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General items of interest to all officials that don’t fit in the categories above.
Recruiting & Retention: What Worked…What Didn’t
By Scott T. Glass
Nearly every officials association in the country is experiencing serious membership shortages. Recruiting new officials is a complex, deliberate organizational task...
Camp Preparation Do’s and Don’ts
You can stand out at an officiating camp best by doing exactly what your prospective boss expects in everything that matters. What matters? Here...
Officials Help Keep a Park District League in Operation
A few years back, the park district in our community started an indoor soccer league and offered players in the area the opportunity to...
2023 Gold Whistle Award: Violet Palmer
Violet Palmer, coordinator of women’s basketball officials for the Pac-12, West Coast, Western Athletic, Big Sky and Big West conferences, received the 2023 Gold...
The Top Officiating Stories of 2020
Pro Sports Delay Seasons
Professional leagues such as the NBA, NHL and MLS put the remainder of their 2019-20 seasons on hold in March when...
2023 Mel Narol Medallion: NFLRA
The National Football League Referees Association (NFLRA) was awarded the 2023 NASO Mel Narol Medallion Award in Riverside, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 1, during...
Master of the Rules
Mastery of playing rules doesn’t just mean ‘knowing’ what a rule reads
Rod Serling might have put it this way:
Imagine you’re attending your final year...
When a State Draws the Line on Sportsmanship
It’s no secret that sportsmanship issues are an ongoing issue in high school athletics. The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) decided to address the issue head on....
Spark the Fire to Create Lifelong Officials
We need more officials, plain and simple. The not-so-simple part is figuring out how to spark the fire in new recruits that will keep...
Summit @ Home Program Resonates
The Summit @ Home, which ran from Aug. 24 to Aug. 27 was a resounding success. Nearly 10,000 officials from around the U.S. and...
Be Prepared for Officiating After Covid
How will you feel when the COVID-19 restrictions are lifted and the games resume? Ecstatic? Relieved? Anxious?
How about prepared?
We will be experiencing a new normal in many...
Embracing Technology in Sports
No matter what sport you officiate, or even at what level, technology has become an integral part of sports. You have heard the popular expression, “Get...
I’m Working With Whom?
Partners and crewmates come in all different shapes, sizes and personalities. There are a lot of good ones out there, but then there are...
Know More About Teams To Make Situations Easier
Many of us have checklists that we ponder in the days or hours leading up to a given contest to make sure we’re ready to officiate. We make sure...
Is There Still Room for Personality In Signals?
In the old days, style and flair in officiating was easy to recognize. It was prevalent in a lot of games. Today, most assigners...
Defining the “It” Factor
Rules knowledge, mechanics and making the right calls are important. Missing any of those elements can break your career, but having them won’t make...
Can Coaches Openly Criticize?
When a Missouri girls’ high school basketball coach publically said negative things about the officiating after his team’s playoff loss last season, athletic administrators...
You Think Writing Rules Is Easy?
When I think about the process of writing rules, I remember a "The Far Side" cartoon in which some solemn-looking American colonists were gathered around another...
Suspensions and Terminations Impact All Officials
Officials have never been under greater scrutiny. In the wake of high-profile officiating suspensions and terminations, Referee publisher Barry Mano examines the deep impact...
Drone Protocol
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n more than 40 years as a referee at the high school, college and professional levels, Bruce Maurer has seen his share of the...
Why I Love Officiating
No matter what sport or level we work, we are bonded. We are drawn together by a passion for officiating those outside the industry...
Are Big Calls Even A Thing Anymore?
The proposition is simple enough: safe or out? foul or not? catch or no catch? A good official has had hundreds of big calls in his...
NASO Survey: Diversity & Inclusion
The NASO National Officiating Survey asked questions that focused on diversity and inclusion topics. The 2017 survey of 17,487 officials provides invaluable insights into...
Rushing in to Assist
In September 2017, Hurricane Maria tore through the northeastern Caribbean. The deadly Category 5 storm hit Puerto Rico especially hard, causing billions of dollars...