Taking Care Of Business
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Covering legal issues, insurance concerns, and best practices related to taxes, reports and paperwork.
Keep Expenses Simple or Be Sorry
"KISS” is an acronym for the design principle, Keep It Simple, Stupid! When talking about your officiating taxes, it should be "Keep Expenses Simple."
The KISS principle...
Extreme Behavior Demands Ending Games Early
Legal issues for officials take many forms. Some are obvious. Others not so much. It’s easy to see how injuries to players can be precipitated by...
When Your Partner Doesn’t Show
Every time you take the floor or field as an official, drive a car, or even try to help someone put their bag in...
Step Up When a Player Goes Down
There’s a scramble for a loose ball. Before the ball is secured, the referee hears a scream. One of the players is lying on the court and...
Enforce Mercy Rules
The failure to follow a mercy rule is probably not enough by itself to make an official liable for a player injury. However, it...
Let the Media Handle the Postgame Commentary
When it comes to officials and the media, it might have been legendary major league umpire Bill Klem who said it best. “I don’t...
For the Fourth Time, That’s Enough!
Warnings — Give ‘em “the look,” “the stop sign,” the quiet word, the louder word, it doesn’t matter if you never take care of...
7 Things You Must Know About Game Contracts
By Alan Goldberger
Game contracts are a part of officiating. Every officiating assignment — at every level — represents a contract or part of a...
A Guide to Defending Your Officials
Every season association officers get letters, letters and more letters that may lead you to defending your officials.
“How could we have 10 fouls and...
Should You Sign A Post-Injury Waiver?
Consider this situation: There was a serious player injury that occurred during a game you officiated. An ambulance had to transport the player to the hospital for...
What is an Oral Contract?
The difference between an oral contract and a written contract is obviously the writing. A contract is simply an offer accepted by another party with the parties exchanging something...
Enforcing vs. Interpreting the Rules
Today’s high school sports officials are often caught between the “rock” of enforcing rules strictly and the “hard place” of interpreting the rules sensibly,...
Electronic Payments: Whys and Wherefores
If you have officiated long enough you have seen payment methods go from cash to direct deposit into your bank account or debit card....
Take a Peek Inside An Assigner’s Notebook
W
hile I have officiated since 1975, I have also served as a high school softball assigner and an NCAA Division III college football conference...
Proactively Address Abuse on the Court or Field
The failure to proactively address sexual and other forms of abuse of amateur athletes can result in severe consequences — including criminal prosecution of...
Coexist with Photographers
Officials are in the middle of the action, focused on the game but also aware of the sideline surroundings. Similarly, photographers and community access cable television camera operators...
Negotiating Officials’ Pay
A contract is a contract. However, sometimes the parties to a contract want to change the terms. Often leagues will renegotiate officials' pay for games each year with...
Can Player Ejections Be Overturned by a Court?
All state high school athletic associations impose postgame disciplinary actions on student-athletes and coaches who are ejected from a contest by reason of unsporting...
Don’t Even Let the Fight Start
When an official asks, ”What should I do if a fight breaks out?” I’m forever tempted to answer, “Dude, don’t let it happen again.”...
Write Incident Reports Right
It is one of the most distasteful duties any official is required to perform: the post-ejection or incident report that must be filed by...
Weather Woes
An important concept in officiating is learning to control the things that you can control. We can control the amount of time that we...
Rules Test Tips for Takers and Givers
There are those who argue that a rules test is not the most reliable method of determining an official’s rules knowledge. How much stock you place in...
What to Do If You’re Attacked
Assaults against sports officials are drawing unprecedented attention. Many states have passed legislation designed specifically to protect sports officials from being attacked. More and...
Don’t Officiate an “Unofficial” Game
Games can be over before they begin. Some officials fall into the trap of officiating the extra inning after a run rule, or starting...
