Step-By-Step Focus
The pause, read and react technique has been used for many years. Some associations call that process, wait, interpret, choose. Others coin it, read,...
Still Work to Be Done When There’s a Break in Play
The referees accept the coach’s or captain’s request for timeout and blow the whistle, starting the timeout procedure. Both teams usually move to the benches for a quick...
5 Time-Tested Tips to Be Great Behind the Plate
There is nothing quite like the feeling of walking off the field after a stellar performance behind the plate. But having a great game calling balls and strikes...
Pati Rolf Moved From College Coach to High Level Official and Has Never Looked...
A lime green toy pig, gifted to Pati Rolf by the distraught motorist who accidentally struck her on snowy Minnetonka Boulevard in Hopkins, Minn., nearly 50 years ago, endures all...
In ‘Crews’ Control
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here is nothing more beautiful in softball umpiring than watching a crew work together to cover the diamond. When it is a well-oiled machine,...
Prevent Timing Errors
There are three seconds to play in the game. The score is tied and team A must go the length of the court to...
The Stands Have Eyes
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or roughly the first half of my amateur umpiring career — which lasted from 1966-2016 — umpires could go about their business without having...
Double the Trouble
Unlike in football and basketball where referees must determine the legality of athletes crashing into each other on almost every play, baseball is a...
Make New Officials Comfortable Before the Match Begins
Any number of factors can affect how effectively a referee team works together, especially if one or both assistant referees are comparatively inexperienced. The center referee’s awareness of possible weaknesses...
Stay on Script With Signals
Like it or not, we officials are on a stage of sorts, playing a role and contributing to the production. By that standard, we...
How Should We Relate To Catchers?
A long-standing topic of debate in baseball circles is how we should relate to catchers. There are several schools of thought.
I’ve heard some umpires...
Big Match Support
Your assigner calls — you got the championship match. Your mentor calls — you just got picked for State Cup. The State Referee Administrator...
When Are You In Charge?
The NFHS strives for consistency among all the sports for which it writes rules. The jurisdiction of officials has come under recent scrutiny as...
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...
Come to Terms With Definitions
This winter, I was approached by the leadership of my local high school umpires association about serving as a classroom instructor in preparing brand-new...
3 “When In Doubt” Judgment Guidelines
According to Webster, judgment is the ability to make a decision. An official’s judgment calls will be questioned more often than his or her...
How to Keep Your Head From Spinning
The athletic spin move is often one that players, coaches and fans love to see during a game and also one that makes officials...
‘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...
When To Stop A Game
When to stop a game because of darkness or weather are among the toughest calls of an umpire's career. Next to those, you might think...
How to Handle a New Crew Member
If you’re used to working on a crew with the same people from week to week, you know that you can quickly reach a...
Reducing Apparel Costs Works For Umpire Recruitment
The Fox Valley Blues Umpires Association (FVB) is a baseball umpires association in the Chicago metropolitan area which has been in steady growth mode...
Three of the Toughest Judgment Calls
In most seasons, false starts are the most frequently occurring fouls and arguably the foul that requires the second least amount of judgment (calling...
Just Deal With It!
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f umpiring were simply confined to ball/strike, fair/foul and safe/out rulings, it would still be a game fraught with disagreements about arbiter judgments, but...
For Football Officials, A Fine Line Between Hustle and Over-Hustle
Moving energetically, sometimes referred to as hustle, not only creates a positive perception, but it can help officials get where they need to be to call the play properly....
