Best Practices
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...
Six Points of Simple Wisdom
There's a lot of simple wisdom out there, but sometimes those are the things that ring most true. Here are a few to think...
Traveling Etiquette 101
There are practices that should always be followed when traveling with officiating partners to make sure everyone gets to the game on-time, and gets along with...
How To Develop The Mental Skills to Thrive as an Official
How to develop the mental skills needed to thrive and advance in officiating.
By Karen Swanner
D
o you have the mental skills to become one of...
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...
Don’t Go Looking for Fouls
The trouble with learning to officiate is that almost the entire focus is on recognizing fouls and calling them. Therefore, beginners not only concentrate...
Expect Little and You Won’t Be Disappointed
The spectrum of accommodation made for officials is vast. If you've been continually disappointed perhaps, unfortunately, your expectations were a bit high. What do...
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...
What’s Acceptable Contact Between Officials & Participants?
The issue of the propriety of any two human beings touching one another runs the gamut of the human condition; from liberal to conservative, man to woman, western to eastern....
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...
4 Reasons We Fail to Get Help
I stumbled upon a couple of clips of MLB games and got a chuckle out of how the announcers reacted to two situations. It’s...
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...
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...
Employ Active Recruitment To Get New Officials
How would you feel if you were thinking of getting into officiating and these were the recruitment slogans thrown at you?:
“Tired of the...
Increase Concentration in One-Sided Games
One-sided games are no fun for anyone, except for the team that wins, of course. Generally speaking, the losing team and the officials just...
Etiquette for Video Training
Using video for training purposes is no longer the discovery of the age. Gone are the days we have to give a blank video...
How To Get A Postseason Assignment and Make The Most Of It
How do you get a postseason assignment? What skills are important when doing those big games? How do you stay at the top when...
Elements that Determine a Successful Crew
In the sports world, a team’s success is determined by wins and losses and, to a major extent, by the number of championships it...
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...
Does the Stop Signal Work Anymore?
Check out this portion of a discussion thread from a basketball referee online chat circa 2007:
“Anybody ever notice how a lot of the talk...
Working Youth Games Is Good For Everyone
Youth leagues are where many officials get their start, particularly those who begin officiating at a young age. Those games provide a good place...
Pregame Meeting Etiquette
Pat the referee arrives at Hometeam High School for a basketball game. With Chris, the inexperienced partner, in tow, Pat approaches Hometeam Head Coach...
Arrive and Shine With Good First Impressions
How you enter the arena, stadium, field or other facility says a lot about you. Do you casually stroll in? Are you laughing, confident,...
A.D.’s Who Officiate Give Tips On Working With Game Admin
As officials, it’s desirable to maintain quality working relationships with the athletic directors of the schools where we work. As in any working relationships...
