All Sports
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...
No Argument About It
Not all arguments with coaches end perfectly. The goal of all officials is to resolve volatile conflict quickly and to an extent that allows...
Type Casting
To be a top official you must understand coaches, their goals, their methods and their tactics. Coaches’ personalities range from timid to terrible, from...
Think A-Head
Athletes in many sports that involve contact, either against opponents, teammates or with the ground/floor, are susceptible to concussions, a brain injury that interferes...
Timeout Talk: When Officials Should Huddle
In most sports, teams are allotted a specific number of timeouts so coaches may confer with players. Although timeouts may also be used in...
Everybody’s Talkin’
Pregame conferences during the pandemic were often short or non-existent. Many schools asked us to come dressed and masked and arrive at the game...
Understanding Assigners
I’ve never known an official who was completely satisfied with game assignments. Most think highly of their capabilities and believe they deserve the big...
Insistence on Consistency
Calling Them the Same Is the Elusive Goal
Be consistent.
If you’ve officiated for any length of time, you’ve likely heard that comment on numerous occasions.
It...
Zeroed In
One of the biggest challenges in officiating is how to be completely locked in mentally for the entire game. It is of upmost importance...
Touch and Go
According to the website deepenglish.com, the handshake dates back to knights in Medieval Europe. Mistrustful fellows, they would shake the hand of those they...
Letter Perfect
M
nemonics are devices intended to assist the memory, as a verse or formula. A popular example, HOMES, is an acronym to help recall the...
Principles With Interest
O
fficiating has been in my blood since I was a scholastic wrestler during the mid-1960s. Throughout the decades, I gradually began to understand the...
Your Attention Please
T here are many things that might disrupt an official’s concentration during a game. They might be internal or external and could happen during...
Help Yourself
I stumbled upon a couple of clips of MLB games and got a chuckle out of how the announcers reacted to two situations. It’s...
What’s Your Angle?
Esse Baharmast had the key angle to make the right call.
During the 1998 World Cup, Baharmast, NASO’s 2011 Gold Whistle Award recipient, awarded a...
Pace Commander
How to set and maintain a good pace to a game is not often discussed at camps and association meetings. But if players are...
Sure Thing
Officiating is all about making decisions. That’s arguably the one and only reason they give us a paycheck. Sometimes, in the process of decision-making,...
Fair Ball
Coaches have all sorts of creative ways to question the ethics and integrity of officials. During the pregame meeting, they are often curious about...
Best Selller
The score is tied in the championship basketball game with less than a minute remaining. The fans in the packed arena are on their...
Collision Course
So you think baseball is not a contact sport?
Look at the photo that accompanies this article, captured during the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division...
No Dead Ends
When the late Jerry Seeman was NFL director of officials, he developed his 10 Commandments for Officiating. Ninth on his list was: Thou shalt...
Forgive, But Don’t Forget
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...
Arrive And Shine
How you enter the arena, stadium, field or other facility says a lot about you. Do you casually stroll in? Are you laughing, confident,...
Tip Top
In the 44 years Referee has been in existence, tens of thousands of words have been devoted to helping officials improve their performance. Our...