/life balance.
Pause Points Help Manage Stress
Officiating, at its core, is the ability to make quality decisions under stress. The loud environment, the passion of the players, and running up and down the field,...
How to Handle Difficult Situations in These Contentious Times
It takes brains, wit and a cool head to handle difficult situations and navigate the various on- and off-court/field minefields officials have to deal...
6 Common Errors and How to Avoid Them
It seems no matter how long a person has been officiating, and regardless of the sports he or she works, any official can fall...
6 Qualities That Get You Respect
In a business environment, you know the people you don’t like to work with. You know the laggards, the braggers and the ones who shove daggers in your...
When a No-Call is the Best Call
The absence of an official’s whistle has its own characteristic sound — that of continued action. That silence is thought to bring an official further along the line...
Integrity: What We Do vs. What We Say
Officials are the keepers of the game. That’s a very high stature. And with that stature comes lofty expectations of integrity.
Impartiality. Fairness. Morals. Those...
Showing Emotion Isn’t a Bad Thing
Judgment is an old concept in terms of human history, and as time goes on, humans are constantly trying to regulate judgment and eliminate emotion, to the...
20 Inspiring Books For Sports Officials
If you had inside access to the bookshelves of college and professional officials and officiating leaders, what books would you find? Sure, rulebooks are...
16 Unwritten Rules Of Officiating
1. When you “think” you saw something, YOU DIDN’T.
There are times you will be focused on action in your coverage area but something on...
Are You Ready to Be in the Spotlight?
Getting the big game — a state playoff contest, a showdown between traditional rivals or a game to decide a conference championship — is...
The Fine Line Between Emotion and Abuse
When an official works multiple sports, care needs to be taken as to what words or actions cross the line of emotion versus abuse. At the same time, however,...
6 Ways to Beat the Winter Blahs
Depending on the part of the country in which you live, winter can be a cold, bleak and depressing time of year. If you don’t officiate a winter...
Employ Active Recruitment To Get New Officials
How would you feel if you were thinking of getting into officiating and these were the recruitment slogans thrown at you?:
“Tired of the...
Ultimate Guide to Networking at Camps & Clinics
When a sports official goes to camp, it’s about whistles and rule books rather than swimming and s’mores. Referees and umpires choose to invest the time and money in camp...
Shut Out Distractions and Focus
Every game — whether it’s a youth contest or an NCAA postseason game — matters to the players. So it’s important we bring our best to every game....
An Effective Way To End The Argument
It is human nature to argue. When someone challenges your authority, your opinion or your knowledge, it’s normal that your first reaction is to...
Officials Who Coach
We start with my story.
I was officiating with a rookie partner (who had great potential) on a middle school championship basketball game. Perfect pairing...
Forget Perfection, Here’s 5 Ways To Be Great
Perfect games are for athletes and they are rare. A bowler or pitcher may achieve perfection once in a while. But beyond that, athletes, like officials, aren’t flawless...
Eight Ways To Avoid Negative Attention
The pages of Referee often feature the do’s for landing the next big game and breaking into the next level. But equally important to...
Core Values Form Your Foundation
There are as many different values as there are officials. Core values are those attributes we hold dear and they form the foundation on...
30 Basics of Officiating
If you've officiated for any length of time, you’ve probably heard most of these basics of our avocation before, but they bear repeating and...
Are You Choosing Your Partner Wisely?
Some sports officials do not have the luxury of choosing their game partner. Many organizations have a commissioner or game assigner that schedules each...
Attitude Adjustments That Improve Performance
There are a lot of things I know now that I wish I had known when I started officiating. One area that I needed attitude adjustments...
Four Errors You Might Be Making
We don’t like it when we mess up. Yet, in trying to eliminate errors, most of our focus is on rules and mechanics. The...
