All Sports
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...
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...
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...
Team Works
Most people think two teams are required for an athletic competition. Officials know better. It takes three — the teams scheduled to take 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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
Your Chance to Shine
How do officials make it to the top of their respective sport? What characteristics are necessary to achieve that goal? For years, both as...
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...
For Warned
Warnings come in a variety of forms. There’s “the look,” “the stop sign” and “the quiet word,” to name a few. Each can be...
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...
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...
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...
Crew Glue
When any game assignment arrives, all sorts of questions usually race through an official’s mind. First, who’s playing? Great teams? A rivalry game? If...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
