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General items of interest to all officials that don’t fit in the categories above.
Employee or Independent Contractor?
Update: June 14th, 2019 - View the court's ruling
Some of history’s bloodiest conflicts were started over a small insult. A pastry chef not receiving...
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...
Benefits and Landmines of Working Multiple Sports
More and more, we seem to lose sight of the fact kids might be playing three sports just for the fun of it. Now,...
Keeping Players Safe is JOB ONE
W
hen it comes to player safety, photos (and film clips) speak a thousand words.
A video montage created for a session at the 2016 NASO...
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...
Pastoral Care in the Officiating Community
A
s COVID-19’s reach expanded globally during the spring of 2020, people and the organizations of which they were members scrambled to adjust to everything...
Video Changing the Face of Officiating
One of my favorite books is Instant Replay. The author, Jerry Kramer, was an All-Pro guard for the Green Bay Packers. In 1968, he...
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...
How to Recruit U30s
Even before the pandemic, state high school athletic associations faced a significant shortage of officials across the country, which was affecting games. Heavy recruiting...
Officiating Organizations Stand Out at the Summit@Home
Often in officiating we only hear about officiating companies or organizations when they have a booth at a camp or clinic we're attending, or...
Rule Changes That Changed Everything
Officiating standards and practices have changed considerably over the course of time. So have the rules all of us are expected to know and enforce. The evolution of the rules...
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....
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...
Should Sports Officials Be Suspended?
Officials strive to do the right thing, enforce the rules correctly and administer the game properly. But inevitably, mistakes will happen. Sometimes it’s an error in...
Doors Opening Wider
Clockwise from top left: Amanda Bender, Maia Chaka, Kelly Dine, Sara Woods, Kaili Kimura
By Tim Yonke
In what could be a blueprint for women seeking...
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...
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...
50 Voices for 50 Years: A Halfway-Point Recap
We're officially at the midpoint of "50 Voices for 50 Years," the video series we launched to mark Referee Magazine's 50th anniversary, presented courtesy of...
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...
College Baseball Replay: By the Numbers
The 2019 college baseball postseason saw not only a significant expansion in what types of plays can be reviewed, but also an expansion of where replay was...
Comments Don’t Reflect Reality
The times have changed in sports and officials know it all too well. In the past the things people said to us while we...
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...
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...
Big Data’s Increasing Role in Sports Officiating
Rusty Acree got a call from Bill Carollo this past year, asking him to provide three years of Power Five (P5) replay data from...