The Art of Sports Officating

Chapter 1

Officiating as an Art

Art vs. Science

• Whether a person is a man or women, or called a referee or umpire, such a person must be superbly skilled in officiating to interpret and apply rules in a fair manner.

• The artists in officiating recognize what the sport and the participants are intending to do.

• Officials are hired to enforce the rules, tempered with reason.

• Under pressure, the scientific official reverts to enforcing the rules exactly .. However, the artist is concerned with the psychological reasons for the situations which occur, while knowing the rules to be applied.

Leadership

• A leader is one who commits people to action … who converts followers into performers

• Officials need to realize the value of knowing how to cope with the human relations aspect of officiating.

The Role of the Official

• 1. Applying the rules in a manner which does not give either team an advantage over the other.

• 2. Protecting the safety of all participants by using preventive officiating techniques and by enforcing the rules.

• Image . Is the impression you leave with others and often it is a permanent one.

• Consistency . The likelihood that an official will call the same infraction on both opponents throughout a contest.

• Mistake . Players and Coaches respect officials more if they are willing to acknowledge their errors.

• Officials should simply state the foul, assess the penalty and go on from there

• The ability to maintain composure in highly emotional situations is the mark of a respected official.

Reasons for Officiating

• Love of the Game

• Monetary Gain

• Close Relationships

• Control

• Range of Officiating Philosophy’s• Obsessive Official – egotistical , thinks about officiating matters over personal

• Complacent Official – conscientious , but would rather not officiate if money were not a reward

• Devoted Official – understands that officiating takes just a part of his/her life

The Officiating Personality

• As stated in a 1988 Referee magazine feature, personality studies have shown that as a group, officials exhibit a larger degree of dominance characteristics than the general population. Officials like to be in charge and in control, as they make decisions under pressure. Additionally, they are very goal-conscious, decisive, competitive and determined. An official must be mentally as well as physically prepared to officiate. An official’s ability to concentrate, relax under pressure, and relate to all the participants in the contest is part of being an artist in officiating.