Best Practices
30 Basics of Officiating
If you've officiated for any length of time, you’ve probably heard most of these basics of our avocation before, but they bear repeating and...
Are You Choosing Your Partner Wisely?
Some sports officials do not have the luxury of choosing their game partner. Many organizations have a commissioner or game assigner that schedules each...
Attitude Adjustments That Improve Performance
There are a lot of things I know now that I wish I had known when I started officiating. One area that I needed attitude adjustments...
It’s Not Your Timeout
A timeout provides officials with an opportunity to galvanize, regroup, clarify or simply maintain focus on the game at hand.
What can a person do in 60 seconds?
An Olympic-level...
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...
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...
Clinicians and Presenters Critical to a Successful Camp Experience
The best way for you to judge the effectiveness of a clinic or camp is to count the number of habits or procedures that...
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...
Lightning Protocol Advances with Technology
In the not-so-distant past, the protocol for handling lightning was straightforward for officials working outdoor sporting events at the amateur levels. If lightning was...
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...
Does Appearance Still Matter If You Get the Calls Right?
Beards and tattoos have become much more prevalent and accepted in today’s society than in years past. You see them on everyone from CEOs...
The Evolution of Explanations
Sports officials and microphones have a long history. In fact, one of the earliest instances involved Major League Baseball in 1929.
On Aug. 25 of...
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...
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...
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...
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...
What Supervisors Teach can be What Gets Called
In the local football chapter where I started officiating years ago, it has been the practice to have separate weekly training sessions for first-year officials. The feeling is...
Get Great Series: Better by Next Week
If someone told you a they had a way to get better by next week, would you do it no matter what it was?...
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...
Officiating’s ‘Workplace Guide’
Although officiating is an avocation for most of us, it is one that must be treated as a business. Officiating should be fun, but...
Turn The Cast Away?
One of the hazards of being a sports official is that you quickly become an expert consultant to your friends when they have a question about a rule...
Media Relations
Ask pro or major college officials if they have a nightmare media relations scenario, and they’re likely to reply, “Yes. Having one of my...
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...
A Veteran’s Advice for Newcomers
By Jerry Grunska
Newer officials don’t always know what they’re getting themselves into. There’s a lot to learn, and it goes beyond rules and procedures....
