Art Of Officiating
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Covering conflict management, the psychology of officiating, best practices and officiating/life balance.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Hone Your Edge in the Offseason
For many, the offseason is welcomed in the same way a teacher welcomes summer break — with open arms. You ’ve worked hard but now it’s time for...
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...
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...
Effective Relationships With Coaches
I was working a boys’ basketball game a few years back and the home team was getting shelled. They couldn’t shoot, pass, handle the...
Give Yourself Some Grace
Think about how many times in your career you received real-time praise from a fan, a coach or a player. Compare that with the number of times you...
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...
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....
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...
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...
The Limits of Tolerance
Sports officials encounter differing degrees of behavior while on the job. A zero-tolerance policy is unrealistic, but there are limits to what we should...
The Right Way to Share and Accept Criticism
W
hich of the following is defined as “the art, skill or profession of making discriminating judgments”?
a. Sports officiating.
b. Studying texts for the purpose of...
Make Your Time Work For You
Adding officiating to your already busy schedule can cause a painful time crunch. But if you manage your time well, you can fit officiating...
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...
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...