But was Klem right? Officials who watch what they say — and to whom — before and after games are perceived as competent and impartial and are less likely to have their calls during games challenged. Officials experience more legal difficulties, often from their actions off the court or field, than they do from their actions on the court or field.

Officials have the immense responsibility of rendering split-second decisions on technical matters under complex and confusing rules codes. Those decisions can lead to catastrophic injuries. They can be seen as affecting won and lost records, which in turn, can spell the difference between a job kept and a job lost. When those decisions — and the players or coaches affected — are discussed and dissected by officials in the public forum of the media glare, officials are often seen as less than competent, or worse, less than impartial. For that reason, officiating manuals for high school and college sports have long cautioned referees and umpires that their job description does not include that of “color commentator,” play-by-play analyst or media celebrity.

Public commentary regarding a player injury or the events leading up to it could be used as evidence in a lawsuit.

While that is a hard lesson for some officials to learn, officials who work the game and go home generally are more well-regarded than those who “talk a good game” with gratuitous remarks. Public comment is not only inappropriate, it can be dangerous.

Public commentary regarding a player injury or the events leading up to it could be used as evidence in a lawsuit. Let’s say a referee tells a reporter that he warned Jones three times to stop throwing elbows in the post before the center’s nose was broken. When the center sues, the official shouldn’t be surprised when his interview will be used in court to demonstrate the official’s negligence.

The football referee who goes on the radio to confirm that Bigtown’s linemen were trash talking all afternoon could be the first defendant in a lawsuit. There is little excuse to let those situations happen.

Professional officials frequently explain calls and game situations to the press. Most professional officials are also employees of a business that dictates policies. Pro sports have different goals than high school, college, recreation and youth sports. Those who officiate pro sports are, in many respects, working in the entertainment business. For the rest of us, we are in the “sports are fun, educational and safe” business. There’s a big difference. Professional officials have a depth of sophistication and experience dealing with pro athletes and others in the industry. Although you know you are impartial, reality and perception in the way the public, the players and the coaches regard officials are two different things. If you officiate and go home, you still have done your job.

The post Let the Media Handle the Postgame Commentary appeared first on Referee.com.

Criminal background checks certainly are not as invasive as someone coming to your home for a look around, but the presumption that digging into an official’s personal history is no problem – unless there is a problem – might not sit well with the official being dug into. The thing about that is, you might not have much of a choice, especially if you want to continue officiating.

In the past five years, more and more governing bodies have been inquiring into the backgrounds of current and prospective officials. And when they do, virtually all of them draw the line somewhere on who can work for them based on the details of their checkered pasts. Is it justified? Many say yes. Is it fair? Not always – but what is? Is it legal? Good question.

Following are 8 questions your association, league, conference or organization should ask before setting a background check policy.

1 Are your officials already the subject of background checks at the state high school association level or at some other governing body level?

2 Who are you going to run background checks on? Are you going to check your applicants or your current members or both?

3 Is it legal to run background checks on your members in your state? Have you complied with whatever the law of your state or province is?

4 What are you checking for? Are you doing a criminal history check? Are you doing psychological inventories? Are you doing credit checks?

5 Do you need to get consent from the officials you’ll be conducting background checks on? If so, how are you going to secure that consent?

6 Who will have access to the information gathered from the background check?

7 Is an official who fails his or her background check entitled to a hearing or an appeal? Will there be due process? Are you required to give that due process by law?

8 Is it a life sentence? You need to know what you’re going to do with the information. If an official is expelled or suspended, is it forever, or can that official come back in one year, two years, 10 years?

The post What Do You Have to Hide? appeared first on Referee.com.

When something goes wrong in those situations or a player gets hurt, the official who agreed to start the game under his or her oversight is likely the one to be holding the legal liability ball.

Officials owe a duty of care to the game’s participants and spectators to keep them safe and to play by the set of rules. Teams agree to be held to league rules and officials who decide to officiate a contest outside of the playing rules adopted by the league have breached their duty to the participants because they have failed to follow the required league rules. It can be seen that an unofficial game is being played with rules set by the official — not the league — and the teams may not know what all of the rules and procedures are in those scenarios.

Most leagues/associations clearly outline the requirements to start and end a game. Officials are contracted to officiate only the games meeting the requirements. If officials work games outside of the established league rules, the league, the league’s insurance and the official’s insurance policy are unlikely to step in if a claim or lawsuit is filed.

While most of the time nobody gets hurt or seeks a civil suit in those unofficial games, you may find yourself at the wrong end of the whistle if a case is filed. Playing a game with teams shorthanded, or in an unsafe and non-compliant field could spell legal complications for officials. If you are a member of NASO and work an “unofficial” game that was originally sanctioned by the league or association, under the NASO insurance policy you are covered. However, if you are working a game that is not sanctioned by your league or association, then you are not covered.

To avoid that dilemma, here are some tips that can help you avoid an unofficial game.

Follow the league rules and procedures for those situations. If you show up and a game can’t be played for some reason, keep the coaches informed so it doesn’t come as a shock when you have to leave and cannot officiate that day. A statement like, “The league will not cover me if I officiate this game if the requirements are not met,” can go a long way. The coach can always take up the matter with the league. Learn your association’s policy on those situations, and read your liability insurance policy. If you are unsure of the best course of action, call a league/association representative to get an official opinion before working an unofficial game.

Avoid those legal traps to keep yourself from getting called out in court.

The post Don’t Officiate an “Unofficial” Game appeared first on Referee.com.

“I am extremely loyal to my present firm, so please don’t let them know of my immediate availability.”

“Please don’t misconstrue my 14 jobs as ‘job-hopping.’ I have never quit a job.”

“Goal: To get a job that will help my resumé look better.”

If you’re serious about advancing your officiating career, you need a resumé that won’t land in the nearest trash can – or worse, posted on someone’s wall.

When it comes to your officiating resumé, you should take it no less seriously than your normal career resumé. An officiating resumé probably won’t get you a job, but it might get you a look. Think of it this way: If the goal of a regular resumé is to get a job seeker an interview, then the goal of an officiating resumé is get an assigner or supervisor interested enough to take a look at your skills.

Considering that many supervisors feel the same way, getting them to come watch you work will go a long way toward advancing your career. That’s where your officiating resumé needs to do its job.

Like any resumé, your officiating resumé has to pass the assigner or supervisor’s screening process (requisite competition levels, number of years’ experience, etc.), to give basic facts intended to influence the assigner or supervisor (conferences worked, postseason assignments, camps/clinics attended, etc.) and to provide up-to-date contact information (address, telephone, cell phone, e-mail, etc.).

If done right, it also will establish you as a professional person with high standards and excellent skills, based on the fact that the resumé is so well done (clear, well-organized, well-written, well-designed).

Referee contacted various high school and college-level assigners and supervisors and asked them what they look for in an official’s resumé. Turn the page for the details.

Keep It Short

A resumé is an introduction, not a chapter and certainly not a novel. Nearly every assigner and supervisor contacted for this story indicated that no resumé should be any longer than one-and-a-half pages in length and preferably only one page.

Goals And Philosophy

Many resumés start with a stated goal that can be tailored to whichever league or conference you’re trying to break into. In addition, it’s a good idea to write a brief statement of your officiating philosophy. That’s not to say you should describe how you officiate, more why you officiate.

The Basics

Every resumé should have the absolute bare essentials. In addition to your name (duh!), address, phone numbers, e-mail, etc., a bare-bones, no-frills officiating resumé “should include the highest level officiated, the most recent level officiated and the number of years officiated,” as Don Collins, retired commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation-San Francisco Section, puts it. Anything beyond that is gravy.

Show Your Commitment

Your resumé must make a strong case for why you’re better than the next guy. Russ Thomas, retired athletic administrator for Milwaukee Public Schools, wants to see a list of “continuing education highlights, including camps and clinics attended either as a presenter or participant.” When it comes down to a choice between you and the next guy with everything else being equal, the official who demonstrates a commitment to the craft gets the nod.

Make It Meaningful

Include only the information that will be helpful to an assigner or supervisor. “Include job constraints,” says Dennis Kostac, president of the Green Bay (Wis.) Officials Association. “(But) I do not want to hear restrictions that officials have because of travel. I expect officials to work all sites in my conferences unless they have relatives or other personal connections to a school.”

Getting Personal

Some personal info is a fine addition as long as you keep it brief and don’t get too personal. Listing your day job and community involvement is fine. Listing the number of times you’ve been divorced, your dog’s name and religious preferences is not fine. Boucher says he likes to know” a little personal history/information outside of officiating (to get a sense of) character and community standing.”

References

References are a must, and if you can fit them right on your resumé (as opposed to an attachment), all the better. Who should you use for references? Stick with people the assigner or supervisor is likely familiar with.

Movin’ On Up

When tailoring your resumé to a particular league or conference, it’s not a bad idea to attach your current officiating schedule for that sport, especially if you’re looking to move up a level.

The post How to Write an Officiating Resumé appeared first on Referee.com.

Officials should not sign post-injury waivers when they work a game in which a player is severely injured. Quite frankly, officials should not sign post-injury waivers under any circumstance.

Interestingly, the point could be moot: A post-injury waiver might not be valid. Basic contract law could invalidate the waiver. A contract requires both sides to make a commitment. The official has already entered into a contract to work a game and is entitled to his or her pay without making any additional commitments. If a court should determine that the school exerted leverage to get the official to sign a post-injury waiver, then the waiver may not hold water as the official would have made a new commitment (waiving his claims) for the pay he was already due (meaning the school made no new commitment). On the other hand, it is possible that the official was not compelled to sign, and the waiver could stand.

Even if the waiver is valid, its effect is not clear. One would have to read the waiver. However, it is difficult to see how any waiver that an official signs with a school would prevent an injured player from suing the official. The official’s concern when a player is injured should be with her own defense and liability, not with signing documents that may protect the school.

Ultimately, the official should consult with his or her attorney and insurance representative before signing waivers. Officials can ask their association, their league or the state governing body to help them get their pay if the school is actually using pay as leverage for the waiver, and officials can go to small claims court as a last resort to receive payment.

The wise official needs to take some steps prior to worrying about the waiver, though. The proper thing for officials to do after a game in which there was an injury is to document the game. The official needs to do this for the most practical of reasons: The official may not remember the game if and when they are sued. An injured person may not bring their suit for a year or more depending on the state where the game is played.

An official does not need to do anything fancy to document the game. The official just needs to record information such as the date, the teams, the game time, and the official’s partners. Then the official needs to note unusual occurrences and the acts they took prior to the unusual occurrences, such as a field inspection, breaking up a fight, enforcing a coaching box or restricted area rule, any penalties assessed when the unusual occurrence or injury occurred and whether the official had to take any steps after the unusual occurrence or injury occurred. T

he official’s documentation is a file report. An official should not send this report to the league or governing body unless required to. Officials should note that their interests tend to coincide with the league or governing body’s interest when it comes to ejections and unsportsmanlike incidents. The league or governing body is essentially reinforcing the official’s acts with an administrative sanction, and courts tend to give the official’s acts great deference as courts do not wish to substitute their judgment for the official’s judgment on game calls. However, that’s not the case with injuries. Courts force leagues, governing bodies and officials to parcel out degrees of liability. Courts don’t give great deference to officials when it comes to injuries. Officials should not share their file reports unless mandated to.

Finally, it is not enough just to make file reports where you think there was a severe injury. Officials probably can detect the most severe of injuries, but officials can’t determine whether other injuries will be perceived as severe by students, parents and schools.

An official’s best solution to the problem of being sued for a severe injury that didn’t seem severe at the time is document all games. Some college and professional leagues mandate this, but it’s not a universal practice. An official may wish to think of this as an officiating resume with a notes column for unusual occurrences. Indeed, in some sports an officiating resume is required for selection to high level events, and for advanced certifications.

Ultimately, signing a waiver after an injury is a poor idea. However, it is a good practice to prepare for a lawsuit, and the best way to do that is to keep good file reports about the games you worked.

The post Should You Sign A Post-Injury Waiver? appeared first on Referee.com.

Game contracts are a part of officiating. Every officiating assignment — at every level — represents a contract or part of a contract. Contracts are the vehicles that bring your game assignments to you. At the end of the day, contracts do more than that — they define an official’s rights and responsibilities.

Just like every sport has ground rules, there are rules that go with game contracts. Officials need to know those rules.

1. What is a Contract?

An old lawyer (older even than me) once said: “In the legal business, when we want somebody to sign something we call it an agreement. When we don’t want them to sign it, we call it a contract.” In truth, there is no difference between the two. The term “contract” simply denotes an agreement between two or more parties that creates legal obligations. So, a contract is really not a piece of paper with writing on it, but a meeting of the minds, marked by an exchange of promises. Sometimes, but not always, contracts are put in writing. Either way, in a game contract, the expectations and the obligations of the assigner and the official come to life: I promise to work the game. You promise to pay me a game fee. If it were only that simple. Now that we know what a contract is, what else do we need to know?

2. The Essential Elements Parts of a Contract.

Contracts have “recitals” and “decretals.” Recitals in contracts are basically the contract’s mission statement: They give some of the background and reasons behind the parties forming their agreement.

Decretals include who does what, including the obligations that we have to officiate, the event, the responsibility of the league, school or organization to pay us, and everything in between. Representations is a fancy word for statements made by the contracting parties: What do you promise to do? What’s your background? Who are you? Who are your partner(s)? What are your credentials or accreditations, which in some states would be licensing and in some states, certification.

Independent contractor descriptors are a good thing to put in the contract to help determine if we’re independent contractors or employees. Can a contract assure that officials, coordinators and assigners are independent contractors? No, but contracts that describe the nature of the assignment sure can help.

If we are the assigning agency, obviously we need to put in the contract at least the following:

• Who’s playing.
• What they are playing.
• Where it is going to happen.
• How much we are going to pay.
• What time we have to get there.
• How many officials will work the game.
• Their positions.

Is it a good idea to include items such as security, parking, the locker room and the site manager? Yes and no. If you are the assigning agency, of course, you don’t want to promise anything you can’t deliver. If you are the official, you’d like to see all those items in your contract. Either way, those are topics that are adequate fodder for officiating contracts.

3. Whose Party is This?

Who are the parties to our game contracts? In the area of game contracts, the nature of the industry tells us we have a big cast of characters. Assigners, leagues and conferences immediately come to mind. In some areas teams engage officials directly or indirectly. At various levels of sport, sponsoring entities, youth programs and other entities will reach out to officials or their associations. And don’t forget that municipalities and other public entities engage officials, as well as officials associations. All of those persons, institutions and organizations could be parties to a contract to officiate.

Often we have officials engaged by one person or entity to work for another. A good example is college conferences will engage referees or umpires who are not working for the conference, rather working for the home school that is required to pay the officials, the contracts so recite.

From the official’s perspective, know who you are working for; often the person assigning the games is not the person who pays the game fees!

4. Creating a Legal Relationship.

Does a contract need to be in writing? Not necessarily, but it definitely helps avoid misunderstandings to have a well-written agreement. How about third-party companies and the electronic method of assigning? Many assignments are made via email and various proprietary software applications. Regardless of the medium — software, email, web-based — or if the contract is parchment, a notepad or on the back of an envelope, all can be evidence of a valid contract.

Regardless of the form, it is what’s in the contract that creates the obligations and rights. In recent years, Internet and email-based game assignments have streamlined the process. At the same time, questions arise. If you are making assignments, what kind of arrangements do you have with the assignment agency? Is the assignment agency also the one facilitating the payment of your game fees? Questions we want to be asking include: Where are the fees parked until the time they actually go out to the officials in the form of a deposit, a debit card or check? If you are on the assigning or hiring end of the contract, make sure that the company you deal with is insuring or segregating those particular funds and that you can get the money back if needed. If you are on the officiating side of the deal, make sure you know who is paying you regardless of whether it’s check, cash, electronic funds transfer or direct deposit.

The legal relationship aspect speaks to whether or not officials are independent contractors or employees. Contrary to public opinion, there is often no black or white answer to that question. Rather, the answer will often depend on a particularized analysis of a number of factors. From the hiring entity’s point of view, if you’re concerned about making officials independent contractors, a key strategy is to educate and train just as much as you can (that’s what we’re about as officials). We want to regulate and control only as much as we need to, but no more.

Our contracts outline who does what as far as working a game and who was assigned by whom and whom that official is working for. Beyond that, the statement that you are an independent contractor because it says so in the contract may work and it may not.

5. Contractual Ground Rules.

Every game has ground rules and that is no different with game contracts. The ground rules obviously have a lot to do with the standard of performance. How do referees and umpires conform to fulfill their contracts?

Woody Allen said, “Showing up is 80 percent of life.” But that’s not quite enough in our line of work. Now, it’s what happens before and after the game that can get us in legal difficulty, in public relations difficulty and in all kinds of difficulty that we need to be concerned with in our contracts. For that reason, game contracts need to deal with the before and after part as well. Therefore, game contracts should incorporate by reference, for example, “a high school basketball game under NFHS rules” or, in some cases, the applicable casebook and the manual. Tell them what rules we are playing by. That really helps a lot. Those are the ground rules of contracts.

No matter the sport, somebody is watching from the time we arrive till the time we drive away with or without the police escort. Pregame and postgame deportment has become an important part of game contracts.

For example, a well-drafted contract could outline pregame and postgame deportment, including proscriptions regarding comments about teams and personalities or actions that detract from the appearance of impartiality that all successful officials must maintain.

6. What If?

In addition to the basics covered, game contracts allocate responsibility when the wheels come off the wagon. How can that possibly happen? Well, what if the game is off? Obviously there are cancellations, everything gets cancelled once in a while, even a wedding or two. Certainly a ballgame, once in a while, gets cancelled. What happens if the game starts, but it doesn’t finish? Environmental factors could have an impact on that, and other reasons like civil insurrection or the officials couldn’t control the game, which might lead to early termination. Lots of things can happen with games that start and don’t finish, like games that start and finish badly or games that don’t start at all.

What happens if the officials don’t show up? What do we do? Do we cover it in our contracts? We should. What happens if the official sends a substitution, but forgets to tell Mr. Assigner or Ms. Commissioner? What do you do in that case? Suppose both coaches do not want a particular referee, even if there were no other officials available on the face of the earth? What happens if we have aberrational conduct where the game is on, but the official is off? Unfortunately, reports of bizarre conduct of officials acting in an antisocial and aberrational manner abound. Sometimes that results in officials being asked to leave by the governing authority. What do you do in those cases? Do you have it covered? Does your contract earn its money?

Officials have administrative responsibilities after the game as well.

Recent NFHS rule changes in most sports specify that the officials’ job is not over until all required reports and correspondence are completed after the game. Therefore, we may still have some work to do after the game, particularly if there were disqualification or worse. That work should be provided for in your game contract.

Social media sites often feature sports officials with photographs posted, some with conference affiliations or officials with high school affiliations who have said, “I worked for Joe Smith at West Dingbat High School last week, and I’m working for him next week, and he’s not going to get away with what that crew let him get away with two weeks ago.” It happens. Officials who inhabit social media sites and talk about personalities are looking for trouble. Many officials don’t think about the consequences of ill-advised digital gossip. That’s why we have to address social media in our contracts.

7. Short-Term Benefits – Long-Term Exposure.

As officials, we are what the retailers and the marketers call seasonal merchandise. The economics of officiating often dictate how many games an official will get, who he or she will work with, and if he or she will have to work with that official again. The official may declare that he or she “deserves a better schedule than that.” Truth be told, whatever contract an assigner offers, officials are likely to sign because they get to work. So, basically, if you’re an assigner, an administrator or an assigning agency, you get to choose your weapon — choose whomever you want to send to the game consistent with your association’s regulations.

Hopefully, you get to cover the game and you get to dictate the terms.

Finally, if your officials are your employees and you are their employer, you may be responsible for the mistakes they make that result in legal liability. The questions that will be asked in many cases: Who hired these guys? What did they do about training them? Don’t you supervise them? Do they often let the game get out of control? In most cases, should litigation arise, the question becomes, “What did they do about supervising?”

Those are some of the key elements that cover the legal landscape of game contracts. While the list is not all-inclusive, an understanding of the basics can help navigate the ground rules of contracts for officials and their assigners.

The post 7 Things You Must Know About Game Contracts appeared first on Referee.com.

Fortunately, courts understand that officials are not responsible for every injury that occurs. For there even to be a question about an official’s liability, the plaintiff must be able to point to something the official did wrong or something that the official should have done. In other words, the official must have committed a negligent act or omission by failing to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances.

Some states go further in protecting officials from liability. Those states say that an official should not be liable unless he acts with gross negligence. NASO has supported that movement, urging states to adopt statutes that would permit liability only upon a showing of recklessness or gross negligence.

There is no clear line separating conduct that is negligent from grossly negligent. Some examples illustrate the difference: In one case, two softball players were injured because the “field” was a cement playground littered with broken glass. The umpires were repeatedly warned about the field’s condition, but they ordered the players to continue with the game. A ball was hit to the outfield, the fielder slipped on the broken glass and collided with a teammate and both players were injured. The court held that the umpires’ conduct could lead to liability. By contrast, in another case, an umpire permits play to continue on a field that is slippery from rain and a player is injured as a result. The official will be far less likely to be held liable, because the decision to continue play in rainy conditions is far less clear-cut than a decision whether to play softball on a concrete surface covered in broken glass.

When injuries are caused by other participants’ violent conduct, officials have even more protection from liability. In such cases, the plaintiff must argue that if the official had made different calls earlier in the game, the injury would not have occurred. But players sometimes act violently regardless of whether officials employ a strict enforcement standard. If officials make decisions to avoid lawsuits, the game will suffer. 

Even illegal conduct should often go unpenalized. For example, in hockey, nobody expects referees to penalize every action that meets the rulebook definition of crosschecking or slashing. Courts understand that referees have a familiarity with the cultures of their sport, and accordingly  will grant officials leeway in deciding how strictly to enforce the rules.

All in all, courts will presume that officials’ decisions are reasonable attempts to manage their games. Officials have expertise that courts lack concerning the rules and cultures of sports. Courts will accordingly show officials deference before imposing liability. However, when officials go beyond their discretion, they may be found liable.

The post Tort Liability for Game Officials appeared first on Referee.com.

Sometimes, officials look at writing reports as a laborious chore. If the report never gets done, those officials risk forgetting key information if they’re required to reconstruct an incident much later. Equally important, those officials are doing an injustice to other officials. If you don’t identify a coach in a misconduct report, the proper authorities may not know the coach is a problem.

For example, let’s say coach Smith received two unsportsmanlike fouls in two different games, neither of which was reported by officials. Later in the season, coach Smith picks up a third unsportsmanlike foul. This time, however, the official reports it to the proper authorities. The governing body thinks that is coach Smith’s first incident, but it is actually his third. The proper authorities were not able to track coach Smith’s pattern of poor behavior because the officials failed to file reports. Those officials hurt themselves and others.

Game Reports

Game reports are often treated differently from misconduct reports, but are equally important. In some conferences or leagues, game reports are required from officials after every contest. Those reports look for patterns of behavior and are used to specify player injuries, etc.

Game reports don’t always have to have a negative tone either. Many high school state associations are encouraging officials to note positive experiences and good sportsmanship and send reports to their offices.

The specifics. There are a few givens that should appear in any report:

1. Date and time of the incident.
2. The game location.
3. The names of all the officials involved, plus the names of the teams and, if possible, the names of the head coaches.
4. Weather conditions (if played outdoors).
5. Field or court conditions.
6. Light conditions, especially if the game was played outdoors and light played a factor (for example, a softball game finishing at dusk).
7. Game situation at time of incident (for example, the inning or time left in the period).
8. Detailed description of incident or injury, including any medical attention given and by whom.
9. If possible, names or numbers of players involved.
10. Additional notes or diagrams if necessary. You may want to include things that led up to the incident if you feel they are related.

Writing Strategy

The tone you set in your report is very important. It speaks to your credibility. Stick to the facts. Don’t make hyperbolic statements that can’t be proven, such as, “He approached the player with anger in his eyes and punched him.” Avoid those drastic conclusions and you’ll gain credibility.

Avoid using vague terms. “The coach lost total control of himself.” What does that mean? It’s too vague and subject to interpretation and criticism. Only relate what you observe. Don’t bring up hearsay or past experiences, unless they’re directly related to the incident.

Don’t speculate. “The players’ actions are a direct result of the coach’s lack of control.” That’s not only a bold statement, but how can an official know that the coach’s actions led directly to the players’ actions? Those are dangerous speculations that usually can’t be proved.

Avoid recommending courses of action, like, “The coach should be suspended for his actions.” The official’s job is to relate the facts, not pass judgment. Let the appropriate authorities handle the punishment. Also, don’t threaten. “If someone doesn’t stop this team from acting like they do, I’m not going to work any more of their games. Plus, I’ll spread the word at my local officials’ association and soon no one will work with them.” By threatening, your credibility dissolves. Keep in mind that what you’re reporting is likely a bit outside of the norm during a game. There’s no need to report on every cross word you have with a coach or player. When in doubt, however, file the report.

Jot down pertinent information as soon as possible after the game. Coordinate your thoughts with your partner(s). The incident is fresh; the more you wait the more you’ll forget. Use a phone, tablet or simply bring a note pad and pen to each game so you’re ready if you need it. Recording a voice message to yourself is also a handy approach, that way you can take time writing down later.

After you’ve written the report, let it sit for a while and think about something else. Consider having another respected official read it to provide input. Then, re-read the report as if you were the person receiving it. Does it clearly convey what happened? Is it credible? Does it have the proper tone? If so, you’re ready to send it.

The post Good Reports Earn You Respect appeared first on Referee.com.

As budgets are reviewed, some athletic directors attempt to set officials’ fees for three-year periods without increases and without negotiation. Despite typically working with associations on year-to-year agreements, those athletic directors are considering lengthening their officials’ agreements to save money, have a static budget number and to avoid the financial stress to their schools.

Is that legal? The answer all depends on the details. If your association has a contract with a league for a certain rate for games officiated this season or for a longer period of time, the league can’t unilaterally change the terms of the contract to pay officials without breaching the contract. If the league wants to change the amount it pays officials during the current contract term, it must renegotiate the contract or be liable for damages to the association and the officials working the league’s games.

However, if the season has ended and there isn’t an active contract between the league and the association, then all bets are off. Despite a prior contract calling for officials to be paid a certain rate, the rate can change from contract to contract just as other terms can be different than prior contracts.

If leagues or schools are suffering from budget cuts, or looking to freeze officials’ pay, negotiating for a pay rate to cover multiple seasons makes sense for a league. They save money and have certainty as to the officiating budget for the term of the contract.

While that may be good for the league, it isn’t good for officials. While amateur officials aren’t looking to get rich from officiating, they still want to get paid what their services are worth. There are a few things that can be done to make sure you and your association don’t get caught in a pay freeze situation.

First, select leadership for your association with negotiation experience and the understanding of the interests of association members. If your association puts quality leaders in place, it’s likely to end up with acceptable terms that meet the needs of the members.

Second, associations may want to avoid agreeing to long-term deals with leagues without having the officials’ fees increased periodically throughout the contract. The leagues need officials. Most areas don’t have many choices for officials associations, so the relationship should be mutually beneficial.

Third, keep the lines of communication open. Negotiations between leagues and amateur associations need not be lengthy. Open communication will help each side understand what the other side wants and help reach an agreement quickly.

Trying to change the terms of a contract unilaterally isn’t fair. To decrease the chances of having problematic situations with the leagues you’re working with, put good representatives in place to represent your officials, avoid having your association sign lengthy deals without periodic pay increases and keep the lines of communication open.

Follow those tips and you can avoid arguing about your contract and get back to arguing about your calls.

The post Negotiating Officials’ Pay appeared first on Referee.com.

The law also requires “covered individuals” to report suspected child abuse, including sexual abuse, within 24 hours of learning of facts giving reason to support such a claim. Under the law, “covered individuals” encompasses a broad swath of adults who interact with minor or amateur athletes.

What does this federal law have to do with referees and umpires? A “covered individual” is defined as: “… an adult who is authorized, by a national governing body, a member of a national governing body or an amateur sports organization that participates in interstate or … international amateur athletic competition, to interact with a minor or amateur athlete at an amateur sports organization facility or at any event sanctioned by a national governing body, a member of a national governing body, or such an amateur sports organization.”

Does the law mention “officials”? It’s in the “Safe-Sport” part. Aside from the fact that officials are certainly “authorized to interact with athletes of all ages at many levels including youth and amateur levels,” the law also authorizes the United States Center for Safe Sport, an independent organization, to put procedures in place to safeguard the well-being and rights of amateur athletes to be free of abusive conduct.

Officials can face the prospect of liability for not reporting abuse

Officials face the prospect of criminal liability for not reporting abuse and being subject to, at some levels, disqualification from officiating should they commit an offense that comes under Safe-Sport jurisdiction. The law gives athletes the right to sue for personal injuries.

Many officials will be directly affected by the law. Officials working youth or other amateur sports at regional or national venues where athletes have traveled across state lines to compete are placing themselves in situations where many interactions among athletes, coaches and sometimes officials will occur — both during competition and after hours. Officials in some sports, e.g. wrestling, may have additional interactions with student-athletes outside of the playing surface. The possibilities are endless — as is the legal exposure.

Officials should anticipate untoward situations. At the same time, officials have a right to expect their local associations or governing bodies to take stock and provide at the very minimum, some specific advice regarding the potential impact of the law and what it means for individual officials working at or near a covered venue.

Each group will need to evaluate its legal obligations and rights in light of the current law and new laws that impact sports to see if an association or its members need to take action or make adjustments.

The post Proactively Address Abuse on the Court or Field appeared first on Referee.com.

If you’re faced with stands full of parents and fans and two teams ready to play without a partner to work with, your options are limited. You can either cancel or postpone the game, work the game alone, or recruit someone from those in attendance to assist you.

“Is there a Referee in the house?”

Obviously, working a game with an unqualified person who came out of the stands is more risky than working with another member of your association. The guy just helping you out probably doesn’t know the rules and is a lot less likely to watch for contact away from the play or blow the whistle you loaned him. On the other hand, since both teams agreed to have him work the game, they’ll understand. The law will only expect him to do what a reasonable person with no specialized experience or knowledge would do.

Of course, the law will expect more of you. If things go sour, you’re going to be the one asked to explain why you let things get out of hand. Consequently, there is no doubt you are at a higher risk if you work the game with Joe or Josephine Fan. However, is that additional risk enough to have you tell everyone there will be no game today because you’re short an official?

Most state governing bodies will not allow varsity games to be officiated by someone out of the stands. Needless to say, if you have that rule, you must follow it and tell everyone you are prohibited from working the game with anyone not properly registered. Failing to do so will lead to more problems. A lower-level game with limited physicality and a low potential for potentially injurious contact doesn’t present much of a legal threat. On the other hand, even a JV, junior high or rec league game can be nasty. You don’t want to have someone out of the stands help you work a game between teams that are notorious for aggressive, physical play.

Where does your game fall on that continuum? Most of our games are probably on the less threatening end of the scale. We don’t want to overthink the situation by refusing to have someone help us out calling that fifth grade, 10-minute-half, running-clock game. That said, there are going to be occasions when it’s just not a good idea. You need to use your judgment to decide if it is one of those times. If the game becomes more physical than you had anticipated, you can pull the plug and tell everyone you can’t continue with just one qualified official. That’ll probably upset everyone and may offend your “partner,” but it’s better than having someone get hurt. It’s also why it’s a good idea to err on the side of not doing the game if you have any doubts.

The post When Your Partner Doesn’t Show appeared first on Referee.com.

One team is there, ready to go. You do your own warmup and go through your pregame mechanics with your crew but as game time approaches there is still only one team present.

Right before the scheduled start time, a caravan of cars or perhaps a school bus comes racing into the parking lot.

The coach of the late-arriving team finds you, apologizes for being late, tells you the reason why they couldn’t get there on time and asks, “Do you mind if we start a little late so our team can warm up? Because, after all, it’s cold and rainy out.”

What is your role here? Do you have the power to delay the start of the game? Do you have any legal liability if you tell the coach, “No, we are starting on time today.” What if you are willing to delay the start but the “on time” team insists on starting on time?

What’s a referee to do?

Use the following decision formula.

Follow the league rules

First, know, understand and follow the rules of the competition or league in which you are officiating. Those rules may call for an on-time start, no excuses. They may provide for a grace period, after which the game will not be played at all.

This is especially true in a “showcase” or “tournament” situation where there may be games scheduled back-to-back all day long.

Allowing your game to start late may have many repercussions later in the day, including added costs to the game organizer for field rental.

If there are no established rules for the competition, but there is either a school administrator or a tournament official present, let him or her make the call, because this is his or her job.

While you are the “judge and jury” on all of the facets of the game once it starts, you should let an administrator sort out the bona fides of the excuses given and weigh the pros and cons of starting late. Then, you just do what the administrator asks you to do and include that information in your match report.

With no rules and no administrator, have the opposing coaches discuss the issue and come to an agreement if they can. You won’t go wrong abiding by whatever agreement they reach.

If the coaches cannot agree, err on the side of safety and allow a reasonable time for a warmup, again noting the issue in your match report.

As a referee, you have broad discretion on matters of player safety. While legal claims against referees are rarely successful, you lessen the risk of a claim even being made by making a decision that, in your judgment, is based on player safety.

For the coaches who don’t like your decision to start late, simply inform them that you will write up all the facts in your report.

Assuming that you have followed this formula, the overwhelming likelihood is that the league/tournament will back you up, players will be safer, and the risk of a legal claim for injury being made against you for making that particular decision goes down to just about zero.

The post Safety and Warmups When a Team Arrives Late appeared first on Referee.com.

The KISS principle states that most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complex, therefore simplicity should be a key goal in design and unnecessary complexity should be avoided.

The acronym was first coined by Kelly Johnson, lead engineer for the Lockheed design team. Johnson handed the team a handful of tools with the challenge that the military jet aircraft they were designing must be repairable by an average mechanic in the field under combat conditions with only those tools. Hence, the “stupid” refers to the relationship between the way things break and the sophistication available to fix them.

Someone should tip off the IRS to the KISS principle.

According to answers.com, there were 71,684 pages in the United States Tax Code, six times the length of the Bible. Some allege that the Code is now 82,000.

When dealing with that unwieldy code, I recommend that taxpayers use KISS for everything they do. The goal is to fulfill the requirements of the tax code but do so as simply as possible.

Sometimes, it is almost impossible to keep things as simple as we would prefer, like when we travel outside our home area to officiate. IRS regulations allow the deduction of travel expenses for those trips. You can deduct all of the expenses related to the travel, including your transportation, lodging, meals, telephone charges, uniform cleaning and incidental items on the Schedule C of the 1040 form. But you also have to be able to demonstrate that you incurred those expenses, if asked. Just showing that you paid for plane or train tickets, a hotel room or a rental car is not enough.

The IRS will expect to see the actual tickets, hotel bills or rental car bills with your name on it and the dates involved. If you share those expenses with other officials, make sure you get a copy of those bills and record your share of the expenses on it and the names of the other officials.

If you incur personal expenses unrelated to your officiating while you are traveling, do not include those expenses as part of your deductible travel expenses. For example, if you travel to a relative’s home, those expenses are not deductible.

You are not necessarily obligated to have receipts for incidental items like taxis, gratuities and tolls, but if you can obtain a receipt, get one.

Whether we like it or not, a long and complicated tax code will probably be with us for the foreseeable future. What are your chances of being asked to justify your expenses in an audit?

According to IRS statistics, individuals had a one in 90 chance or 1.1 percent. The number of audits increased more than 11 percent in recent years. But individuals who are sole proprietors of their own business, which is true of many sports officials, have more than twice the risk or 2.6 percent.

As my high school Latin teacher used to say: “Verbum sapienti satis est” (A word to the wise is sufficient). I remember that quote even though Latin was my worst subject.

The post Keep Expenses Simple or Be Sorry appeared first on Referee.com.

The past two springs in the Midwest have been, to be polite, unkind. Some would put it more bluntly and call it downright brutal. For those that live in more favorable climates, consider yourself lucky; you are certainly smarter than us northerners! Many sports seasons are more than a month old, but cancellations have been more frequent than actual games played. A lot of officials will contact local schools where they can go and call scrimmages before the season starts. If you’re able to take advantage of this opportunity, it would certainly be to your advantage. Although it’s not the same as real-game action, it is certainly better than nothing. Seeing some live play before the season begins can only help.

Battling weather issues can also make it hard to stay sharp. If you have weekend games with a few weekday games scattered here and there, rainouts can make for a lot of time between jobs. It can be difficult enough to officiate; calling a game once every few weeks can make it feel like you’re starting from square one every time. Sticking to the basics and staying fundamentally strong will ensure that you’re able to survive a lot of time off between games.

Keeping your calendar updated can allow you to pick up some of the games that get postponed due to weather. That can also help prevent you from having too much time between games. Check your email regularly and contact the schools in a timely manner to stay on top of things as well. Some schools have been moving games to fields that have artificial turf. These late changes can happen quickly: Be prepared to be flexible in regards to doing what it takes to try to get a game in. Bottom line, keep the lines of communication open so you know what’s going on.

Once the game starts and weather might come in to play, be sure that you’re well-versed in what rules will govern stoppages and potential suspended games. Know what to do in terms of lightning and how much time must elapse between sightings. Also, make sure you communicate with your crew. It’s often better to discuss those situations, as getting another unbiased opinion usually proves to be helpful.

Yes, we all wish that our games were played in 75-degree weather with the sun shining. Depending on where you live, that might only be reality for a very short period of time. In the meantime, do the administrative things before the game and take action during the game when dealing with weather situations. And then get ready to do it again tomorrow. Weather permitting.

The post Weather Woes appeared first on Referee.com.

You may be tempted to embellish the truth, especially when the coach has touched one of your “hot” buttons. Since such embellishment may be anything from merely your opinion of the situation to an outright lie, avoid it at all cost.

There is nothing to be gained and much to be lost. If it is discovered that you have padded the truth, it not only (rightly) calls your integrity into question, it may well nullify any penalty the coach faces.

Sometimes officials concentrate so thoroughly on the game that some specifics of the incident are lost before they step back into the locker room. If you have a situation that requires you to write an incident report, take a few moments immediately after the situation has been brought under control — and before play resumes — to jot down the important facts: the name(s) and number(s) of the offender(s), the game situation (period, inning, time), and exactly what precipitated the ejection or incident. Just write the facts on your report. Keep everything else to yourself.

Unless you totally lost control of a situation, the coach probably deserved what you gave him or her. Sometimes after things have cooled off, officials decide they’ll “do the coach a favor” by withholding the more embarrassing details of the event. The mistaken theory is that the coach will appreciate what you’ve done, and the next time you have them in a game, things will be rosy.

Those receiving the report want to know what was said by whom, and they want it all in the report. Writing out full curse words is preferable because they want it for shock value back to the principal, athletic director or administrator. Trying to soft-sell what happened only weakens your case and makes you appear to have a quick trigger.

If the coach called you a “mother_ _ _ _ _ _” write that the coach called you a “mother _ _ _ _ _ _.” It does nothing to say that “the coach uttered an unflattering remark and called me a name.” Let the association or conference know exactly why you penalized or ejected the coach and leave it to them to figure out what to do from there.

Did you ever know a person who, when they were very upset, gave every single detail of an upsetting event? Running their mouth at 95 miles per hour, those people don’t know where or when to stop, and the important details are lost in a sea of irrelevant trivia.
If you had an ejection in the seventh inning, we probably don’t need to know that the coach “came out” on you in the second, especially if the earlier incident didn’t result in a warning or other official reprimand. Avoid pointing out additional “minor” infractions if, again, they had nothing to do with the incident at hand.

Even with situations that were so upsetting you swear you’ll never forget them, it doesn’t take long for important details to fade from your memory. You may be tempted to “look at it again after a good night’s sleep.” While you should never write an incident report in the heat of anger, waiting and taking a few days to do it won’t work either.

Undoubtedly, your supervisor wants that report in hand before his or her phone starts ringing the next day. Rest assured that supervisor will certainly be getting the other side of the story soon enough, so make sure yours arrives first.

Sometimes after a particularly distasteful situation, we may decide we know what the most appropriate way to handle a misbehaving coach or player is and be tempted to include that in our incident report. Incident reports are no place for speculation or opinion. The only role officials have in them is to present the facts. Going further than that makes you seem petty and vindictive; both are traits that lead to drastically shortened officiating careers. Your “opinion” of the situation is already known: You ejected the offending party.

“In my 17 years of officiating, I’ve never …” is a bad way to start a report. Personal opinion is not important. Writing, “I should have done such and so” is also not right in an incident report.

The reports don’t exist for you to vent, second-guess or worse, “get even.” Your supervisor along with the coach’s or player’s “boss” will handle that aspect of the event.
You are already squarely in the middle of the event — don’t paint a target on yourself. Even if someone asks your opinion on the “proper punishment” for the offending individual, stay out of it.

The post Write Incident Reports Right appeared first on Referee.com.

The problem is that a photographer or camera operator may wants to hone his or her craft in space that officials may need to occupy, often in a gym where people measure in inches the distance between the endline of the basketball court and the wall of the building.

Officials need that space to do their job, to get the best angles on the action unfolding in front of them. So does the camera operator. So do the players. They need a buffer zone, a place to land when they lose their balance after contact (or contact avoidance) inevitably occurs.

In one high school basketball game, a player suffered a back injury requiring surgery after he collided with a television camera operator. According to published reports, the player needed surgery to stabilize dislocated vertebrae after he ran into the camera operator at the end of the court after a driving layup.

The reports do not indicate if the particular camera operator was on the court, 10 feet off the court or somewhere in between. Nor do they tell us whether the camera operator was standing, kneeling or seated, or whether he was actively shooting video or just watching the game.

We do not know if anyone could be blamed for that particular injury. What we do know, though, is that an official’s first responsibility is for the safety of the participants. Officials should never sacrifice player safety for the convenience of the media.

Print photographers, news crews and other media members always will want to be close to the action, with the best angles. An official should not prevent the media from doing its job. Players at any level like to see their highlights on television or their pictures in the newspaper. But an official must enforce upon the media reasonable limits of distance and location, whether it’s on a court or field.

A judge or jury considering a civil lawsuit against officials for negligence arising from a player/ media collision will ask:

• Was the media member in a potentially dangerous location?
• Were the officials aware of the potential danger or should they have been aware of it?
• Did the officials take appropriate preventive measures?

Following the standards for distancing media from playing surfaces will not necessarily insulate officials from liability. Officials still should take precautions before and during contests to keep the media clear of danger areas. Talk to the photographers and video camera operators and tell them where they can and cannot stand. Most professional media members know their limits and will follow an official’s directives. If they refuse, stop the game and direct them to a safe area.

At the high school level and below, officials may have to deal with student journalists, parents and booster club members who want to capture pictures of the players. Let them do so — from a safe distance.

The post Coexist with Photographers appeared first on Referee.com.

Try not to miss the injury

The player isn’t going to be any less injured because you saw him or her get hurt, but lawsuits are occasionally rooted in emotions. Players, coaches and parents are often less angry when an official appears vigilant in recognizing and responding to an injury. Those less angry people may be less inclined to sue. I am familiar with lawsuits against gym directors and even coaches who weren’t paying attention and missed an injury (the gym director and coaches won — so we can all breathe more easily). It’s not a stretch to see officials being sued for a lack of vigilance (in fact, there have been some lawsuits that addressed how officials called games). Vigilance and the appearance of competence solve a lot of problems.

Know the rules on when to stop a game for an injury (particularly those related to concussions or suspected concussions)

People are highly unlikely to sue an official for enforcing the rules properly. If they do, there’s not much an official can do and the official is probably going to win the suit anyway.

Don’t be a prisoner to the rules if an extreme emergency occurs

If a player clearly has a serious condition such as a heart attack and the rules don’t provide for an immediate stoppage of play, well — the rules should be bent. You’re probably never going to see a heart attack during your game, but do you really want to be in court explaining that you let a player suffer from a heart attack because his or her team didn’t have possession of the ball? Of course, the flip side of the coin is that if you improperly stop play for a sprained ankle, you’re really not doing your job properly.

An official probably shouldn’t treat the injured player

In the wake of an injury, an official has some responsibilities that may not be discharged well if the official is treating an injury. An official doesn’t want to explain to an assigner, a judge or his or her partner why he didn’t monitor angry players who started a fight in retaliation for a rough play because the official was tending to a bloody nose. Remember, in most states, coaches are required to be first aid and CPR certified. Coaches and athletic trainers can handle the routine injury. An official doesn’t need to treat an injury unless the official is a medical professional treating a non-routine injury.

An official should know whether the player can return and under what circumstances

Many sports have special provisions for unconscious players, bleeding players, whether timeouts can “buy” an injured player into the game and whether timeouts must be called for injured players.

Donald C. Collins, executive director of the San Francisco section of the California Interscholastic Federation, is a longtime basketball official and lawyer. This material is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

The post Step Up When a Player Goes Down appeared first on Referee.com.

How can we be sure that, if we are in an accident, our medical bills and lost wages will be paid? What if we caused the accident? Is the partner that we picked up on the way to the game going to sue us?

Car insurance laws vary

While car insurance laws in each state vary, the best thing sports officials could do is to make sure they have purchased adequate car insurance to protect themselves, their families and their passengers. Assuming that your driving record is not horrible, getting good car insurance is generally not that expensive. Most people, however, have no idea whether they have made a good purchase or not. Buying full coverage does not mean that you bought full protection.

You are protecting two things with car insurance: (1) your own assets if you caused the accident and caused either property damage or injury to someone else (including the officiating partner to whom you offered a ride); (2) you and your family if someone else caused the accident and the guilty party had inadequate insurance to cover your damages.

The first is liability insurance. The second is uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance. You want to purchase as much of each as you can afford and in most cases you want to purchase at least $500,000 of coverage.

Ask your agent this question: “How much would it cost me to increase my liability and underinsured motorist coverage to $500,000?” In most cases you will be shocked how inexpensive the additional coverage is.

Your agent may suggest an umbrella policy. Ask this question: “Does the umbrella policy offer additional uninsured motorist coverage?” Most do not. Your primary goal is to increase your liability and uninsured motorist coverage first.

Note that while the NASO Sports Officials Security Program provides protection against many types of claims made against referees and umpires after they arrive at the venue, it does not provide protection for driving. That’s what auto insurance is for.

What should you do if you are involved in an accident?

• Get care for the injured.
• Call the police.
• Move your car to a safe spot if it can be moved.
• Be polite and respectful to all involved.
• Alert your assigner and/or the teams you were scheduled to work to let them know you will be late (or not able to come at all).
• Share and collect information (name, address, name of insurance company) with the other driver if it is safe to do so.
• Take photos of the property damage if safe to do so.
• Call your car insurance agent and report the incident as soon as you can, even if it was not your fault.

Getting into an accident is a hassle. The last thing you need is the stress of unpaid medical bills or the loss of income if you cannot work. Being smart about buying car insurance is one of the best things you can do for the financial security of your family.

The post Handling an Accident and Insurance from Game Travel appeared first on Referee.com.

For a first step, members could consult with local counsel regarding online membership elections and online board voting.

Nonprofit law allows members to hold mail elections and most states wouldn’t bar email elections. However, boards face more strict rules. Nonprofit boards often can only hold online voting where all members of the board consent in writing. An incorporated association needs legal counsel to look at the state corporations code.

Generally, an online election meeting is legal whether an association is incorporated or not. However, it’s only legal if the bylaws allow it.

A group that wants to append an online election clause to a set of bylaws has two options. First, it can define the word “present” to incorporate an online vote. Or it can draft a clause that states “notwithstanding anything else in these bylaws” and then holds a member to be present where the member votes under certain conditions.

Appending an online clause to preexisting bylaws is the lazy approach. A more dedicated one is to go through the bylaws and amend every reference to meeting attendance and voting. There will be fewer challenges to the bylaws and less of a chance of an error.

There is a third approach. An association always has the option of adapting to modern times by voting out its old bylaws in their entirety and then starting new. The problem isn’t the difficulty of having an online election clause; rather, it’s the difficulty of appending such a clause onto preexisting bylaws. New associations don’t
have that problem as they don’t have years of old bylaw provisions.

It’s possible an association will err, and allow online elections that violate bylaws. Where that happens, a member may be able to challenge results.

Challenging results is a balance between state law, the association’s rules, and the amount of time that has elapsed since the election. Associations may have a challenge clause that allows associations to account for errors.

Absent a clear bylaw provision, a member can rely upon Robert’s Rules of Order if the association uses them. Robert’s Rules provide for motions to recount, and allows for the correction of procedural errors. However, Robert’s Rules hold that once a person assumes office, no more election challenges can be mounted. That may create a problem
with an online election if the members are never physically present prior to the newly elected person assuming office.

If an association doesn’t provide for election challenges and is silent as to its procedural rules, a member will likely have to resort to the bylaws’ grievance or impeachment procedure or file a lawsuit. Those aren’t efficient ways to challenge an election as they are potentially contentious and expensive.

Finally, it’s always wise for an association to “cure” the results of a bad election once a new election is held. The best way to do that is to have the new and properly elected board ratify all acts by the old board. That cure reduces the likelihood that someone will challenge actions taken by any improperly elected board by claiming that the improperly elected board lacked authority to act.

The post Is Your Association Balking at Bylaws? appeared first on Referee.com.

“How could we have 10 fouls and they have only two? That’s wrong.” “My kids can’t understand why they get held on every play and nothing happens, and we get a flag every time we get inside the 20.”

Right or wrong, your officials need to be defended, right? Right! So long as they haven’t violated bylaws or intentionally disregarded a mechanic, rule or regulation. Defending officials involves investigation, communication and at times, discipline. How do you preserve the integrity of the association when one of the flock is under fire? Here are six things you need to know:

1. Contractual relationships. Does your group contract with conferences, leagues or schools? Are the contracts oral or written? Are there restrictions as to dress, arrival time, incident reporting, payment, etc.? An association can’t defend its refs if it doesn’t know the terms under which they’re engaged – and the group’s role in assignments.
2. Assignment criteria. If your group assigns, is there a rating system and what are the criteria? Or does your association simply train officials and help arrange assignments?
3. Your association’s parent group and the sport’s governing body. Is your officials association a chapter of a parent association? How do the parent association’s rules, regulations and bylaws impact on complaints? What is your association’s relationship, if any, with the state association? Does any other group have input in regulating or sanctioning your officials?
4. Your association’s governing documents. Your corporate charter may contain information about the rights and responsibilities of members. In many areas, a group’s bylaws or constitution will supply it. Whatever your written rules, they must be followed when dealing with complaints.
5. Insurance coverage. Associations need to have documentation concerning insurance coverage should the association, or a member official or officer become involved in a complaint that turns into a legal proceeding.
6. Local law. Some states specifically limit the circumstances under which a member can be expelled or deprived of membership rights. Local law should be consulted, preferably with the aid of your association’s counsel.

Once an association has its knowledge base at hand, steps need to be taken when a complaint is received.

Determine the nature of the complaint.

Does it relate to an issue your association is authorized to handle? If your group doesn’t assign games, it may not be able to sanction for judgment or rule application, unless a bylaw violation is involved. If your group assigns, it must weigh every complaint.

Refer to the right people.

If a complaint involves an official breaking a contract or a similar offense, there should be a provision covering hearings and sanctions. If the complaint is that a ref misinterpreted a rule, you may need to ask an interpreter to review it and then refer to the right committee.

Investigate.

The appropriate person or committee should be identified in your bylaws. Be sure to follow your bylaws to the letter in obtaining your member’s response to the charge. Those items are best accomplished with the help of your association’s attorney, who can guide you in a proper protocol for the current investigation and handling of future complaints.

Take appropriate action.

In most cases, before a member is suspended or expelled, a notice of the charges and a chance to confront opposing witnesses is necessary. Sanctions are usually reserved for bylaw violations.

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hile I have officiated since 1975, I have also served for 22 years as a high school softball assigner and 14 years as an NCAA Division III college football conference coordinator. For much of that time, I have kept an “assigning notebook.” What follows are my observations and thoughts as they pertain to what I have learned and what I recommend officials do to enhance their careers.

• All officials think and believe they are better than they are (I am a prime example). In reality, all officials make some mistakes. The axiom that no perfect game has ever been officiated remains applicable to every sports official at every level. The key is to strive for continual improvement.
• Far too many officials no longer study and read their rulebooks. While video is a great teaching tool, it will never fully replace studying and knowing the rules. An official not knowing the rules puts the assigner in an indefensible position.
• Among other things, officiating should transcend race, gender, ethnicity, financial status, etc.
• The degree of camaraderie between officials varies greatly from sport to sport. Football officials tend to have the greatest camaraderie of all officials, probably in large part due to the size of a typical football crew.
• The best officials are the ones who are obsessed with excellence. The truly outstanding officials are always thinking about their sport. They rehash plays and are always seeking additional knowledge.
• The fact is some officials are not as accomplished as other officials. That is true at all levels in every sport. I am fine with that, as long as an official makes a legitimate effort to be the best he or she can be.
• An unfortunate trend is newer officials wanting to advance before they are legitimately ready for the next level. Officials need to learn the art of officiating. That takes most folks quite some time. While videos, podcasts and the like can accelerate an official’s advancement, officials learn best by officiating.
• Officiating is not for everyone. That should be obvious, but many people believe anyone can officiate. Your next-door neighbor thinks he knows as much as you do about officiating. Obviously, that is totally untrue.
• I believe there is a strong correlation between the amount of understanding and knowledge of the sport officials have and their performance. The more officials know about a sport, the better their chances of success. It is critical that an official understands the game.
• Too many officials are unwilling to accept when it’s time to step off the field. At some point, every official will take off the stripes for the final time. Surely, that is often a very difficult decision. Ideally, every official would like to make that decision for themselves and not have someone else make it for them.
• If you think you’ve been assigned to a low-level game, screw it up and watch how big it just became. Some games are “bigger” than others — but every game matters. Excellent officials adopt that approach entirely.
• It is imperative officials are keenly aware of the time (not necessarily on a clock, but juncture of the game) and the score. Those two items dictate coaching tactics. For example, in softball, it is very probable that a team will bunt with a runner on first base with no outs in a tie game in the bottom of the seventh inning. That is less likely in the bottom of the first inning.
• The best officials strive for continual improvement. There is always something to learn and improve upon. To be sure, perfection is impossible; however, I do believe excellence is an attainable and realistic goal.
• Humor has a definite role to play and it must be balanced. Officiating should be challenging and fun, but it is not funny. Find humor where you can, but maintain professionalism.
• The best officials are almost always the best prepared. Just as in anything else, there is a direct correlation between preparation and performance.
• If the primary reason you officiate is for the money, you will never be as good as you can be. That said, all officials should demand their compensation be commensurate with the service they are providing. I believe the amount officials are typically compensated at the collegiate and high school levels is far short of what they deserve.
• I strongly believe multi-sport officials can learn a great deal from each sport that will benefit them in their other sports. That is especially true when it comes to slowing down and timing.

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For some good answers on what wildlife has to do with officiating, I turn to a published interview with wildlife biologist David Yancy. “Deer activity peaks within an hour or so on either side of sunrise and sunset,” he told The New York Times, “so their vision is optimized for very low light.” Eyes dilated diminish a deer’s vision dramatically. As a result, the deer “don’t know what to do, so they do nothing,” according to the expert.

When it comes to dealing with fighting, we may dress like zebras, but at times, we referees are like deer in headlights when a fight is about to start. In too many cases “we don’t know what to do, so we do nothing.”

But there are tools that can be used to defuse a given situation.

Concentration and reaction time enable officials to short-circuit fighting when necessary. When a fight may be about to start, move quickly and react decisively to redirect the negative energy. A few seconds can make all the difference.

Enforce the rules from beginning to end, utilizing the guidelines below:

• Insist on sound crew mechanics. Your pregame needs to include a plan so at least one member of the officiating crew observes all players and both benches at all times.
• Recognize trouble spots. Those include after a score, a foul, an injury and all “dead ball” periods.
• Be firm. Do not ever warn an athlete who clearly taunts or baits an opponent. While the wording varies among various playing rules codes, “taunting and baiting” means any attempt to embarrass, ridicule or demean an opponent. It is a foul. Call it every time.

The issue is not about a fight breaking out, but instead, what should you do if you sense ill will brewing? Enforce the rules. Call the foul. Don’t turn your back. If a fight happens despite your best efforts, disqualify the offenders without hesitation and enforce the appropriate penalties.

When officials control a situation by proactive mechanics, injuries are reduced. That is how the best officials minimize the chance of injury and thus the chance of lawsuits.

Points to remember:

• Keep an eye and ear attuned to tempo and flow of the game. Sometimes players don’t want to play but instead commit unnecessary infractions and disrespect opponents.
• Don’t rationalize. For decades, officials have been supplied with a myriad number of reasons not to manage fight situations: “Never touch a player … for liability reasons.” “Don’t attempt to separate players.” Officials stand motionless as a fight situation develops.
• Distract and delay. If, despite your best efforts, a quick escalation of tensions leads to physical contact, use whistle, voice and movement to distract combatants. Separate the opponents while calming tempers. Taking immediate action to keep opponents apart will usually prevent the fight from escalating or drawing more participants. These actions can prevent injuries that can cause lawsuits.

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A chair umpire in a U.S. Open tennis match stepped down from his seat and offered encouragement to a player who was struggling. The umpire was later suspended.

A basketball referee was banned from a 10-and-under league after questioning an African American girl about blue ribbons woven into her hair, which was in braids.

In Virginia, a coach complained after a soccer referee told his 16-year-old players that they were the “biggest bunch of crybabies he had seen in years.”

Just how much trouble can our words get us in? Besides getting complained about, suspended or banned by a league, can we get into legal trouble with words we use on the court or field?

Unless we defame or libel someone, probably not.

The Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly upheld the right of people to speak even vile words to one another or to a group. Picketing a military funeral with signs disparaging the deceased officer, marching by neo-Nazis in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood that included Holocaust victims and burning the flag have all been deemed protected speech.

Thus, the likelihood that a sports official will be successfully sued or charged with a crime for pure speech is close to non-existent.

Defamation language harms a person’s reputation

A sports official could be sued for slander (speech) or libel (speech in writing) that publicly defames someone. Defamation is language that harms a person’s reputation. Calling a team a “group of crybabies” while on the field probably won’t get you sued. Going online to say that “Coach Bill Jones of Main Street High School teaches his team to cheat” may get you sued.

Remember that the organizations we work for have broad discretion in controlling our speech because we (and they) are engaged in a voluntary transaction: They have a game that needs a referee/umpire and we say, “Yes, we will do that game.”

When we accept a game, we accept a contract containing the “terms of engagement.” These terms typically include rules about speech the organization wants to enforce.

Restrictions on speech from your local league or association could include prohibitions on:

• Posting comments about your game and game participants on social media.

• Talking to the press about decisions made during the game.

NASO’s own Social Media Guidelines direct that referees “not engage in specific play and/or ruling evaluations/commentary whether it be for a game you worked, one that you witnessed or about the impact of officials in any sporting event.”

The bottom line is that your words have ramifications. While it is unlikely you will actually be sued for remarks you make on and around the field, public speech that defames a person can get you sued. Moreover, the league or association that you work for has broad power to suspend or terminate your relationship with them for speech that it deems improper.

This column is for informational purposes and not legal advice.

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After a period of silence that seemed to last forever, he answered his own question with one word: “You.”

As odd as it may seem, you are your own agent. You are not like a professional basketball player whose agent makes or negotiates many of his decisions for him. It is your responsibility to create your own schedule, be in demand and prove that you can do the job. You are responsible for the number and level of games you work. In fact, if you want to become successful as an official, it is crucial to understand that you are responsible for almost everything that happens to you.

However, as the late philosopher Jim Rohn once said, “When you’re playing the game, it’s hard to think of everything.” You need some help. Maybe you need a mentor, or maybe you just need someone in your corner to get your foot in the door. That is where the assigner comes into play.

Two roles.

One of the interesting things about sports officials is that we have the dual role of athlete and agent. On one hand, we are responsible for performing at our very best each and every game we work. On the other hand, we must also make sure that we have games to work in the first place. Having a solid relationship with your assigner is perhaps one of the best things you can do to advance your officiating career. It can ensure that you are always in demand.

The main reason for having a great official-assigner relationship is simple and obvious: You want to work bigger, better games — and more of them. It won’t happen overnight. But with diligence, patience and hard work, you can get there.

Officials are considered to be “free agents.” You can only eat what you kill. In the entrepreneurial world, we say that increasing your rewards — in the case of officiating, that is your game count — starts with increasing your value. The more valuable you become as an official, the more games you work, the better games you work and the more satisfied you will be knowing that you are very good at what you do.

So what are some ways you can make yourself more valuable to your assigner?

Hard, hard work.

I know it’s cliché, but it’s true. Hard work will get you noticed not only by assigners, but by coaches and other officials. You make yourself desirable as someone other officials want to work with and that assigners want to hire. Simply put, if you are not seen as a hard worker, it will be harder for you to convince your assigner that you are willing to work bigger and better games.

Assigners are not in the business of gambling. Their jobs depend on the quality of officials they send to games. They want to know that the crew they put out on the court or field will get the job done.

Coaches do take notice of hard-working officials, and they may actually tell assigners what a good job you did. That will definitely separate you from the officials who get little to no positive feedback at all.

Work with the rookie.

Assigners are always looking for more experienced officials to work with new officials. You can make your assigner’s job so much easier — and enhance your schedule — by offering to work games with a rookie or a less experienced official. Veteran officials are accustomed to working with other veterans. We all like working with people we already know. But if you work with someone new to you, you may find you’ve found another official you trust and with whom you feel comfortable working.

Take the game nobody wants.

That might mean doing the Sunday morning game, the game on what was supposed to be on your night off, or the one between cellar-dwellers that won’t show up on the 10 o’clock news.

Our local association has the “Fireman Award” for the official who accepts the most last-minute game turnbacks. Making your assigner’s job easier will increase your value as an official tremendously.

Keep up your availability.

Keep your schedule up to date on a regular basis. Turn in all your paperwork on time. When you accept a game, keep it. One of the easiest ways to annoy your assigner is to constantly decline games they offer you because you fail to block your schedule. If you are constantly wondering why you aren’t getting games, that may be the reason why.

One of the logistics coordinators for our development program loves to use the term “low maintenance.” That means keeping things simple: Review your schedule regularly, accept games that are offered and move on. Be low maintenance, and the rest will seem to take care of itself.

Network at local meetings.

Introduce yourself to the assigners. Talk to the officials who work at the level you want to work. Demonstrate to them that you are willing to work hard and are open to learning from each game you officiate. Don’t be pushy with them, but show them you are ambitious and ready for whatever game you accept.

And finally, remember that the bridge between you and your games is your assigner. Treat him or her with the same courtesy you would treat your family members. According to Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People, 85 percent of success or failure in any field comes from communication and dealing with other people.

Understanding that one principle will propel you forward more than you can imagine, no matter what you do in life — because you are your own agent in officiating and in life.

Michael Menard lives in Hamburg, N.Y. He is a veteran ice hockey official at the youth, high school, adult, college club, junior and collegiate levels.

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