Art Of Officiating
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Covering conflict management, the psychology of officiating, best practices and officiating/life balance.
Be a Rock, Not a Robot
When people say, “There’s no need to get emotional,” that’s probably more true for officials than for the average person. Put a regular guy...
Balancing Officiating with Family
My wife asked me, “Where are you headed tonight?”
My kids asked me, “Are you coming to watch my game?”
My response to my wife and...
Use Your Confidence for the Good of the Game
Confidence is not a suggestion when it comes to being good in this avocation. It is at the core of what it takes to...
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...
Finding Acceptance as the New Person in Town
When I accepted the offer to join Referee as an associate editor in January, I had next to no concerns about how I’d fit...
48 Timeless Tips
The following "Timeless Tips" were originally targeted at first-year officials, but we believe all officials can benefit from these nuggets of wisdom. Enjoy.
You learn...
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...
Work Through the Noise
Suppose you ask most veteran sports officials privately. In that case, they will tell you the quality of officiating has never been better than...
How You React to Disappointment Defines You
Officiating is an interesting and challenging line of work, no matter your involvement. Whether you are an active official, assigner or administrator, decisions you...
Why Are You Talking?
When it comes to the necessities needed in becoming a successful sports official, the art of conversation might not seem to be high on...
Strategies to Stay Above the Fray
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the officiating industry has taken a heavy blow. All officials in some shape or form were impacted and continue to...
Four Errors You Might Be Making
We don’t like it when we mess up. Yet, in trying to eliminate errors, most of our focus is on rules and mechanics. The...
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...
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...
Effective Communication Improves Perception of Your Skills
Officiating team sports is complex and challenging. It involves effective positioning based on appropriate fitness, knowledge of the game, accurate perceptual judgment skills, leading...
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...
Sell the Tough Call
What do a ninth-inning call at home plate, a crucial roughing penalty late in the fourth quarter or a block/charge call all have in...
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...
Crew Harmony Leads to Better Games & More Fun
When any game assignment arrives, all sorts of questions usually race through an official’s mind. Who’s playing and where is it being played are immediate, but don't really...
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,...
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...
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....
Can Our Intuition Deceive Us?
By Rick Gaydos
A couple of years ago I was watching a local TV talk show. A panelist recommended a book that wasn’t typically sports-related but...
Kicking the Call
We’ve all kicked a call. If you say you haven’t, you’re a liar or delusional. When it happens, it’s one of those situations in which you’re all alone....