Developing positive habits can help you get refocused while on the field or court. One example is picking a particular spot on the court or field and looking at that spot every time you need to refocus.

A habit I’ve developed for the football field is looking at the pylon in the end zone, the midfield logo or at a goalpost. Finding a particular spot on the field can help you eliminate distractions, focus and be at your best.

Another situation in which we might be prone to lose focus is when we miss a call. I know I’ve made a call that I’d like to have back and a coach is letting me hear it. All of a sudden all I’m thinking about is what is being shouted at me and I’m not focused on the game in front of me. In those cases, as difficult as it may be, we need to acknowledge our mistake, forgive ourselves for it, move on to the next play and leave the blunder behind. The beautiful thing about sports is the next play is seconds away. We just need to learn to weather the storm and get the next one right.

Another situation in which we might lose focus during a game is when we are feeling hungry or thirsty. When we do not properly fuel our bodies before a game we are doing the athletes a disservice, because we are not taking care of ourselves. Taking care of ourselves will help others to know and understand we care just as much about the game as they do.

Some of the best forms of energy are a Snickers bar, protein bar, Gatorade, and peanut butter and toast wrapped in Saran or a Ziplock bag to name a few. Any of those can be stored in your bag and consumed at halftime or between games to get your motor running again.

Another thing you can use that will help you stay focused during the course of the game is to have a pregame routine. It can become all too easy for officials to just show up to a game and start. I know that to be a better referee you need to have a pregame routine. By not doing this you will not be at your best.

My pregame routine consists of getting to the game site as soon as I can and then going through stretching, and mentally going through the game and what I need to do. Everyone’s pregame routine will be different. It is important to have one.
Not dressing appropriately for the weather is another thing that can prevent you from maintaining focus during the course of the game. It is better to be over prepared than under prepared. If the forecast indicates it will be cold, do not try to tough it out or play the hero thinking onlookers will admire your toughness. Bring cold-weather gear with you. You can always shed layers if the weather turns out to be nicer than expected.

Pregame prep helps you start the game focused. Studying film of your previous games gives you the opportunity to sharpen your mechanics and positioning. Do not fall into the trap of thinking just because you’ve been officiating a long time you do not have to watch film. By watching film of the teams you’ll be officiating, you know what to look for and expect during a game. You’ll recognize team and player tendencies and be better prepared to cover plays.

Lack of focus can sometimes lead you to anticipate action. For instance, if your mind is wandering you may see a ball bouncing toward the sideline and blow it dead before it actually goes out of bounds. Something as simple as breathing can help you relax and regain focus. Take big deep breaths, hold them for 10 seconds and then exhale forcefully. That brief break can be the cure whenever you feel your mind drifting and the resultant anxiety.

As a referee it is all too important to stay focused during the course of the game. When we stay focused we are giving the coaches and athletes our absolute best in everything we do. By picking a particular spot on the field to look at when we get distracted, by looking professional and having the right attire, and by watching film before the game, you can help yourself stay focused during the course of your game.
Braden Lewis is a high school football referee from Fort Worth, Texas. *

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Conversely, there are several easy ways to put your career on the fast track to Nowheresville. If it’s your aim to attempt career suicide, simply try any or all of the methods listed below.

Suicide by mouth.

Want to become a pariah in our industry? Spread harmful information (especially unfounded rumors) about other officials to coaches. It may seem like you’re doing yourself some good, making yourself seem like a peach of a human being in comparison to the louts and louses who work the same teams you do. But spout enough venom and you’ll find the coaches will begin to ask around about you. And good luck finding a partner or getting on a crew if the people you want to officiate with are the same ones you’ve been denigrating.

Assigners and coordinators also enjoy being bad-mouthed…not. So if you want a full schedule of good games, don’t yammer to your cronies about the one week you’ve been assigned a game featuring the two cellar-dwellers. It will get back to the assigner faster than you can say, “You’re done.”

Suicide by deception.

Speaking of assigners, you’ll get on their bad side by lying about why you’re dumping a game you were previously assigned. The vast majority of assigners are more than happy to find a substitute for you if you have to turn back a game because an offer for a game at a higher level came along.

Depending on local policy, the assigner might be even more forgiving if you offer the name of a qualified, competent substitute you’ve contacted before you accepted the better game and contacted the assigner.

But if you develop an imaginary cough in order to convince the assigner you’re too sick to work his or her assignment, you’d better be sure your photo doesn’t show up in the newspaper or your image on the TV highlight show that night while you were working a “better” game.

Suicide by sarcasm.

Your skills as an amateur comedian may serve you well at parties and at association meetings, but those one-liners will come back to haunt you if they’re directed at coaches and players.

More than one official has been told by an angry coach, “You’ll never work here again.” But the ones who have responded, “And the downside of that is … ?” earned a rim shot, a cymbal clash and a lot of open dates for future seasons.

Communications with coaches and players must be even-tempered and professional. Save the wisecracks for the comedy club.

Suicide by sloth.

Have you taken care of those contracts you got electronically or in the mail? Failure to take care of the business side of officiating will bite you in the posterior eventually.

Are you constantly waiting for the deadline to turn in tests, pay dues or take care of registration? That sort of procrastination speaks to others about your reliability and organizational skills. Take care of the paperwork immediately and concentrate on the more important aspects such as rules and mechanics study.

Suicide by tardiness.

Despite constant reminders, it’s amazing how many officials show up late for assignments or meetings. For some, tardiness has become so habitual that it is counted on by associates.

“Can we start the pregame if Joe isn’t here yet?”

“Why not? We’ve done it the last three weeks.”

At some point those who count on you to be on time will tire of your act and cut you loose. Emergencies and unforeseen incidents do occur and in most cases occasional lateness will be tolerated (but not appreciated).

Remember, however, that the first time you are late for something truly important might be the last because your phone will stop ringing and your mailbox will be empty.

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Sports officials at all levels are encouraged more than ever to be aware of common signs and symptoms of an athlete who may have suffered a concussion. Any player who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion (such as loss of consciousness, headache, dizziness, confusion or balance problems) must be immediately removed from the game.

Officials are not expected to make a medical diagnosis. They are to look for signs.
Illegal activity is an overlooked risk factor for sports-related injury. Reducing illegal activity through education and enhanced enforcement of rules about the dangers of illegal activity is necessary to reduce sports-related injuries.

The NFHS has language in its rulebooks that reads, “No athlete should return to play (RTP) or practice on the same day of a concussion. Any athlete suspected of having a concussion should be evaluated by an appropriate health-care professional as soon as possible. Any athlete with a concussion should be medically cleared by an appropriate health-care professional prior to resuming participation in any practice or competition. After medical clearance, RTP should follow a step-wise protocol with provisions for delayed RTP based upon return of any signs or symptoms at rest, while doing school work or with physical activity.”

Similar language appears in NCAA rulebooks.

For officials working under NFHS and NCAA rules codes, sports law expert Alan Goldberger suggests using the following checklist regarding rules and guidelines governing removal of a player and return-to-play:

Injury Mechanics

• Beckon coach/medical personnel.
• Observe player and look for any behaviors on list. If no symptoms are apparent, ask questions of player per guidelines.
• When directing removal of the student-athlete from the game, use the language of the rule.
• Do not discuss cause of injury.
• Do not converse with spectators/parents/opponents.
• Partner should observe process while continuing to supervise court/field and players.
• Record removal of player. Note time of substitution and if at request of coach or official.
• Note if athlete is injured or ill, but not removed under “concussion rule.”

Words to never use:

“He may have had a concussion.”

“It looks like a concussion to me.”

“I am removing her because I suspect a concussion.”

“I don’t think she should return to the game today.”

Since the 2013-14 sports season, the Ohio High School Athletic Association has required officials to show evidence of completion of either the NFHS or Centers for Disease Control concussion course when registering for a license. The NFHS course, “Concussion in Sports: What You Need to Know,” is available at nfhslearn.com. The course can help coaches, students, parents, school administrators and officials understand issues regarding concussions.

The NFL mandates an observer in the press box to communicate directly with the sidelines to make athletic trainers or physicians aware of possible undetected injuries during games. An officiating observer is stationed in the press box for each NFL game. Although the observer is not specifically looking for head injuries or concussions, those types of injuries have been a point of emphasis.

Washington state is considered a pioneer in rules concerning young athletes and concussions. In 2009, it passed what is known as the Zackery Lystedt Law, which prohibits young athletes who show signs of a concussion from returning to play without a licensed health-care provider’s written approval.

Lystedt was a junior high school football player who suffered an apparent concussion in a game. He subsequently returned to action in the same contest and later collapsed and was rushed to the hospital where doctors had to operate on his hemorrhaging brain. Lystedt is in a wheelchair today, but he can talk and see again.

Officials can’t prevent concussions from occurring. But they must react accordingly when one is suspected.

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Knowing coaches’ personalities and what type of coach they are will give you a great opportunity to manage the game efficiently. Sometimes a clear and concise explanation will resolve a situation. Other times a warning may do the trick. Occasionally an official conference is the answer. And once in a while humor may help defuse a confrontation.
Let’s examine the types of coaches you might encounter.

Dr. Jekyll-Mr. (or Ms.) Hyde

Dr. Jekylls warmly greet you in the parking lot or near the bench and exchange pleasantries, stories and jokes and assure you how happy they are to see you. Then a few minutes before the game begins, they drink the potion that turns them into a monster until the game ends. You must be prepared for the emergence of the daunting Hyde. If you suspect a Jekyll, firmly but politely extricate yourself and go about your pregame routine. The opposing coach may be watching all of that frivolity and may feel the playing field isn’t even. Then, you may have two problem coaches on your hands.

Apologizer

This type usually finds the officials after the game and apologizes for poor behavior during the game. The apology is usually not sincere. Apologizers are worried about the next game when they have the same officials. The Jekyll-Hyde coach frequently becomes an Apologizer after the game. Don’t fall for that ruse.

Praiser

The Praiser likes to tell the officials how great they are before the game to the point of absurdity, perhaps even telling the players that you are one of the best officials of all time. Of course, the Praiser is looking for the first call (and all of the following calls) to favor his or her team. When a call does go against a Praiser’s team, you’ll usually hear the backhanded compliment, “You’re better than that!”

Intimidator

The Intimidator uses physical size, voice, histrionics, reputation, previous success, perceived status in the conference or state power structure or general aggressiveness to intimidate the officials. While it’s generally unwise to try to match the Intimidator’s act, backing down or appearing meek isn’t the answer either. Work your game. If the Intimidator steps over the line, forget all the above factors and treat him or her like anyone else: penalize or eject as the situation dictates.

Divider

That type works covertly to drive a wedge between the officials. Examples of what the coach might say to one official are, “You’d never make a call like that,” or “Tell your partner that’s two blown calls.” Don’t buy what the Divider is selling.

Bookworm

The Bookworm coach is a close relative of a Rulebook Charlie official. The Bookworm is usually an intelligent coach who studies the rulebook religiously but who often misinterprets the spirit and intent of the rules. That type is often a literal-thinking person who doesn’t understand or appreciate the nuances of the rules. A common argument will be, “Well, that’s not what the rulebook says.”

Inciter

Inciters try to rile up spectators to “ride” game officials with the intent of pressuring them to make calls in their team’s favor. Any coach who attempts to incite spectators must be issued a strong warning or be ejected from the game.

Whiner

Most Whiners are also nitpickers, pointing out minor or perceived infractions, such as, “That player’s towel isn’t the same color as the rest,” or “The first baseman isn’t wearing a first baseman’s mitt.” There isn’t much you can do about the Whiner except grit your teeth and hope the Whiner gets laryngitis.

Polite Coach

The Polite Coach is often a polished critic, prefacing comments with the word, “Sir” or “Ma’am.” Usually, the words that follow will be critical, confrontational or even nasty. The Polite Coach, after being penalized or ejected, often laments, “What for? I was polite.”

Anti-Officials

Let’s face it. Some individuals and some coaches are anti-official or just anti-authority. Anti-official coaches just can’t be pleased. They can make your game difficult and trying. Their competitive nature is such that you are an obstacle in their quest to gain a victory. If you understand that type you can manage that coach more successfully. Remember not to take it personally. They’re yelling at the uniform, not the person wearing it.

Official-Coach

The coach who is also an official can be a nightmare. While the Official-Coach should realize how difficult an official’s job is, he or she is often biased, insensitive and out to prove expert knowledge of every phase of the game. Sometimes the Official-Coach goes beyond showing off and tries to show up the officials. That can never be tolerated.

Silent Coach

The Silent Coach is a brooding, scowling individual who doesn’t like or trust officials. At the pregame meeting or when you introduce yourself, Silent Coaches shuffle their feet, look at the ground and nod or shake their head rather than fully participating in the meeting. They might speak to the opposing coach but avoid any unessential conversation with the officials. Do not let the silent treatment unnerve you and vow to do your best possible job. Also, don’t be fooled. That silent act before the game could be a ploy for a torrent of rage once the action begins.

The post Type Casting appeared first on Referee.com.

Be consistent.

If you’ve officiated for any length of time, you’ve likely heard that comment on numerous occasions.

It means different things to different people. If the comment comes from a coach it means, “I don’t want them called the same way for both teams; I want them called my way all the time.”

If an assigner, coordinator or assessor talks about consistency, it’s often part of a discussion about a point of emphasis or a rule interpretation. Consistency also matters when it comes to issues like working well with your partner or crew, adhering to policies established by your association or conference, or even interacting with players and coaches.

Consistency is the foundation of an official’s credibility. But because officials see the game differently from coaches and spectators, our definition of consistency differs as well. Some would argue true consistency means calling the same action the same way regardless of where or when it occurs or any other circumstances.

Yet consistency is something that’s virtually impossible to measure. The coach who hollers, “We’ve got eight fouls and they’ve only got two,” conveniently overlooks the fact his opponent is playing a passive zone defense while his own team is playing a pressing man-to-man. If several penalty flags fly in a short stretch of plays, a football coach will whine, “C’mon! Let ’em play!” But if a hand is laid on his quarterback a nanosecond after he’s released a pass, the complaint will shift to, “Where’s the flag?”

In short, statistics pertaining to fouls called, flags thrown, yardage penalized, etc., whatever the sport, may be useful to an assessor or assigner, but are not indicative of an official or a crew’s level of consistency. Skilled teams will require less officiating than poor ones and officials do not always draw the cream of the crop. Experienced officials also know abandoning a certain amount of consistency in blowout games — passing on minor, non-safety-related violations committed by the trailing team, for instance — is not only acceptable but appreciated.

Competence vs. consistency

Consistency by itself does not equal competence. To be effective, an official must be capable of something called competent consistency. An umpire who calls the pitch at the ankles a strike all day, or an assistant referee who continually misapplies the Law on offside, may be consistent, by dictionary definition. But in instances like those, consistency does not equal competence.

Consistency, within a single game, or game-to-game, is related to the ability to concentrate on the task at hand. That can be difficult for officials working rec league, high school or even small-college games, who more often than not must deal with job and/or family responsibilities on game day before turning their attention to officiating.

Officials working at amateur levels often find themselves jumping from one level to another, perhaps handling a contest involving 13-year-olds one day and high school athletes the next.

The official may have to adapt to a different level of play, variations in the rules or wide variations in ability among players in the same game. All those factors can make achieving consistency more difficult.

As vital as it is for officials to maintain a consistent set of standards from one call to the next, it’s just as important to establish consistency among members of a crew, whether that crew has been together for 10 games or 10 years.

If one official is quick with the whistle and his or her partner or partners have a “let them play” approach, players and coaches can become frustrated. Nothing will drive a coach to distraction quicker than a situation where one official is calling things significantly different from another.

The best way to prevent that type of situation from dragging down your game is to conduct a thorough pregame conference.

It’s important for any official on any level to maintain focus on the game. The atmosphere in which the contest is played can make that task more daunting however, particularly if one or both coaches is barking at you.

The ability to handle complaints from coaches and others involved in the game while still being able to maintain a high level of consistency is what differentiates extraordinary officials from merely capable ones. When the temperature of a game starts to rise, it’s important for officials to retain confidence in their own ability.

It would be difficult if not impossible to teach consistency, but it can be learned. As officials gain experience, they learn what calls (and no-calls) are appropriate to the level they’re working. Reviewing games via video is one way officials can self-evaluate the consistency of their work.

As you watch, ask yourself, “What are you looking for? What angle are you trying to achieve? Are you in the right position?” While few plays or situations are exactly the same, the official can get a general idea of his or her consistency in movement, distance from plays and angles.

The question of whether consistency is a natural attribute or a skill acquired over time may never be completely answered. But maintaining your consistency will improve your game at whatever level you work.

Adapted from a feature that appeared in the 6/10 issue of Referee. *

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Look at the photo that accompanies this article, captured during the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 state semifinals between Denmark High School and Jefferson High School this past June, and think again as you try to unravel what may have happened on this particular play. Such a big collision on any of the bases is certain to draw plenty of ill-informed reactions by the interested parties, and it’s up to you and your crew to use proper rules knowledge and mechanics to make an informed ruling that may not be popular, but correct nonetheless.

From a rules perspective, is this obstruction by the defense, with the first baseman cutting off access to the bag before he has the ball in his possession (NFHS 2-22-3; NCAA 2-55; pro Definition of Terms)?

Is it interference by the offense, either due to the batter-runner purposely making contact with the first baseman in an effort to jar the ball loose (NFHS 2-21-1a; NCAA 2-51a; pro Definition of Terms), or due to a runner’s lane violation as he runs inside the foul line during the final 45 feet between home plate and the first-base bag (NFHS 8-4-1g; NCAA 7-11p; pro 5.09.a.11)?

Regardless of who may be at fault, is this malicious contact on the baserunner according to NFHS rules (2-21-1b) or a violation of the NCAA collision rule that says a runner must make an actual attempt to reach the base (8-7a.1), may not attempt to dislodge the ball from a fielder (8-7a.2) and/or must attempt to avoid a collision if he can reach the base without colliding (8-7a.3)? And if it is a violation of any of the three NCAA provisions, again, is it flagrant or malicious?

From a mechanics perspective, if you are the first-base umpire on this play, are you putting yourself in a position to see all the necessary elements of this collision, or simply going through the motions related to a seemingly routine force play when all of a sudden this situation blows up on you? Are you aware of where the baseball is when the contact occurs? Did the first baseman complete the catch and then lose the ball due to the impact of the collision caused by the baserunner, or did he never have possession of the ball? Are you certain the batter-runner either has, or has not, touched first base?

As the plate umpire, are you coming up the first-base line and in a position where you can offer an opinion on the collision if asked? Are you ready to rule obstruction on the first baseman or runner’s lane interference if that’s what you have observed from your angle on the play?

Finally, both from a rules perspective and a mechanics perspective, the crew must understand this collision — whether illegal because of one of the many possibilities listed above, or a legal baseball play that happens to occur due to two players and the ball all arriving at the same place at the same time — is only one small part of the story. Because the inevitable follow-up question is: What happens next?

Is there activity on this play that requires the ball to become dead, either immediately or delayed once the playing action comes to a stop? If the ball remains live, what is the aftermath of this collision? Does the first baseman obstruct the batter-runner and prevent him from trying to advance to second base? Does the batter-runner interfere with the first baseman’s ability to freely move and secure the baseball?

And speaking of the ball, what if it ends up in dead-ball territory following the collision? Is it due to the throw itself? Is it because it was dislodged after being caught, making it the second act on the play? Does the base award differ if it’s one instead of the other?
Rules committees at all levels in recent years have taken great pains to try to remove unnecessary contact from the game. Whether it’s the aforementioned collision rule, the pro version for plays at home plate, or the force-play slide rule that has become such an omnipresent part of the game at the NFHS and NCAA levels, efforts are constantly being made to protect players and to give umpires rules to enforce to help that cause.
And still, a train wreck often occurs. When it does, the umpiring crew must know what’s OK, what’s not and the proper places to be on the field to make sure everyone has a clear look at the action so it can be properly adjudicated.

The post Collision Course appeared first on Referee.com.

At those times, officials may feel the need to get together themselves. Depending on the situation, that may or may not be a good idea. Getting together just to chitchat is time wasted and a bad optic. But if there is something to say, and a timeout gives a crew an opportunity to say it, a conversation needs to happen.
Any official should be able to initiate a meeting. A partner who is afraid to talk may not share critical information. The crew chief should give the crew complete freedom to speak up if a crewmember senses a problem, such as an incorrect down or the incorrect count. Don’t wait until you’re back in the locker room at halftime or the end of the game to speak up.

A conversation during a timeout can have multiple positive impacts. In some cases, a veteran is paired with a less-experienced official. As long as the experienced partner limits suggestions for improvement to one or two areas — more than that can be overwhelming — it can create better coverage and calls for the remainder of that game. It also makes the game an educational experience for the less-experienced partner, which will be good for everyone down the line.

That also can create crew cohesion. A veteran doesn’t want a less-experienced partner to feel intimidated to the point the old head is making all of the rulings. A quick, encouraging timeout meeting can prevent that.

A veteran can point out positives such as positioning or body language, or pass along helpful reminders like telling the newbie to be strong and confident and have fun. Engaging newer officials will make them feel like they have an ally on the court or field and not another reason to be nervous.

When not to talk

There are several reasons not to get together during a timeout. One, of course, is after a crewmember has made an unpopular call, and that’s the only thing on anyone’s mind, including the calling official. Is it right to go talk to the official who made that call in order to provide support and put the moment in the past? Or is it better not to talk to that official for fear of giving a wrong impression to the coaches and fans?

Most officials advise avoiding conversations at such times. There’s a strong chance coaches and spectators may read a post-controversy timeout conversation negatively, as admitting a mistake or making one official appear weaker than the other. But if the possible negative is outweighed by the possibility of bringing a down, distracted official back into the game, a timeout conversation, even with just one partner, might be a good idea.

Let the storm pass, and if you do choose to chat an inning or a few minutes later, be brief and supportive. Sometimes a small gesture — a thumbs-up, a nod and a smile, a pumped fist — instead of a chat can be more helpful.

If the game is going smoothly, there’s no reason to get together. In fact, many officials find it to be distracting.

Late in a close game

Conversations between officials during breaks late in a close game can be beneficial for the crew and for the participants. But again, the reason for the discussion must be really important. Are we getting close to some kind of bonus? Specific players, tendencies, the arrow, special timing rules, the number of timeouts the teams have remaining — those are worthwhile subjects.

Perhaps the best reason not to gather during breaks is there are things to do between plays. Keeping track of substitutions and observing bench decorum are just two of several housekeeping items mandated by the rulebook or mechanics manual. You might be able to take a mental rest for a few seconds, but don’t let your mind drift away from your ongoing responsibilities.

Be aware of the game situation. What will the clock status be when play is resumed? What is the down and distance, who should be on the foul line, etc.?

Be available should a coach or player have a question. Don’t allow yourself to be drawn into a debate, but a legitimate question should be answered.

Use the time to think like a coach. Anticipate what play, or series of plays, could happen next. The answer will vary according to where you are in the game and the score. Mentally picture likely scenarios, while being careful not to prejudge a play.

The bottom line is, in most cases, timeouts belong to the players and coaches. It’s their time to huddle up and talk things over. Unless there’s a solid, legitimate reason for a discussion with your crewmates, save it for the locker room or the ride home. *

The post Say When appeared first on Referee.com.

That is one reason why officiating is so difficult — truly effective decision-making requires a considerable amount of data analysis, listening and reflection. We’re expected to decide sometimes hundreds of times during the course of a game, and we have to do it now.
Effective decision-making is the process of identifying potential infractions, then taking action. The three main stages of the decision-making process are: clarifying what the decision is; assessing exactly what is involved; and utilizing all the necessary resources including rules knowledge, mechanics and experience.

Another hindrance to decisiveness is that many people see conflicts as “bad,” and have trouble being decisive because they fear their decision will lead to confrontations. They refuse to take risks.

Without question, the best officials at every level are decisive. The tough calls come their way, and they make them accurately without flinching. But how do the rest of us get to that place? There are several parts of your game you can work on that will improve your decisiveness.

Rules knowledge

The first element to developing the confidence necessary to becoming a decisive official is rules knowledge. Yet often it is dismissed as a given, something too rudimentary to give much more than a passing thought.

There’s just no excuse for not knowing the rulebook. And there’s nothing worse than going in and thinking you know what the rule is and being wrong. Essentially, that is false confidence, flying in the face of the notion that “rightness” is one of the four key components of decisiveness.

Mechanics and positioning

An official could be a walking encyclopedia when it comes to the rulebook, but that isn’t a guarantee he or she will know what to do once the game starts. Good mechanics go hand-in-hand with rules knowledge.

Being in the right place at the right time is paramount. If you are there, coaches will accept almost any call. The mechanics of selling the call is important for appearing decisive. Being where you are supposed to be and watching what you’re supposed to watch go a long way toward demonstrating that.

Continued learning

Most of us know officials who think they’re at the top of their game, but are, in fact, lacking in one or more areas. Any suggestion those officials may want to join you at a clinic is rebuffed.

Chances are, when the game is on the line, that official will have problems. Do you ever get “good enough” to stop learning? Relying on assumptions and guesswork instead of facts and knowledge — a trap easily fallen into if you don’t keep up with new training every season — will lead to faulty decisions.

An erroneous perception of the factors involved in a call can predispose a decision to failure. Limit your reliance on intuitive, impulsive or emotional responses, and base your decisions on high-quality data whenever possible.
Talking game situations over with new officials who have questions often helps veteran officials at least as much as the newer official.

“Do it right the first time,” is a good guideline when decisions involve a repeated process, such as making quality calls game in and game out.

But don’t let the fear of failure keep you from taking decision-making risks. Success often comes through what could be considered failures or mistakes. Every successful official has made bad calls and poor decisions at one time or another. Mistakes and failures are some of the hardest lessons in life, but they create opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Strive to make the right calls at the right time with confidence and integrity, and make decisions you take responsibility for and can support publicly. Above all, learn from mistakes. Discuss what worked and what didn’t with your mentor, supervisor and trusted peers. Avoid blaming others. Relive the process and reassess what you would do differently, then move on.

Certainly your games will go better: Coaches and players will accept your calls most of the time, you’ll suddenly start to have an “easier time” of things out there, but you’ll also quietly be developing something much more important to any official — a good reputation.

Coaches need officials to be decisive, and when they see an official who shows confidence without arrogance they feel more comfortable with that official.

Leadership potential

Another benefit to increasing your decisiveness is you will likely be perceived as a leader. Decisive officials are those officials who are truly ready for the biggest calls in the biggest games. Like all-star players, they want the critical plays to come their way.

Decisiveness is one of those intangibles in officiating that can make or break you in so many ways: having your calls accepted, getting the big games, moving up, earning you a good reputation and identifying you as a leader. The good news is: You can work on it. As you do, you’ll notice things changing for the better.

To be decisive, you have to be a decision maker, a risk taker and a long-term student of the game. Then you’ll be super efficient and successful in officiating

The post Sure Thing appeared first on Referee.com.

Second, where is it being played? Is it the old crusty gym across town? The loud and raucous stadium? Again, it really doesn’t matter a whole lot.

But one question that does matter to officials is, who are my partners? The answer can either cause a sigh of relief or a pang of anxiety. The names might conjure memories of blown calls, inadvertent whistles and petty arguments over who had the better angle to make the call.

It’s best to take a deep breath and remember two key words: crew harmony. Those two words speak volumes as you strive to be successful every game, season after season. It’s no different than the harmony that’s essential in a marriage, a family unit, a work environment or a social organization. No man or woman is an island. No official can be one either. Officiating is a people business and people must be in harmony to achieve common goals.

A crew is only as good as the crew itself. If one crewmember doesn’t perform as well as his or her crewmates, the game will be evaluated as not being well officiated. Crewmembers must be on the same page in order for the crew, and thus each individual, to be successful.

So how do you do it, especially on nights when it seems your crew is not in the same book, let alone on the same page?

Mutual respect as officials and more importantly, as human beings, is the first necessary ingredient. Support, communication and humor are other keys.
While all crewmembers must know their responsibilities to the crew and to each other, it is the crew chief in football who must take the initiative in building harmony. In basketball and soccer it’s the referee, in baseball and softball it’s the umpire-in-chief, and in volleyball the first referee.

In all sports it is usually the veteran. It is every veteran’s responsibility to help younger crewmembers without a condescending attitude. It is the crew chief’s responsibility to create the “family” atmosphere that is crucial to crew harmony.
That family atmosphere may be more easily built and maintained in football and baseball, in which set crews are common. In other sports, referees often work consecutive nights with different partners, all season long. It is extremely important to build harmony, if just for a day.

The process begins with a phone call when the games are first assigned. It may be an icebreaking introduction, a friendly reunion of paths crossing or a straightforward discussion about the game and the travel plans. If possible, traveling to a game together, be it in a car across town or on a plane across country, is a good way to begin establishing harmony.

The pregame conference is then the main forum for building the harmony that will carry the crew throughout the game. It’s the crew leader’s responsibility to make each person feel comfortable in the pregame. None of the officials should feel intimidated or overwhelmed or in the shadow of another official. If they do, they’ll be hesitant and not make the calls that need to be made. The whole idea is to elevate a new or less-experienced official, to bring him or her up to a higher level so that the whole crew works at a higher level.

One way to do that is to have the new or less-experienced crewmember begin conducting the pregame. The more you let that official participate and throw out ideas, the more comfortable he or she will feel. With a more veteran crew, egos must be put aside for the good of the unit.

When the game begins, the process of building crew harmony continues. No raised eyebrows, negative body language or outward criticism can be tolerated if the crew is to work productively as a team, and thereby earn the respect of the players, coaches and fans.

Don’t ever embarrass a crewmember and imply that you don’t agree with his or her judgment. And keep a sense of humor at all times, without affecting the flow of the game.
And what happens when it just doesn’t work? What happens when there is friction between partners or dissension among crewmembers?

The crew chief should file a report with the assigner or coordinator with an honest assessment of why it didn’t work. It’s up to the person in charge to see if there is a pattern with a particular official. Then there are further evaluations and rating systems to help deal with individual problems that can disrupt a crew.

And then move on to the next assignment, with the next partner or set of crewmembers, and with a total commitment to getting it right — together.

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There are assigners who act from impure motives. I knew one who had a loose hold on a college umpiring slot and feared competition. Two younger guys in his area were threats and he gave them lousy assignments to keep them from getting exposure. Eventually I had the chance to hire them, and both ended up in the College World Series.

I’ve known others who favored friends or penalized people they didn’t like. My local high school football assigner gave himself a full slate of playoff games, even at positions he didn’t usually work.

Are there factors that affect the assigning process that ideally wouldn’t? Yes. Sometimes a boss told me not to put official X in a game. Maybe X had done nothing wrong but had ruffled the feathers of someone who could call the shots. Inclusion may also affect the process.

We always hear all games are important, but the reality is some have a far greater impact than others.

You may think of a matchup featuring undefeated teams. I may have in mind cellar-dwellers in a heated rivalry or a game in which the coaches are notoriously difficult. There are also gradations among games. For different reasons, game X may be more challenging than Y but less so than Z. There are degrees and different kinds of “big.” Each year I ranked games by difficulty, considering history, talent, location, rivalries, etc. I ended up with several in categories which I labeled, for lack of better terminology, huge, pretty big and so-so (on paper, at least; one never knows how they’ll turn out).

I scaled my officials based on judgment; rules and mechanics; game management and communication skills; and appearance, and grouped them as top-tier, average and young but with potential. Where officials are in the pecking order will affect their assignments. The reality is that I may not share an officials’ estimation of their capabilities, so I may not give them any huge or pretty big games. If one is top-tier, how many plums they get will depend in part on how many others are in that group. For morale purposes I spread the cream around and ensured each official in each group got roughly the same number of games.

I also thought among top officials, some are more adept in certain areas. I made judgments about who is best suited for the demands of each game. If it will involve two challenging coaches but I felt diplomacy isn’t X’s strong suit, I’d give another official that game. To keep seasoned officials from getting complacent and show that no one is too good to work any game, I also gave my best officials some lower-level games.
I helped newer officials by means of a slow maturation process. Each year I gave them games more challenging than last year’s. If they handled them well, they’d get tougher ones next year. So, if Joe or Jill isn’t top-tier but is an up-and-comer, he or she may get a plum as a test. Insofar as I did that with others, it decreased the number of big games for the top officials.

As for particular issues involving officials, do they have a problematic history with a team? If one had been in a game with controversy — especially if the official was at fault — and I felt it would be healthy for everyone to have a “timeout,” I might keep the official away from one or both teams until the dust has settled.

What is the chemistry between X and other officials in the game likely to be? Some can’t get along with, or try to dominate, others. A few won’t put their issues aside to work a game. If I had assigned Pat to a game and felt that putting Terry in it was a recipe for disaster, I assigned Pat elsewhere.

If an assigner puts Pat in a game, how many times will he or she see the teams during the season? Even if top-level teams are involved, familiarity breeds contempt. You don’t want Pat to see a team more than two or three times unless it can’t be helped or to work a game this week if he or she had one of the teams last week. If there’s a challenging game down the road an assigner wants Pat to work, he or she may not be assigned to that one because of the time element.

In sum, assigning is a complex process involving parceling out a limited number of games of varying degrees of competitiveness and difficulty to officials of wide-ranging experience, caliber and strengths, based on myriad factors. If an official isn’t getting what he or she perceives as big games or as many as desired, it’s likely because official and assigner don’t define the term the same way, the assigner likes to spread the wealth around, or the assigner doesn’t have the official pegged at a high-enough rung on the ladder. In the latter case, the official will need to change the assigner’s perception to change the outcome.

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• Is everyone on the crew there for the same reason? Common mission and values drive team success. The pressure to “move up” or earn postseason assignments is a powerful one. But if some crew members are aiming for the state tournament while others are happy to be just working the regular season, some adjustments may be necessary. The desire to make more money doing other sports can be a drawback as well. Will a crewmate create an opening on a game night to work a different sport with a different crew? Is there enough focus by individual crewmembers on the game at hand?
• Does the crew take personal responsibility for game preparation? Is the crew ready? Many associations require weekly caseplay reviews and regular study. But even when that’s not the case, it’s the individual’s responsibility to maintain a solid understanding of the fouls, penalties, rules and specifics of the position. Does the crew arrive at the pregame prepared? Do the members hold one another accountable? If someone is assigned a task, such as choosing a rendezvous point and meeting time to travel together, or putting together a quiz for the ride to the game, is that being handled?
• What is the nature of the pregame meeting? Is it business or bickering? Overly convivial? Are the pregame meetings coordinated and geared to discussing points of emphasis and potential game events? Does the atmosphere encourage questions and learning? Or are they sessions mired in complaints about game fees, the quality of the competing teams or the assignments of other officials?
• How does the crew view the crew chief or lead official? The head of the crew wields significant influence not only on the field or court but off. During a game does he or she create an environment of, “Let’s just get the call right,” or one of, “Don’t embarrass me”? Are crewmembers more concerned with the lead official’s influence on subsequent playoff assignments?
• How is conflict handled? Officials are notoriously confident — they have to be in order to make split-second decisions. In pressure-filled situations that confidence can manifest itself in the form of closed minds and an unwillingness to discuss other viewpoints. Is your crew able to constructively and quickly handle conflict among crewmembers?
• Does the crew focus only on the negative? Clearly missed calls draw the most attention and they need to be addressed at the appropriate time. However, positive feedback validates good performance and builds a constructive and upbeat atmosphere.
• Are crewmembers empowered? Empowerment is a word often overused and seldom understood. Empowered team members enjoy an environment of trust that fuels assured decision-making. They are vested in the success of the crew.
• Are the roles of each crewmember clear? That is usually a case of mechanics, but it’s one worth revisiting on a regular basis. Who has the ball? Who has the action around the play? Those processes often change as crews grow and offseason rules are enacted.
• Does the crew communicate? Every sport requires communication among crewmembers. That isn’t limited to the pregame meeting. Rather, adopt sound in-game mechanics that allow effective communication among crewmembers before and after the play.
• Does the crew follow through? Teamwork among officiating crews need not end when time expires or the final out is recorded. Effective teams use postgame discussions to reinforce positive aspects of their performance and identify areas that need attention.

The officiating crew may not be the team the crowd pays to see, but the need to function as a team is just as important. Use the above questions as a guideline to see where your crew stands.

The post Team Works appeared first on Referee.com.

P for Professionalism. When you walk onto the court or field, how are you perceived? Will the coaches, players and fans give you a chance to prove yourself, or have they decided you’re not going to cut it? How can you help them form the opinion you’re a competent official?

There’s rules knowledge. If you don’t know the rules intimately, you’re at a disadvantage. You need to know the intent of the rules. Through judgment and experience, you officiate in many shades of gray. Was an advantage gained illegally by one player? When do I need to insert myself into the game? See the entire play.

O for Outgoing Personality. How is your interaction with your crew, the players and coaches? Are you perceived as arrogant or unapproachable? You can be friendly without being soft, pleasant while still professional. You can’t stop and attend to needy coaches every time they grumble about something, but if you perceive something is going south in your game, you need to be aware enough to fix it if possible. The power in officiating doesn’t come from the position, it comes from the personality.

L for Leadership. Leadership and professionalism work hand in hand. When you walk into the venue where you’re going to work, what do people see? Do you exude confidence but not cockiness? Perception is a huge part of our success or failure. Do you look like you know what you’re doing? Are you dressed appropriately? Showing up to varsity sites in business casual attire when a locker room is available is certainly a positive start. If you have the look, coaches, players and fans will often assume you know what you’re doing.
Once the game begins, are you in position, do you have a strong whistle and mechanics? Are you in good enough physical shape to officiate the level of game you’re getting ready to work? If you had a bad day at home or work, can you put that aside and focus on the job ahead? Do your partners look to you for leadership when there is a situation during the game? Be prepared to be that leader, even if you don’t need to be every game. If your less-experienced partners are going to handle it, let them. Impatience will not help the situation. Let your confidence in them be apparent. Lead by example.

I for Integrity. To me, integrity is the No. 1 requirement and divider between mediocre and great officials. You must be above reproach in your personal and professional lives. I live in a large state but a tight sports community. Many of the people involved in one sport will be involved in others as coaches, players or fans.

If you get the reputation of being unfair or not to be trusted, word will get around. Many officials in our association work more than one sport. The worst thing you can do for your officiating career is to get known for the wrong reasons. If you aspire to get to the top, you must have a high level of integrity. Trust is the basis for your relationships with your partners, your board officers, assigners, etc. That will carry over to the sports venue where you’re working, no matter the level.

S for Style. All officials develop a certain style. With experience comes confidence, desire to improve, increased work ethic and higher goals. Officials adapt certain mannerisms they’ve observed and emulated. Keep the ones that work for your game and quickly cast aside the others.

Officials advance at different speeds, and they have different levels of capability. You should always aspire to be the best you can be. There is satisfaction in reaching each new level or goal. Improvement and learning don’t stop when you get to the higher levels. As you gain confidence, you will develop a smoothness in your mechanics and signals that separates you from other officials. Don’t sacrifice substance for style. Our association teaches NFHS mechanics for high school games, and while many of us may have a certain style, we don’t ever want to embellish signals to the point we don’t convey the message.
H for Hustle (also Hard Work). False hustle is easily spotted. That is when officials rush from one place to another when not covering a play or moving to a new position mandated by mechanics. Stay in cruise control, exert yourself when necessary.

Hard work goes hand in hand with integrity. No official makes it to the top by being lazy. The rate of your advancement can be directly proportionate to your work ethic. There comes a time when the excuses must stop. Most of the responsibility for any official’s advancement lies in their hands. Book study, game film review, physical conditioning, preseason clinics and scrimmages, and camps are all necessary for continued growth.

You should always bring your A game with you, and it should be apparent to anyone watching. As an evaluator, I never like to see officials work at a different intensity level when they know I’m in the gym as opposed to when they don’t. As the olde cliché goes, the most important game in town is the game you’re working today. You need to work every game with the same effort.

If your desire is to become the best official at the highest level of the sport you’re working, those building blocks will help you get there. In my experience, that polish separates the superior official from the average official.

The post Your Chance to Shine appeared first on Referee.com.

Create an open, honest and safe environment for crew communication. Every member of the crew should be encouraged to contribute to the pregame discussion. The crew chief’s job is to draw something out of everyone to make each member feel valued and useful. Every official, regardless of experience, has something worthwhile to contribute. I would argue it is the single most important part of the pregame conference.

Get on the same page as a crew. No matter how much we try to standardize officiating, there are always going to be some minor differences in how some procedures are handled. Getting consensus on how we are going to handle those little variances can be discussed in the pregame. An effective crew chief will offer a little give-and-take to make everyone feel confident and included.

Take the court (or field) feeling like a team rather than disparate individuals. If the two steps above are done effectively, the crew will leave the locker room as a unit, all feeling like an important cog in the wheel. No officials will feel they are “working for” the referee. Everyone knows they have a job to do and all members need to pull their weight to make the entire crew as good as possible.

Psychological safety is a term often used in corporate America. It means you won’t be punished or embarrassed for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns or mistakes. It also means opposing viewpoints can be shared openly and constructive responses can be expected. Put simply, management needs to create an environment where employees are not scared to speak up to management with concerns and ideas. To transfer that intention to officiating, the pregame conference in the locker room needs to be an environment where all members of the crew can speak up without fear of being criticized, shamed or silenced.

In a basketball crew of three, the referee quite often starts the pregame discussion. That sets the tone for the entire night. If all three officials take the floor feeling they are part of a team that is going to work together to keep the game safe and fair, success usually follows. If one or more officials take the floor feeling they are subservient to the big dog(s) on the crew, success is less likely. One effective technique is for the senior official to talk about a scenario that had a less-than-optimum outcome and get input from others on how it could have been better handled. Having humble crew chiefs who admit they made mistakes in the past is a great way to establish trust and openness. Building a team also requires the crew chief to notice anxiety and bring out quieter and/or less-veteran members. Additionally, politely limiting the effusive official whose chattiness might preclude others from getting their voices included might be needed. If some of the officials on the crew are familiar with each other from past experiences and someone else is new to the crew, that needs special attention. We are most comfortable with those with whom we have experience, therefore it would be easy to make the third official feel less than one-third of the crew. Make sure they are included and encouraged to contribute.

Early in my career, I was assigned as the U2 with a couple of well-established officials who spent the entire pregame exchanging war stories while I sat and listened. When we took the floor, I felt like an outsider, not part of any cohesive team. The same can be said for the sage veteran who espouses “game keys” for 30 minutes without letting anyone else contribute to the discussion. It is great information to share, but it’s a one-way dialogue that doesn’t contribute to team unity.

I can also recall a crew chief emailing a PDF pregame document several pages long a couple days before a game. The expectation was that I should read it all before arriving at the game. That made me feel as if the crew chief was staking out his dominant position and his pregame points were the only ones that mattered.

Another ineffective technique is the old one-sentence pregame, “Don’t bleep it up!” That might draw a laugh, but it is neither fitting, appropriate nor unifying.

One final thing: Listening is an important aspect of leading. In addition to helping the less-experienced (or confident) officials feel like part of the team by hearing them out, the veterans can gauge how much experience unfamiliar officials have by hearing their input. If they only are talking “Officiating 101,” it would be fairly safe to assume they are just getting their feet wet and might need help working through some difficult situations. Reassure them you want to hear their viewpoints and ask them what they need from the rest of the crew to help them have a successful night. By contrast, if their input makes it obvious they have some fairly high-level training, you might sense that official is not going to need a lot of extra help from the rest of the crew.

As officiating starts getting back to a “new normal,” let’s make sure normal includes great communication, teamwork, inclusion and openness. It will make for a much better officiating team.

The post Everybody’s Talkin’ appeared first on Referee.com.

Hustle

Hustling officials actively work the game and don’t loaf through it. They avoid coasting if the score gets out of hand and they don’t give the impression they’re bored because it’s not a championship or “important” contest.

Three components of hustle to remember in order to improve are functional, demonstrative and mental. Functional hustle is being in the right position to make the best call possible. That alone usually separates good officials from great officials. Being in the right position is one of the most important aspects of officiating. Most fouls cannot be called properly unless the whole act is observed.

Demonstrative hustle contributes to officiating by creating the perception the official is actively doing his or her best. Officials should always be “on the hop,” trotting from one spot to the next, especially during a dead-ball period. That indicates the referee is vigorously working the game, while walking may be perceived that the referee is tired or not interested.

Mental hustle is basically keeping your head in the game by being alert. Each official should always know the situation and communicate verbally or non-verbally with partners.

Learn From Others

Regardless of the level at which you officiate, you can improve your performance by learning from successful officials. Ask them to discuss their expertise. If your partner says a few words to a troublesome player or coach to make a problem disappear, ask what your partner said to solve the problem.

Try to attend one or two camps or clinics a year. Absorb the information other successful officials serving as camp clinicians have to offer in those settings. Chances are, it will help cure you of defects in your game.

If you worked the sub-varsity game, learning begins in the locker room between games. You can solicit comments from the varsity officials on what they saw of your performance. Remember that nothing will stifle a sincere attempt to help faster than for the “helpee” to dispute what actually happened on the court or field. Listen to the comments. Evaluate them later. Consider taking an occasional night off to watch a respected official work a game. Watch successful officials with purpose. Watching successful officials should not include keeping score on how many calls they get right, but watch for specific techniques, preferably some of those you have been told need improvement.

Pay attention to the little things successful officials do before the game. Does one have a personality similar to yours from whom you might adopt some effective techniques? How do they build trust in the pregame conferences with players, coaches and table officials? Is there something that looks very professional that you want to emulate?

Rules Knowledge

Missed judgment calls can sometimes be excused. But there is no excuse for misapplication of the rules. It’s that simple. Officials must have solid knowledge of the rules and how they should be applied, especially as you move up in the ranks from youth to high school to college and beyond. If you misapply a rule, there is nobody to blame but yourself.

If you think you messed up during a game, make a mental note of the situation or jot down a brief description of the play, if possible. Then, dive into the casebook at the first opportunity to get a better grip of the ruling.

Officials who are well-versed in the rules of their sport generally possess an added level of confidence.

Take Care of Business

When dealing with assigners, treat them as you would like to be treated and do things their way. Get availabilities and contracts back to them in a timely manner.

Take care in filling out availability forms correctly. You don’t want to give an assigner incorrect information. It will only cause the assigner, and probably you, nothing but headaches. Make a photocopy of the availability for your records. When your availability changes, you can confirm with the copied availability and report changes to the assigner.

Dumping games for better ones creates ill will. If you need to get off a contest, be up front and honest with the assigner. He or she may not be happy with your reason, but will respect you for your straightforward approach in dealing with the situation. Handle whatever your state or local association requires in a timely manner. That includes completing tests, registering and paying dues.

Postgame Review

If you have never seen yourself on film, find a way to do so. Watching yourself can be painful, but the benefits and ability to learn from the video are great. Perhaps your local association can get video from schools involved in games you have worked or simply requesting a video through an athletic director works, too. Video is a fantastic training tool.

Mechanics

Good, solid mechanics can sometimes cover warts in other areas. It may seem corny and uncomfortable, but the best way to improve mechanics is to get in front of a mirror and practice, including verbal calls. When on the court or field, get the best angle possible on every call. Wait until play is completed before announcing your decision. Good call or not, don’t hang around looking for approval or dissent after announcing your decision. Bounce with confidence to your new starting position for the next play.

The post Want to get better? appeared first on Referee.com.

This is not to say warnings are a cure-all or a substitute for enforcement. Warnings are not appropriate when basic rules are being broken during a game. Officials must manage the game and know when to get rid of the warnings and replace them with penalties, technical fouls, bench restrictions, cards or ejections. And without question, the old “One more word and you’re outta here” warning — which is more of a threat, anyway — is to be avoided at all costs.

Still and all, a warning can be an effective technique in game control. Here are some tips on how to warn various participants.

Coaches

Because of the nature of their job, more than a few head coaches are going to create conflict for officials. Use preventive officiating whenever you can and tolerate a bit more from them than you would other participants. Use the full range of warnings for head coaches, from a silent look that says, “I’ve heard you,” to a more formal verbal warning that you’ve heard enough (meaning they’ve used up their leash and the next time you deal with them it will be with a penalty).

Assistant coaches, reserve players and other personnel on the bench such as team managers, trainers, etc., should be afforded much less tolerance. When there’s a problem with someone on the bench, go directly to the head coach and tell the coach about the problem. More often than not, the coach will fully support you. Almost no coach will tolerate a mouthy benchwarmer who caused the team a penalty.

Players

Constant communication is the key to preventive officiating with players who are in the game. Many times upset players only want you to listen to them. Acknowledge their concern and often that will mollify them.

Reckless or rough play gets no warning — penalize immediately. But if the overexuberance hasn’t reached that level, serving notice lets the player know an authority figure is paying attention.

Fans

Booing the officials is as old as sports themselves. Officials can’t be so thin-skinned as to respond or be bothered by it. Standing in front of the rowdies and wagging a warning finger will only inflame the situation. If it goes beyond razzing, get the game manager involved. Profanity directed at game personnel, tossing of material onto the playing surface, fights, threating acts or gestures must be dealt with by game management.

When to warn

As noted, warnings can be issued for a number of reasons. In football, a player who would have been flagged for holding had the play not gone to another area of the field can be alerted to block rather than grab. Baseball umpires often have a catcher or infielder tell the pitcher to avoid a balk by taking a longer pause in the set position with runners on base. Carelessly tossed bats usually bring a warning upon first offense.

When a player’s overaggressive play is threatening the orderly progress of a game that has free substitution, an official can suggest the coach have the player taken out of the game temporarily to simmer down. Note that is not an order, merely a suggestion. The coach can reject your suggestion and run the risk of the player being penalized or ejected, or accept the advice.

When it comes to warnings, a look can be as good as the spoken word. Often fewer words get the message across than a longer oration. Assuming the rulebook doesn’t mandate use of the actual phrase, “I’m warning you” or “That’s a warning” needn’t be the best thing to say.

End a verbal altercation with, “That’s enough.” You may want to supplement the warning with the “stop sign,” an upraised hand that indicates the conversation is at an end. “Let’s play” is a good way to move forward and get the game going again. By telling the participants to resume action by putting the ball into play, you can end further dialogue and help let everyone move on.

An effective official is able to deal professionally with coaches, even in the most heated situations. Voice control is a must; maintain an even, yet confident tone. An official who exercises good voice control will slowly bring an excited coach down to a manageable emotional level. Be pleasant, yet firm when necessary, in explaining calls or relating information to coaches.

One way to quickly implement that technique is to ask the coach a question. For instance, an official can ask a coach, “What did you see?” That triggers the listening process as the coach relates his or her opinion and, in the process, feels the satisfaction of having your attention and getting something off the chest. For continuous-action sports, there may be no time to stop and talk directly to a coach. In those circumstances, it’s a good idea to catch the coach’s eye as you’re going past and give a wave or a thumbs up of recognition.

The post For Warned appeared first on Referee.com.

The type of contact involved and styles that teams bring to the court or field affect game tempo. Seasoned officials adjust to those factors. They know when the whistle is needed (and perhaps more important, when it’s not) to keep a game flowing.

Like most officiating issues, there is no magic formula to speed up a dragging game, or slow down a hectic one. Instead, it takes a combination of skill, timing, feedback and experience to find the right tactic for a specific situation.
Here are some tips for ensuring your game has the proper flow.

Start the game on time

Get things off to a good start and set a good example by completing pregame duties in a professional and concise manner so the game begins on schedule. If you appear lackadaisical or have that “I don’t want to be here” demeanor before the game, it will carry over to the game.

Preventive officiating

Body language, using your voice and having some stock phrases to defuse tense situations are all critical to preventing game delays and ensuring players hustle on and off the field or court.

For example, if a soccer player deliberately kicks a ball away after a call, an immediate yellow card might not be necessary. Asking the player, “What are you doing?” lets the offending player know that’s not proper conduct and future acts will be dealt with more severely. The second such event then demands a yellow card. The third would lead to a red card and ejection.

Timeouts and other breaks

The plate umpire should keep track of how many have been thrown. After three pitches, the umpire should indicate to the first batter that two remain, then one, then get the batter to move to the plate. Once the ball is being thrown around the infield, the umpire should indicate to batters they need to step up before the plate is brushed off.
Umpires can urge fielders to hustle onto the field between innings. If the catcher was the last batter or was on base the previous inning, the plate umpire should be aware of that. If there is no warmup catcher, the umpire should remind the coach someone needs to fill that role.

The 25/40-second play clock has helped pace of play in football games. But getting teams out of sideline conferences following changes of possession, after timeouts and before kickoffs can prevent unnecessary drags in pace.

Official-to-official discussions that interrupt game play should occur only when absolutely necessary to share information that may prevent an incorrect call.

Game balls

Umpires should have an adequate supply of spare game balls. Ask for replenishments before your ballbag is empty. When a foul ball is hit into the stands, give the catcher a replacement immediately or toss one to the pitcher, whichever is appropriate to your sport.

Football officials know they won’t always have ball helpers who pay attention to the game and have a ball ready when one is needed. But sometimes it’s the official’s fault for not giving even token instructions to those assigned ball-helper duties.
Relaying the ball from official to official is not only a way to maintain tempo, but an opportunity for a football crew to look sharp. Always toss it underhand and never over players. If the distance is too long, move toward one another to shorten the distance.

Substitutions

Each sport has its own process of administrating substitutions and you can’t rush them. But you also don’t have to prolong the outcome by being overly deliberate.

Ejections

When your game has a situation, such as an ejection or a rule controversy, the best thing you can do is to get the next pitch thrown or the next play started. Admittedly, that has more to do with game control than maintaining the pace of the game, but it counts. Once game action resumes, players, coaches and fans will typically worry about that action and forget about the situation that caused the problem in the first place.

Avoid unnecessary interruptions

If you somehow don’t feel “in the game” because little if anything to rule on has occurred in your coverage area, back off. Don’t be that official with a quick whistle or flag to make it look like you’re “in the game.” Back off. It’s better for you, the crew and the game.
Many officials think they aren’t doing their job if they don’t enforce the rules, especially if they haven’t been heard from early in a game or an extended period of time during the game. The best officials know when to stay out of the way and call only what needs to be called. Under no circumstances should you ignore fouls that involve player safety, but being too quick to insert yourself when you don’t need to will result in too many flags or whistles for minor violations that are better handled with preventive officiating. *

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The old feeling among coaches of, “I’m going to get screwed on the road,” may not be as prevalent as it used to be, but certainly a few coaches may still get that feeling before they step off the bus and may even convey that to their players.
Your integrity is your calling card. You need it to be successful at every level. It’s the catalyst for everything in officiating, from maintaining control during the game to moving up the ladder. We are the adjudicators of the game. If our integrity is in question, so is our judgment and the whole scheme of being fair. That’s why officials need to be extra protective when it comes to challenges to their character.

Recognize the Attack

The best way to avoid giving a coach any ammunition at all to attack your integrity is to work every game with a very simple four-point plan:

• Arrive, saying little.
• Treat each coach the same before the game.
• Work hard during the contest.
• Leave, saying less.

But even following that advice, there will still be times during a game when your good name will be smeared. Since coaches tend to jaw a lot, and about a lot of things, it might not always be easy to tell when they are questioning your integrity, especially if you are a newer official. Veteran referees and umpires can usually tell pretty quickly what a coach is driving at. A good rule of thumb is this:

If the coach is focused on a specific play, that coach — right or wrong — is questioning your ruling. If that’s the case, either it’s a rules-based decision or it’s a judgment call that could be disputed. Arguments about judgment calls involve a difference of facts — you ruled on what happened and the coach wanted a ruling that favored his or her team. When the application of a rule is in dispute, most often the coach either doesn’t know the rule, doesn’t understand it or doesn’t like that its application worked out badly for his or her team.

But if the coach is not talking about a specific play and is instead focused on you (“You’re terrible!” versus “That call was terrible!”), the coachspeak could be veering into questions about your integrity. That’s not the case every time, though. The coach could be saying that you’re incompetent — not something you should take lightly, but at least it’s not an attack on your character.

Fighting Back

Officials don’t appreciate it when a coach tells them to call it both ways. If a coach questions you about a foul-total discrepancy, you can respond with, “Coach, what are you trying to say?” Make the coach come out and accuse rather than imply. Most coaches will take the hint and back off.

If a coach questions every call, in a way, that coach is questioning your integrity, too. You have to stop that type of behavior. Don’t be afraid to ask point blank, “Are you questioning my integrity?” Most coaches know that is a line not to be crossed and may then rephrase their comments.

How should you handle the situation in which they directly accuse you of cheating? That’s actually easier to deal with than all those roundabout hints. Hit the coach with the penalty appropriate to your sport — which may include ejection.

If charges of cheating are levied during or after a game by a coach at any level, notify the league office, assigner or supervisor and document the comments in your game report. Documenting what happened while it’s still fresh in your mind is critical.

Because officials work so hard to uphold their standards of character and impartiality, and because those standards are the only things that allow us to do our jobs with credibility, attacks on our integrity are especially heinous.

Officials are part of a unique community. We are in an avocation that mandates courage, dedication and perhaps most of all, impeccable integrity.

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fficiating has been in my blood since I was a scholastic wrestler during the mid-1960s. Throughout the decades, I gradually began to understand the personal characteristics that all great officials possess. They are human qualities that are based on common-sense behavior. I have developed eight principles for success.

Composure

The official’s professional demeanor under stressful and/or unusual occurrences can be the calming element that alleviates potential unsportsmanlike, irrational responses from coaches, athletes and fans. If officials appear flustered, confused or irritated, they could easily lose both control of the situation and the respect of all involved.

Openness

The official’s communications with all coaches, athletes, scorekeepers and team personnel should be respectful and formal in nature. Don’t be too friendly. On the other hand, don’t display a condescending attitude. Arrogance has no redeeming qualities and only antagonizes others. Be approachable.

Mechanics

It is imperative that you use the correct signals. Just as important, strive to be in the proper position at all times. Coaches are unlikely to question an official who is on top of a difficult call.
You’re going to make mistakes at times; you’re only human. If you can correct the mistake, do so. If the rules don’t have provisions to provide a correction, don’t become defensive when coaches question your error. Be honest and admit you missed the call. After all, how can you argue when both sides agree? But too many admissions should lead to a self-examination of your mechanics.

Rules knowledge

It is a must to review the rules weekly during the season. The competent official is an expert in the interpretation of the rules. Great coaches are also knowledgeable of the rules. When you are questioned about a rule, you better have in-depth knowledge of its significance. That’ll make you prepared to answer all inquiries. Be a student of the game.

Appearance

Just as the athlete physically prepares himself during the preseason, the official must also do the same. The official’s exercises should include endurance, agility and lateral motion.
The official’s jacket (if appropriate to the sport), shirt and pants should always be cleaned and wrinkle-free. Shoes should be polished before every contest. That presents a professional appearance, demonstrating to the spectators, coaches and competitors that officials mean business and take personal pride in their position of authority.

Decisiveness

Be demonstrative when making each call — be it routine or difficult, exhibiting complete confidence in your decision. Coaches and fans can easily sense if you seem unsure or wavering regarding a call. Be resolute.

Consistency is also a facet of decisiveness. Every sport has its subtle situations that involve an official’s subjectivity: holding in football, the balk in baseball to name a few. Theoretically, every official should indicate those infractions in the same manner. In reality, such is not the case. No two officials perceive situations with identical judgment.

The key is individual official consistency. My area of officiating expertise is wrestling. While some referees are more liberal, others tend to be more moderate in their view of stalling. That’s OK, as long as that official is consistent from match to match.
Superior coaches not only scout their opponents, but also the officials who oversee their competitions. They respect an official who is consistent, even if they tend to disagree with the official’s overall philosophy. At least they know what to expect. Inconsistency in officiating frustrates coaches in all sports.

Enthusiasm

Officials should emanate a demeanor of excitement in performing the trade, no matter the level of competition to which they are assigned. In doing so, the athletes feel a sense of pride in the skills that they have developed, knowing that the official sincerely appreciates their dedication to the sport.

Safety

Adept officials check that participants are legally equipped prior to an event, especially when it involves contact sports. Likewise, they are constantly prepared for the unexpected. For example, the observant official can sense if there is friction between opponents and is ready to step between combatants to quell potential problems.

As a state rules interpreter for nearly three decades, I incorporated those principles to evaluate hundreds of officials. I found them to be beneficial for developing competent and compassionate officials.

Officiating is an admirable and rewarding avocation. It is also a challenging endeavor. To be honest, not everyone has the essential characteristics needed to be an official. It takes individuals who can ignore criticism, knowing they will never be able to please everyone. Exceptional officials perform their duties for the love of the sport and its participants.

The post Principles With Interest appeared first on Referee.com.

Seeman’s directives weren’t ranked in order of importance. If they were, one could make a strong case that his ninth should’ve been closer to the first. Miss a highly technical violation or pass on incidental contact and you can survive. But fail to see the thrown elbow or flung forearm after the play is seemingly over and you are asking for trouble.

Granted, you can’t see absolutely everything. Stories abound about what goes on at the bottom of a pile when football players are trying to recover a fumble. You don’t have X-ray vision. And in no “contact” sport do the officials outnumber the players; not everyone is going to be observed all of the time.

But there is no excuse for missing something because you’re daydreaming or are more concerned with chasing down the ball than you are paying attention to participants. Don’t officiate air. Watch the players.
Many games have been ruined by undetected cheap shots that foster ill will among opponents. Some may lead to much larger problems. So how do you prevent them? Here are a few tips.

• Obtain information about the teams. If pregame media coverage of the game or chatter via the officiating grapevine indicates there was a brawl or other incident the last time the teams met, you’ll go into the game with your antenna up. If you can find out who worked the game, talk to those officials and find out what happened. When you take the court or field for the rematch, step in at the first sign of trouble.

• Get out in front. As Yogi Berra said, “You observe a lot just by watching.” Some dead-ball issues are the culmination of multiple minor disagreements. Are players jostling each other away from the ball? Is there an agitator who is constantly chirping at opponents? Those could be harbingers of bad things to come. Preventive officiating in the form of a subtle but firm verbal warning can quell a potential disturbance.

Observing the teams during warmups can also provide clues that trouble may be on the horizon. Are they staring at each other from opposite sides of the court or field?

• Be especially alert during stoppages. Keep an eye on players during lulls in play. Substitutions and end of half/quarter/inning situations are not routine. Players have to cross each other’s paths during the exchange. A player leaving the game or going to the bench may want to take a parting shot at an opponent.

Players who have been ejected or fouled out are already unhappy. Keep an eye on them to ensure they leave the game without incident.

Be alert whenever players are forced to congregate in a confined area. If the basketball lanes have to be cleared for a technical foul, other players will be milling around midcourt. A corner kick in soccer means players in the penalty area. They will bump and push to get into preferred position. Don’t let it get out of hand.

• Let players know you’re in the area. If a police cruiser is parked at the side of the road in plain sight and the police officer is pointing a radar gun at passing motorists, you can bet feet will be moving from the accelerator to the brake. Your presence in the vicinity of players is analogous to the cop on the beat. Use your voice to let players know you’re around. A simple, “OK, the play’s over,” lets the players know they’re being observed.

• Don’t stop officiating. A common mistake among inexperienced football officials is to drop the flag for a foul, then let the rest of the play continue without covering it.

Similarly, when a runner makes a hard but legal slide into second base, he or she often becomes entangled with the fielder. That may or may not lead to a problem if either player takes umbrage. Depending on how many umpires are working the game, the umpire covering the base or a partner is responsible for observing that action when the relay throw is on its way to first base.

• Keep your head on a swivel. Don’t stare at the spot where the ball went out of bounds or into the stands. Never in the history of sports has the ground or empty space committed a foul. Make a visual scan of your coverage area after making that determination.

Another foible is to be more concerned with the ball than the players. Your job is observer, not retriever. Once action has settled down and players have dispersed, you can concern yourself with finding a ball to put into play.

• Get help from team personnel. If you observe a player becoming agitated, head off trouble by asking for help from a teammate or the player’s coach. Most captains are elected to their positions by virtue of their leadership abilities. Get them involved. “Captain, will you please talk to number 33? You will help your team avoid a penalty.”

Officials should not offer opinions on who should play and who should sit. “Coach, if I were you, I’d get number 15 out of there before your team is penalized,” is not appropriate. But letting a coach know that a player is pushing the sportsmanship envelope gives the coach a chance to deal with the troublesome player.

The vast majority of fouls and other illegal acts will occur when the ball is live. But the great officials are those who penalize actions between plays. Don’t let dead-ball situations keep you from the Promised Land.

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nemonics are devices intended to assist the memory, as a verse or formula. A popular example, HOMES, is an acronym to help recall the names of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan Erie, Superior).

There are six qualities that raise your officiating level. If you’re a mnemonics fan, sorry, there isn’t one to help you. But if you’re into alliteration, you’re in luck. They all start with the letter C. Away we go.

Confidence

To have any chance to be good at most anything, you need to have self-assurance, and officiating is no different. A lot of officials come from the ranks of former players so they understand their game and they’re used to being out on the court or field. But participating as an official is a whole different ballgame.

Confidence isn’t the same as arrogance. An arrogant official will rub everyone — coaches, players, assigners and fellow officials — the wrong way in a hurry. The right kind of confidence comes with several seasons worth of game experience utilizing knowledge gleaned from hours of studying rules and mechanics.

Rookie officials won’t necessarily have confidence, and if they do have some, it’s likely to be ripped out of them after their first few mistake-riddled games. A mentoring program can help instill confidence in newer officials. An association can assign one new official per crew to ride along and explore what a typical Friday night is like. Then, when that official works JV or freshmen games during the week, he or she can call a veteran official to discuss certain situations that arise.

Composure

Mastering self-control is right up there with gaining confidence, for new officials in particular. Not everyone is prepared for the disparagement, condemnation and indignity that officials must face and absorb with aplomb.

It’s a natural reaction to “hit back” when you’re being attacked. Veteran officials know about the need for composure. That means no shouting down with coaches, players and fans and keeping your wits about you when everyone else is up in arms.

Learning how to deal with different personalities is important. How do you deal with Coach A, who has an explosive personality, versus Coach B, who has a “buddy-buddy” personality? How do you deal with the fans? And one of the biggest ones is how do you adjust to different partners or crewmates?

Going into games with an “all for one” attitude and supporting each other can get you over some speed bumps. Experience is a great teacher. And sharing information with other officials can help.

Concentration

The ability to block out outside influences comes with time. Goodness knows there are plenty of things at a sporting event that can divert your attention. Everything from wild fans to smells from the concession stand to the band playing your favorite song can serve as a distraction if you let it.

If you can stay focused on your coverage area while blocking out the noises and sights that used to turn your head as a player or spectator, you’ve got half the battle won. At least you’re looking in the right area. Whether you can make correct judgments based on what you see might be another story.

Communication

Hand in hand with learning to concentrate is learning to communicate effectively with your partner or partners. Maintaining eye contact with a crewmate or having a quick conference with a partner are keys in game control and field or court coverage.

Communication between officials is vital. Let your partner know when you need help. Have a strong pregame and talk about who makes what call, who covers what base, who has the clock, confirming the downs, etc.

Official-to-official communication devices are becoming more common in sports such as football and soccer. But their value diminishes if the conversation goes beyond officiating the game. Used correctly, the headsets can be used to share vital information with crewmates and coaches. Discuss in pregame meetings when and how they will be used.

Cohesion

Give-and-take communication, whether it’s on the field or court, during association meetings or just anytime, anywhere, leads to a sense of fellowship. It’s esprit de corps among officials.

Joining an association has multiple benefits. One of them is letting others in the officiating community get to know you so they can help promote you. That’s especially important if you’re a newer official or new to the area. Athletic directors and assigners are often reluctant to take a chance on new people because they haven’t seen them work. Once you break through that ceiling, people tend to accept you as an official, your credit improves and people start to seek you.

Joining an association also helps officials get a regular work schedule and sometimes find a regular partner or crew. It also gives you a group of peers to bounce questions off of and trade games with should an emergency situation arise that prevents you from working a contracted game.

Commitment

The last and most important part of being a successful official is having a commitment to officiating — a commitment to getting better and a commitment to excellence. Officials committed to the avocation never stop trying to learn.

Being proficient with rules and mechanics can prevent a lot of problems before they happen. But there’s more to commitment than that.

There’s another side of commitment newer officials, or those looking to move up the ladder, tend to overlook — time and financial demands.

You need the proper uniform, including whistles, hats, beanbags, ball-strike indicators and whatever else your sport requires. There are fees that must be paid to local, state and national associations. Educational materials such as rulebooks, casebooks and manuals must be purchased. In some cases, camp attendance is mandatory to retain a license or be eligible for postseason assignments. Those who hope to improve their skills or advance will attend camps voluntarily.

And then there is the time obligation. There will be association meetings, training sessions, rules study groups (if you are so inclined) and the aforementioned camps. And oh, yes — however much time you want to dedicate to actually working games.

So there they are. Not an A to Z guide to success, but mind your P’s and Q’s and you’ll B the best official you can B. *

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Working in established crews is common in football, but it isn’t unheard of in other sports as well. While most of the concepts offered here refer to situations in which the same officials work together all or most of the time, the assumption is any group of officials can and should work any game cohesively.

The best officiating crews take the field or floor as one official. They know the only philosophy that matters is the crew’s philosophy. They’ve invested time together away from the sport. They know each other, respect each other’s judgment and approach the game with confidence. Because there is no room for “the individual,” they’ve worked hard to create a team approach.

No crew establishes a quality reputation quickly. It takes time. Only after working many games together, suffering through mistakes, and sharing the highs and lows of several seasons can a crew establish itself as one that can be counted upon to work the big games consistently.

We’ve all seen the football crews that have one official who throws many more flags or basketball crews with one official who calls more fouls or violations. That official’s philosophy is different from that of his or her crewmates. The perception those officials are sending is not only are they not on the same page, they haven’t even entered the library together. It’s a recipe for disaster.

If you’re not in that situation and never have been, don’t get cocky because it’s only a replacement official away. As you work toward cohesion, thorough pregame sessions are essential.

Importance of a crew chief.

Each crew of officials has (or should have) a leader, usually the crew chief. Often, he or she is designated by position or by the game assigner in how names are listed on a contract or online assigning website. A good crew chief heads off many of the ills described above by conducting a thorough pregame meeting.

In some situations, crew chiefs are not designated; instead they evolve. Often sports officials will select a person who should be “in charge” for the game. That may be based on any number of factors, including age, years of experience, reputation, etc.

It’s the crew chief’s responsibility to make each person feel comfortable in the pregame. No official should feel intimidated, overwhelmed or in the shadow of another official. Those who are will be hesitant and not able to make the calls that need to be made. If one of the crew members is new or less experienced, the crew chief can elevate him or her up to a higher level so the entire crew performs at a higher level.
One way to do that is to have the new or less-experienced crew member begin conducting the pregame conference. The more that official participates and throws out ideas, the more comfortable he or she will feel. A crew chief who dominates the pregame can create barriers.

Getting crew members to do what the chief wants can be awkward, especially if there’s resistance. Most effective crews allow for some “give and take.” The crew chief seeks input from the others and the crew reaches a consensus. Each member is part of the decision-making, a key element in developing a “team feeling.” The goal is to do that in a uniform manner so the potential for confusion is minimized.

Maintaining crew harmony.

When the game begins, the process continues. No raised eyebrows, negative body language or outward criticism can be tolerated if the crew is to work productively as a team, and thereby earn the respect of the players, coaches and fans.

Officials must try to help each other. Don’t openly criticize, but offer honest assistance. Don’t ever embarrass a crew member and imply that you don’t agree with his or her judgment.

It’s important to know the other officials on the field or court are with you in every sense of the word. It’s not enough to just wear the same clothes, you’ve got to take the time and make sure everything fits. Your performance and your crew’s reputation will benefit from the extra effort. *

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How about prepared?

We will be experiencing a new normal in many ways in the wake of the pandemic and that includes how we go about our officiating business. Whether you are jumping right back in or you have some more idle time before you get going again, there are some things to do and think about.

Obligations.

Some state and local associations may have extended their cutoff dates for fees, registrations, exams, online rules presentations and other prerequisites. Check in with those entities before you miss any of those deadlines. Your local association may have had to make adjustments. If you used to meet at a school, that facility may not be available for a variety of reasons. The night and time may have changed as well. Check your chapter’s website or get in touch with someone in the know, then help spread the word to other members.

Assignments.

Leagues may reconfigure their schedules and play a reduced number of games, which means fewer opportunities for officials. While the assigner will likely be happy to know you’re available to work, this isn’t a time to get greedy. Work will be important to lots of people, many of whom will be seeing income for the first time in a while.

Be extra diligent about keeping your online schedule up to date so you don’t double-book yourself and assigners are confident you are available when you say you are.
Assignments accepted last year, before the pandemic caused postponements and cancellations, may no longer be valid. The game for which you have a contract may have been canceled, rescheduled or subject to a time change. Assume nothing.

If you were furloughed from your regular place of employment, check with the boss before you accept assignments that mean you’ll leave work early. That’s a good idea under the best of circumstances, but as businesses try to recover from the downturn, your presence at the job will be vital.

Fitness.

Unless you have your own fitness equipment, you’ve been idle for a while. Getting back into game shape is important, but be smart about it. Don’t try to catch up all at once. Ease back into shape or you’ll hurt yourself to a point you won’t be able to resume officiating.

Remember little things that don’t require a gym membership. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park farther away from the door of the office or the store.
If working from home and the easy availability of food caused you to stray from a healthy diet, get back on track.

Gear.

Lockdown or no lockdown, it’s always a good idea to double-check your uniforms and officiating equipment. If the aforementioned snacking or previous wear and tear have caused your pants or shirts to mysteriously shrink or become shabby, replace them. Summer heat and humidity result in unsightly sweat stains on hats. Have one or two extra so you’ll be sure to look sharp.

Education and study.

If you’re one who loves to dig into the rules, being cooped up for more than a month or so means you had even more time to peruse the books. You’re up to speed on the latest points of emphasis and interpretations.

Others, who are only reasonably diligent in their rules study, need to brush up, particularly on the most recent rule changes.

But if when the cancellations began you said to yourself, “Yippee! Finally, a break from having to read that (deleted) book,” you have some major catching up to do. If you have already taken required exams, look them over again. Look up the ones you got wrong and cement those in your mind. There are any number of officiating bulletin boards and online quizzes that can help your rules knowledge any time, especially if your officiating mind has been idle for a while.

One bright side during the pandemic was the creation of podcasts and other educational offerings that sprang up. If you didn’t take advantage of them during stay-at-home time, find them now and catch up. They will get your head back into the game and expand your overall officiating knowledge.

Emotions.

We’re all going to react differently to the new world we’ll be living in when the games resume. We need to prepare ourselves for how we approach situations and interact with others when we step back onto the courts and fields.
Depending on where you live, a great many people involved in the leagues and programs in which you work may have died or been affected by the virus. Some may have been fellow officials. Things may be a bit more somber than joyful, at least for a while, as those individuals are honored and remembered. When the games begin after any ceremonies, try your best to adopt a “business as usual” attitude while keeping the pain of others in the back reaches of your mind.

When the NFL ended its 2012 lockout of officials and the replacements were themselves replaced, the real­ officials were greeted as heroes — for a while. But before long, things returned to normal and the best football officials on the planet were booed, heckled and vilified in print, electronic and social media.

We may enjoy that kind of “honeymoon” period as well. Coaches and players may well be so happy to be playing again that they accept decisions the way we wish they always would. If you should enjoy that glorious peace in your games, enjoy it while it lasts. And don’t be surprised and disappointed when the bubble bursts.

This has been a tough road. It is hoped you’ve come through it OK. As the Beatles so lyrically put it, “Here comes the sun. It feels like years since it’s been here.”

Let the games begin again! And let us, once again, be the best team on the field or court.

The post Brand New Ballgames appeared first on Referee.com.

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 professional athletes whose agent makes or negotiates many decisions for them. 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.

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 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 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 offered to 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.

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During the 1998 World Cup, Baharmast, NASO’s 2011 Gold Whistle Award recipient, awarded a controversial penalty kick to Norway late in the game against Brazil. Baharmast ruled that one of the Brazilian players pulled down his opponent from behind, but the call didn’t come without widespread controversy.

Through the eyes of television cameras covering the game live, it appeared Baharmast missed the call. Announcers and talking heads lambasted him unrelentingly. But Baharmast had moved to get an angle on the play, about six yards away, and made the correct call, which later was verified by a look from a different camera. What a difference the proper angle makes.

During the time that Baharmast went from goat to hero, even he questioned himself between the end of the game and the all-important moment that a Swedish television network revealed its angle on the play, the same as Baharmast’s.
“Did I see something I didn’t see?” Baharmast asked. “Should I have taken another angle? Could I have not called it? You ask all those questions and you keep coming back to, ‘No! This is what I had to do!’”

Baharmast was confident in his call because he knew he moved to the best angle on the field of play. The call could have only been better if he had a television camera strapped to his forehead. Then there would have been no controversy.

But the bottom line is Baharmast obtained the key angle by moving to a position that allowed him to see the act in full.

Whether it is seeing a tug of the jersey from behind in soccer, a shoestring catch in football, contact between players in basketball or a tag play at the plate in baseball or softball, moving to improve your angle is necessary to make the best judgment. However, knowing where and when to move and the ideal distance are all factors that play into getting a key angle.

For a plate umpire in baseball, getting a good angle on the call in today’s wedge mechanics is all about maintaining a view of both the prospective tag and the runner. That’s more about staying on the hip of the catcher as the play develops — potentially shifting all the way into fair territory if necessary — than getting to a prescribed spot on the field to view the play.

Setting up too close to a play can cloud your judgment. To get the best angle to see the entire play usually means establishing enough distance between yourself and the action.

A basketball official too close to a player who has possession of the ball has a greater chance of missing a traveling violation than if he or she is a little farther away to get a better angle of the ball and feet.

Most plays at first base in baseball are routine and are made from the outfield side of the bag and a few steps into fair territory. But that changes if the ball is hit down the first-base line. The umpire then will obtain the best angle by moving outside the line and into foul territory. A position too close to the base may be detrimental if the first baseman or pitcher is racing the runner to the bag. Keep all the elements of the play in front of you and at a distance recommended by your association.

Knowing when to move to get the best angle and when to stop to make the call also affects judgment.

That can involve sprinting, a simple step and stop, gliding, shuffling or a little hop. There is a time to float and a time to sprint, but if you fail to move at the right time, you’ll likely be out of position to make the call, which may leave you guessing.
Knowing how to officiate properly means knowing how and when to trigger that sudden thrust of energy to scoot into the proper position.

If a ballhandler in basketball is trapped by defenders near the sideline, the covering official must shift quickly to observe fouls or violations. Wing officials in football have to obtain angles to judge whether or not there is contact between pass receivers and defenders. Sometimes that means chasing the action rapidly. Soccer assistant referees must be ready to sprint down the line to see if the attackers are offside.

Whatever the sport, officials can improve their positioning and their methods of getting the angle by talking about it in pregame meetings with fellow officials.
Beware of absolutes when learning to adjust your game to meet the conditions. And, if

necessary, try a new technique in moving to get the best angle.

Regardless of sport, officials must move to improve their calling angle, then stop to make the call.

Remaining in a statue-like position and declining to move to make the best judgment paints a picture of laziness or inexperience or both.

Work to get the key angle on any given play and you will put yourself in position to succeed.

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