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General items of interest to all officials that don’t fit in the categories above.
More Players, Fewer Officials Point to Trouble Ahead
The NFHS reports a 16 percent increase nationally in the number of boys playing high school soccer in 2018 compared to 2009. While this may thrill soccer enthusiasts, it’s...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
The Game of Life
The coronavirus crisis has disrupted our individual and collective life rhythms. Rhythm generally means, a movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and...
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...
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...
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...
NFHS Executive Director Weighs in on Support of Officials
Dr. Karissa Niehoff needed no prompting to address the elephant in the room.
“We’re definitely supportive of the great work that our officials are doing,...
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...
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...
Test Pattern
If you’re a typical Referee reader, you’re college educated and have spent 15 or 20 years in school. That means you’ve probably taken thousands...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
Military Intelligence
Bob Delaney, vice president of referee operations and director of officials for the NBA, sees something special in officials with military backgrounds.
Teamwork and trust...
Get Great Series: Better by Next Year
If someone told you a they had a way to get better by next year, would you do it no matter what it was? ...
Catch This If You Can
It’s a question fans have debated for years: What’s the hardest thing to do in sports? Hit a baseball? Shoot par in golf? Score...