Art Of Officiating
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Covering conflict management, the psychology of officiating, best practices and officiating/life balance.
Squeezing the Last Drop Out of Your Talent
For most of the movie “Whiplash,” music instructor Terence Fletcher curses, rails at, belittles and humiliates his students.
When he encounters one of his former...
What the Best Instructors Do Right
Whether we've been officiating for some time, figure ourselves to be seasoned vets or we simply have three more games under our belts than...
Confidence Through Strong Body Language
The score is tied in the championship basketball game with less than a minute remaining. The fans in the packed arena are on their...
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...
Big Game, Big Stage
Most of us lead a simple life. We’ll never have to go through the drudgery of another game at Soldier Field or Madison Square...
Be Prepared When You Travel to Assignments
Whether this is your first year or 10th year as an official, there is great anticipation while you await your schedule. You can’t wait...
Connect the Head and the Heart
Sports officiating is an emotional challenge. Gonzaga University’s Rachelle Strawther knows this firsthand after her experience running a sports and officiating soccer program in...
Tips on Handling Blowouts
Sometimes games are less than games; they are a mish-mash of horrendous play
and lopsided scores. Officials can either contribute to the mayhem or else...
Have No Officiating Regrets
Sometimes you can do everything in your power to get a call right and still blow it. That’s a tough regret to live with,...
Coaches Mentality
Coaches and officials can have an adversarial relationship because of the primary difference between official’s and a coach’s mentality: Coaches care who wins and...
What It Takes To Get What You Want
S
ome years ago, Brian Tracy, one of the world’s leading experts in personal development, said, “Success is goals and all else is commentary.”
Imagine the...
Eliminate Your Own Distractions
There are many things that might disrupt an official’s concentration during a game. They might be internal or external and could happen during play...
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...
Have an Appreciation for Other Officials’ Hard Work.
A cartoon that appeared in another publication depicted a young boy on the department-store Santa’s lap. The youngster says to Kris Kringle, “I don’t...
Put a Bad Game in the Rearview Mirror
Every official has had a bad game he or she would rather forget. Whether it was a kicked call, problems with a partner or...
When to Retire
Are you thinking about retiring soon, or do you think that decision is years from now?
In talking to people about retiring from any job,...
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...
Stay Focused until Game Conclusion
At any sporting event, you’re likely to hear someone holler, “Keep your head in the game!” That heckler might not be referring to the...
Fight Negative Comments with Finesse
Sometimes people will make negative comments knowing you’re an official. So how should you react? Here’s a vote for speaking up on behalf of...
Why Coaches Yell
Referees frequently talk about how much coaches yell at them. We’d all like to have them yell less. Yelling at referees rarely improves performance. In fact,...
5 Post-game Discussion Strategies
It’s been a long day. There was the travel to the event, the pregame meeting, a long grueling contest, some testy coaches, an opinionated...
Ride The Rhythm Of Your Season
Rhythm generally means a movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite/different conditions, and every sports official knows...
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...
What to Do When Fans Cross the Line
What’s the protocol when a fan throws something on the court or field? How do you react on a personal level, and what should...
