All Sports
Want to get better?
How good an official do you want to be? How much do you want to improve? Good officials, no matter their level of experience...
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...
‘Big Time’ Attitude Is for Small People
By Jeffrey Stern
Virtually every local association or chapter has at least one official who has “made it big,” the member who has worked a...
Brand New Ballgames
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...
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,...
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...
Not-So-Secret Agent
At a referee development camp I attended, the camp director began with a single question: “Who is your agent?”
After a period of silence that...
You Got Next
A
t a time when scrutiny of officials is greater than ever before, the need to get plays right is Job One. Most evaluators won’t...
Don’t Fan The Flames
Between the lines, sports officials have every right and can take immediate action to eject a player or coach from a game for unruly...
Slay the Drag-on
One of the great debates in sports these days is how long it takes to play the games. Television has been a great boon...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Type Casting
T
o be a top official you must understand coaches, their goals, their methods and their tactics. Coaches’ personalities range from timid to terrible, from...
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...
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...
Pleasure Crews
"Perception is reality.” When it comes to officiating team sports, that’s often the absolute truth. It doesn’t matter what sport you’re officiating, crew cohesion...
