Art Of Officiating
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Covering conflict management, the psychology of officiating, best practices and officiating/life balance.
Appreciating Every Game
It's easy to get caught up in chasing the next assignment, the next postseason opportunity, the next rung on the ladder. But every now...
Give Yourself Some Grace
Think about how many times in your career you received real-time praise from a fan, a coach or a player. Compare that with the number of times you...
What the Best Officials Keep Doing
You received the plum assignment, playoff game or bowl game you’ve always wanted. If your group has a scoring system, perhaps you graded out first at your position. You're...
8 Steps to Better Communication
When it comes to the necessities needed in becoming a successful sports official, the art of conversation might not seem to be high on...
Maintain the Rhythm of the Game
A game is a kind of dance, with its own unique rhythm. Not completely, but they have similar elements. One team is on offense...
Breaking Up With A Partner Is Hard to Do
Cutting off an association with a crewmate or partner may be the most difficult thing an official ever has to do. Even though diplomatic...
Understanding Player Intensity Helps Game Control
It’s all fun and games until someone (insert injury here). Such can be the case when players get too wound up for their own...
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...
Restart Readiness
At a time when scrutiny of officials is greater than ever before, the need to get plays right is Job One. Most evaluators won’t...
No Crime to Ask For Help – If You’re Smart About it
Every official has faced it: a close call, rising tension, and everyone on the sideline looking to see if you’ll turn to your partner...
Your Officiating Style Should Embrace Personal Growth
It's been one of those games. Every stop in play, someone from each team is complaining, and that doesn’t even include the coaches, who...
Kicking the Call
We’ve all kicked a call. If you say you haven’t, you’re a liar or delusional. When it happens, it’s one of those situations in which you’re all alone....
Don’t Lose Your Passion
Think about the last 10 officials with whom you’ve worked. How many of them brought passion to their game? What was your initial reaction...
Correcting Bad Behavior With Well Timed Warnings
W
arnings come in a variety of forms. There’s “the look,” “the stop sign” and “the quiet word,” to name a few. Each can be...
Become Unflappable with Emotional Control
When people say, “There’s no need to get emotional,” that’s probably more true for officials than for the average person. Put a regular guy...
Always Time for Teachable Moments
Whether it is during the prematch conference or a postmatch debrief, a formal evaluation or a self-evaluation, or in a classroom clinic setting, we...
Are You Mentor Material?
Mentoring is a great way to give back to the avocation, but it’s not for everyone. So what does it take to be the...
9 Ways to Reach Your Dream Assignment
There’s a common human urge to improve. It runs through our work lives, the activities we undertake for enjoyment and our officiating endeavors. That urge manifests itself in sports...
Keep Communication Lines Open with Players
While officials have a fair amount of contact with coaches during a game, they are most often communicating with players. Here are some suggestions...
4 Habits of Successful Officials
If you took a poll of coaches and players and asked them to name the skills and habits that are important for a game...
5 Ways to Manage Conflict
When situations explode on the field or court, it's up to sports officials to restore the peace and manage conflict. In managing conflict, showing a little empathy, demonstrating good listening skills and providing people with options rather than...
Career Suicide Can Be a Killer
Officiating is unlike many endeavors in that hard work, diligent study and the right temperament are not guarantees to success.
Conversely, there are several...
7 Ways to Avoid Attacks
Unfortunately, in today’s culture, many officials have been followed out to their car by unfriendly people after a game. Others have been threatened during or after a...
Climb Your Mountain
A mountain is such a commonly used metaphor because it provides beautiful imagery to our goals and the challenges we face to reach them. Every...