Facing Discipline? Be a Professional
The best way for an official to address association discipline is to not be disciplined at all. Be a professional. Officials who are...
All-female referee crew works Oregon high school football game
An all-female referee crew made Oregon high school football history last week as the first all-female crew to work a game in the...
Keep Watch on Baserunners Abandoning Their Base
Webster’s defines abandonment as “to leave or forsake completely; to give up possession or control of or to give up, discontinue or withdraw...
Kenny Owens Named DCSAA Executive Director
Kenny Owens, who has helped to shape the DC State Athletic Association’s growth since its creation in 2012, on Tuesday was named the...
Statewide referee shortage causing dozens of games to be rescheduled
High schools are seeing a statewide shortage of referees this fall, causing dozens of games to be rescheduled and even potentially canceled.
Watch Now: TASO Historic All Female Football Crew
TASO Football has created a video to commemorate the historic first ever all female football officiating crew for a varsity game in Texas.
Ode to the referee
I am, of course, talking about the referees — the unsung heroes of our sports who take the time out of their lives...
Kelly Dine Covers All The Bases
The year 2020 was, well, not a great one for many people.
But at least Kelly Elliott Dine had wonderful memories of 2019 to...
Avoid Match Problems With Solid Communication
As crazy as this might sound, have you ever thought of volleyball referees being in the customer service business? One might advance the...
Big Ten Referee Jerry McGinn Shares His Best College Football Stories
On The Bench with Mike Hall: Big Ten Football Referee Jerry McGinn.
’96 Hall of Fame member and longtime referee Reinhold Spath dies at 91
National Soccer Hall of Fame member Reinhold Spath, who refereed more than 5,000 games in his 30-year career, has died.
Jim Tunney: Shortages!
They are asking for able-bodied men and women to sign-up to officiate high school sports. There just aren’t enough to cover all the...
NFL: Week 2 referee assignments
Scott Novak and his crew are on deck for this Thursday night’s contest between the Giants and Washington. Alex Kemp’s crew is off...
Insistence on Consistency
Calling Them the Same Is the Elusive Goal
Be consistent.
If you’ve officiated for any length of time, you’ve likely heard that comment on numerous...
Conference Calls
Conferences occur in every game. It is extremely important for umpires to understand the rule differences between the codes to know what is...
Collision Course
So you think baseball is not a contact sport?
Look at the photo that accompanies this article, captured during the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association...
Lineup Logistics
During the course of a game, and a season, a lot of things can go wrong when it comes to lineup cards. One...
Sure Thing
Officiating is all about making decisions. That’s arguably the one and only reason they give us a paycheck. Sometimes, in the process of...
Signal Specialist
Umpires have a variety of ways to communicate with each other, coaches, players and fans, both verbally and non-verbally. One of the best...
Education or Evaluation?
Decades ago, when I got started, umpire clinics and camps were almost unheard of. (To me, a clinic is a one- or two-day...
Rungs of the ladder
In my time as a minor league and collegiate umpire and supervisor, I was often asked what umpires should do to move up...
Understanding Assigners
I’ve never known an official who was completely satisfied with game assignments. Most think highly of their capabilities and believe they deserve the...
