Art Of Officiating
Home Art Of Officiating
Covering conflict management, the psychology of officiating, best practices and officiating/life balance.
Work Through the Noise
Suppose you ask most veteran sports officials privately. In that case, they will tell you the quality of officiating has never been better than...
Postgame Discussions The Right Way
It was a tough game and not much went as planned. Now it’s time to break down where it all went wrong. It‘s a stressful situation and...
How to Be Consistently Right
Should being consistent be a goal for all officials? The answer is no. Being consistently right is what our goal should be. We always hear from coaches that...
Your Inner Voice Is Part of Your Officiating Crew
Everyone, including officials, must employ self-talk at some point. Is your self-talk positive or negative? Does it enhance or hinder your performance? Does it...
How Officials Can Control Emotions in High-Pressure Moments
Officials often tell me, “I have difficulty managing emotions during high-pressure moments.” I’ll then ask the official to give me some examples of situations...
The Limits of Tolerance
Sports officials encounter differing degrees of behavior while on the job. A zero-tolerance policy is unrealistic, but there are limits to what we should...
How Video Has Changed Officiating
One of my favorite books is Instant Replay. The author, Jerry Kramer, was a guard for the Green Bay Packers and is now in...
Anti-Social
Social media and sports officials are increasingly colliding, creating new risks that officials at every level must understand and manage carefully. As officials, social...
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...
The Art of Listening to Coaches
Successful officials are approachable and are good listeners. They recognize they have two ears and one mouth and they use them in that proportion....
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...
More Than Words: Master the Art of Officiating Body Language
When people hear the word “communication,” they think of how one person speaks to another. A sometimes overlooked yet critically important method is body...