Art Of Officiating
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Covering conflict management, the psychology of officiating, best practices and officiating/life balance.
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...
The Big Difference Between ‘Hearing’ and ‘Listening’
There are essentially five reasons why people listen: to gain information, to empathize, to anticipate responding, to make judgments and to enjoy the reception...
Everybody Wants a Problem Solver
One type of person all businesses want is a problem solver. The same can be said for any type of athletic event. They want...
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...
Your Calls Linger After You
You may think the impact of your officiating is confinded to the time the clock is running and ends at the buzzer, but your...
4 Tips for Talking to Coaches
Talking to coaches is not an exact science; they are as different as anyone else you would encounter in another forum. What works with...
7 Roommate Tips for Camps and Tournaments
These 7 tips give officials helpful hints on how to be a good roommate when sharing a room at a camp or tournament.
1.
Figure out...
Techniques to Speed Up Games
One of the great debates in sports these days is how long it takes to play the games. Television has been a great boon...
Bounce Back from a Bad Game
Ever had one of those nights when, for whatever reason, you’re off your game? Whether it’s because you were distracted by issues that have nothing to do with...
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...
Self-Evaluation is Critical
Having both the ability and willingness to self-evaluate is
critical to becoming a better referee. Whether you do youth, school or amateur games, you must...
Get Great Series: Better By Next Month
If someone told you a they had a way to get better by next month, would you do it no matter what it was?...
Balance is Beneficial
Having your priorities straight means having balance in your life — job, family, officiating and other things important to you. If you put too much emphasis...
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...
Welcome to the Show
All officials have their first game at one time or another. We have heard stories of the officiating greats and how they got their...
53 Things Every Rookie Should Know
1 You learn how to better express yourself so others understand exactly what you mean
2 You’re going to get yelled at.
3 You’re going to...
Oklahoma Referee Tackles Bad Behavior Using Social Media
Veteran soccer official Brian Barlow of Broken Arrow, Okla., believes a little public shaming is not necessarily a bad thing.
Especially if it results in...
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...
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...
Getting the Play Right Is Not Enough
Many officials can cite large swaths of the rulebook from memory. Others know down to the inch where the mechanics manual says they’re supposed to be on the field or court. But...
Sometimes There Is No Right or Wrong Call
If you put 30 sports officials in a room, regardless of the sport, and watch a tight play on video, what happens during the...
Creating Your Officiating Legacy
The average American can expect to live about 79 years. That’s roughly 28,835 days to leave your mark on the people you know and the places you go....
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,...
Leave Your Bad Day at Home
Television newsman Neil Cavuto says, “There’s nothing wrong or evil about having a bad day. There’s everything wrong with making others have to have...