Psychology of Officiating

Psychology of Officiating

Psychology of Officiating

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...

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...

Impartiality in Addressing Coaches

I'm always ill at ease when an official with whom I’m working is on a first-name basis with a coach. Earlier this baseball season,...

The Association Isn’t Backing You

One problem that officials can face is being unable to find dependable support, which is needed for a wide variety of reasons. For example,...

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...

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...

What It Takes To Get What You Want

S ome years ago, Brian Tracy, one of the world’s leading experts in personal development, said, “Success is goals and all else is commentary.” Imagine the...

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...

8 Steps to Better Communication

When it comes to the necessities needed in becoming a successful sports official, the art of conversation might not seem to be high on...

How to Handle Difficult Situations in These Contentious Times

It takes brains, wit and a cool head to handle difficult situations and navigate the various on- and off-court/field minefields officials have to deal...

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...

Moving Forward After Disappointment

Officiating mimics life. Do it long enough and you’re sure to experience the full gamut of emotions. There are times when you’ll experience incredible...

Defeat Negative Attitudes. Enjoy Your Games.

Situational negativity occurs when a specific recent incident causes one official to adopt a negative attitude toward another official. Imagine a football crew in...

Saving One Official at a Time

I met with a friend last year who I heard had gotten out of officiating after only a few years. I thought perhaps his departure...

20 Inspiring Books For Sports Officials

If you had inside access to the bookshelves of college and professional officials and officiating leaders, what books would you find? Sure, rulebooks are...

Connect the Head and the Heart

Sports officiating is an emotional challenge. Gonzaga University’s Rachelle Strawther knows this firsthand after her experience running a sports and officiating soccer program in...

For Basketball Officials, the Journey is the Destination

To achieve maximum personal success and productivity as a basketball official, one has to be highly motivated and have a positive attitude. Furthermore, to reach and...

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...

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...

When Your Partner’s Out of It Mentally

You show up at the game site. You’re pumped. You meet your partner. Something’s wrong. He or she is distracted, upset, not engaged. You can see right away...

Don’t Let Self-Criticism Detract From Your Successes

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...

Reduce Officiating Stress and Improve Performance

Officials are quitting at record rates and many veteran officials have testified sportsmanship has become much worse over the years. Others want to stay...

Get it Right the Next Time

We’ve all had one. Or two. Or 102. That moment when stark reality hits and you realize you have just kicked the ever-living daylights...

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...