Art Of Officiating
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Covering conflict management, the psychology of officiating, best practices and officiating/life balance.
When Your Game is Postponed
Your bag is packed and you’re just about ready to head out for your game when the phone rings. A chicken pox outbreak at...
Who Gets The Longer Leash?
As officials, we unfortunately know that emotions run high in sports and every official must understand how to react appropriately when someone at the game...
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...
6 To Do’s Before Play Resumes After a Stoppage
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...
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...
Let the Whole Play Happen Before You Call It
Sports officials must understand the game they are working or they’re in for a heap of headaches. An official must know the rules to the best of...
Defeat Negative Attitudes. Enjoy Your Games.
Situational negativity occurs when a specific recent incident causes one official to adopt a negative attitude toward another official. Imagine a football crew in...
Get Great Series: Better by Tomorrow
If someone told you a way to get better by tomorrow, would you do it no matter what it was? How about if it...
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...
Right Way to Turn Back a Game
In most aspects of life, there is a right way and a wrong way. Such is the case when you turn back a game. Knowing the difference...
Manage High Stress Situations So You Don’t Choke or Panic
Why do some officials perform poorly when under pressure? Ruling out poor positioning, misapplication or misunderstanding of the rules, inexperience and absentmindedness, one must turn to psychological explanations for official underperformance....
Improve by Eliminating Anger
Perturbed. Agitated. Ticked off. Peeved. Whatever label you give it, we all know it. Whether the cause is a know-nothing loudmouth in the stands,...
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...
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...
Why We Officiate
1. Camaraderie
The fellowship and humor officials share with one another are incomparable.
2. Boos
There’s nothing like fans booing when you have the silent satisfaction of...
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...
Study The Game To Improve As An Official
One of the greatest things you can do to help improve your officiating is to gain a better understanding of the game itself, whatever...
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...
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...
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...
Reduce Officiating Stress and Improve Performance
Officials are quitting at record rates and many veteran officials have testified sportsmanship has become much worse over the years. Others want to stay...
Automatic Eject Button
Skim the rulebook for any high school or college sport under the section of automatic ejections and the word “flagrant” is likely to appear.
For...
Get To The Point With Game Language
Good officials must know the language of their respective sports and be able to communicate that language in a way that coaches and players...
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...