Mastering the 6 Key Elements of Good Officiating Mechanics

1. Good Judgment Situational Understanding Experience Rules Knowledge Physical Fitness The 6 Key Elements to becoming a Good Official Mechanics • The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is Silence, • second listening, • third memory, • fourth practice, • fifth teaching others.~

2. Based on results from a 2002 nationwide NASO survey of officials rank ordering of traits Average rating for each trait received is represented

4. The Proper Role of a sports official is to help athletes play. • Your job is to facilitate the game. • Keep the game Safe and Fair. • Officials are not the show, not the main event, but as facilitators they are obliged to have the guiding tools and to use those tools effectively.

5. Rule Knowledge and Judgment • Good capable officials know the rules! • Having rules knowledge provides the confidence you need on the field: You’re prepared to handle any situation. • Excellent officials understand the intent of the rules and concentrate on applying them with that in mind. They have a great feel for the game and call what matters, applying the advantage-disadvantage philosophy. • They know that it is worst to call a foul or violation that is Not there (phantom call) than to miss one that is. • The second worst thing is to call something that didn’t need to be called because it had no effect on the play. • When the game gets hotter, officials must be cooler! If you put in the time, you can teach yourself rules and mechanics

6. JUDGMENT • It is important to know the intent and purpose of a rule so that it may be intelligently applied in each play situation. A player of a team should not be permitted an advantage which is not intended by a rule. Neither should play be permitted to develop which may lead to placing a player at a disadvantage not intended by a rule. • Contact which does not hinder an opponent from participating in normal defensive or offensive movements should be considered incidental. • Some fouls should be called only if they directly affect play! • Anticipate the play, not the call. See the whole play from beginning to end.

7. Judgment • It is a byproduct of effort and experience, it goes beyond the rulebook and includes an almost instinctive ability to apply the Critical principle of “Advantage/Disadvantage”. When you a play, in every circumstance, if there is no advantage gained and if no player has been put at a disadvantage there should be no call. Simply put: No Harm, no foul. • Sometimes the best call is a good No Call. • And it’s not who is right, but what is right that’s important. • Make the call. Do not be indecisive. A lot of bad judgment hopefully will give you good judgment. • Good judgment comes with experience and situational understanding.   Improved training in these areas, especially the judgment area leads to consistency in individual officials (calling it both ways) and between partners on the field (calling it the same way) and ultimately between crews of officials. • “You can learn a lot about whether you got the play right or wrong by just watching the players.” Most know just as well as you know what is going on out in the field.

8. Hustle versus Rushing • Since Officiating is a game of angles and positioning, officiating hustle describes movement and field positioning. Every great official moves efficiently to be in the right place at the right time. It’s the only way to see the entire play and be right. • Hustle when handling penalty assessment • Rushing is over hustling, out running plays for the sake of showing off • Remember the game is for the kids not you, Don’t try to be the “show”. • Great officials understand the concept of Cruise control. They know if they move smoothly and rhythmically, but deliberately, and keep the same tempo through out the game, they’ll see and digest more of what happens and send a message that isn’t their first rodeo and they know what they are doing.

9. Courage • Regardless of the situation, personalities involved, pressure from the crowd or possible repercussions, excellent officials place FAIRNESSabove all other concerns. Common Sense • That which is fair and right must take precedence throughout each game. Common Sense ensures that fairness, understanding and the best interests of the game are foremost in your mind. If you truly understand the spirit and intent of the rules, common sense will guide you well. Plenty of situations develop that are not specifically covered by rules or mechanics: That’s when common sense must take over. • What is fair and right is what should be done. • Common Sense goes hand in hand with communication and dealing with coaches and players.

10. Communication • Basically “Can you deal with people” Coaches and players during a game? • Situations dictate the appropriate response. Saying the right thing or giving the right look to the right person at the right time can help you avoid potential problems in a game. Communication is also the knowledge of when it’s best not to say anything. • The more you say, the less it means! • When you provoke people, they tend to fire back. That’s what you want to avoid. • Cultivate your voice: firm. Loud enough to be heard, not Challenging! Your voice can be positive tool that helps you control the game or it can be dagger used to knife a perceived opponent. • Questions may or may not be answered. Statements require no answer. • Being “worked” by coaches is as much as part of officiating as making judgment calls. To a point, let them talk, but don’t let them influence you by intimidation. • It doesn’t make a coach a bad guy… to be working the referees…

11. Communication • Don’t get mad, don’t use vulgarity, don’t say anything that’ll come back to haunt you. • Courtesy will pay off: ‘Thank you’ and ‘Please’ are of value • Politeness is the lubricant for communicating. • Counter antagonistic talk by soft talk: the louder he yells, lower your voice • If a player shows signs of exploding, try to compliment him, build his self esteem. • Remember, while you’re listening and observing, there really isn’t confrontation. That comes only when you react. • If you can get a player to answer a question or two, he tends to forget what he was arguing about. Questions which have to do with what might have just happened not if they like you! • When players see officials hustling and communicating continually, they often take their cues from that behavior and behave accordingly

12. GAME MANAGEMENT • If a game is flowing smoothly, don’t interrupt the flow for something that can be handled later. • When a player or coach becomes vulgar toward you, fight the urge to snap back. Just eject him and soon the storm will pass. • You cannot afford to take things personally. Remember most of the time they are not yelling at you but the uniform you are wearing and what it represents. • If you have a severely rough play or foul that’s perceived as unnecessary, the instant you blow your whistle you better be moving right toward the cluster of players. • Gain early control and then let the game play itself. When it seems to be heating up emotionally, tighten up the game… and then let it go again. • You must project calmness and look calm, don’t get upset or show nervousness. • An official who can laugh or smile is in control.

13. Using Self-evaluation to Enhance Your Work Having both the ability and willingness to self-evaluate are critical components of improving your officiating. Regardless of level, you must be able to critique yourself and be critiqued by others to maximize your abilities. No matter what you’ve done lately and no matter how lofty your reputation, you must firmly believe that you can become an even better official. Ed Hochuli NFL Football Referee and civil lawyer presented. To get more from your abilities, start by taking an honest look at yourself. “We need to understand and recognize our shortcomings” “Overweight? Don’t study the rules enough? Quick temper? Too technical?” “You can’t run away from your problems once you recognize them” said Hochuli.

14. Using Self-evaluation to Enhance Your Work • Striving to improve includes more than a philosophy; it’s having a good attitude. • Jerry Seaman NFL director of officiating • “perfection is impossible, excellence is not. Excellence is what you get when you strive for perfection.” • You must want to improve before you can improve! “You’re never to qualified to improve”. • “If you believe there is no room for improvement, maybe time to get out of officiating, because the next step is obvious decline. That is embarrassing to you and your fellow officials” • The best officials focus on what they did wrong. “Once you’ve figured out what you need to learn, it’s much easier to start learning” Hochuli. • If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse!

15. Just go out and work the damn game and have some fun! Control the game first and foremost and to administer it within the framework of the rules! Use preventative officiating. Officials do not make calls that decide the outcome of a game. Players commit fouls and violations; officials view those infractions, judge the action, and then apply the rules of the game to what they had viewed. The rules then determine the penalty. Officials are on the field to be the only unbiased arbiters of the game. Officials are not concerned with who wins or loses, but only fairness and safety. Everyone else on that field cares about winning, and therefore cannot look at the game objectively.

16. Illegal Procedure NFHS Rule 6 Section 5 • Any action of a technical nature not in conformity with the rules • Examples of IP • Touching the ball –illegal touching • Illegal actions with crosse: Throwing crosse under any circumstances, take part in play without crosse. • Crosse in face of opponent • Avoidable lateness of team • Early entering of game from penalty area before authorized • Delaying the game: at start of game or period, after time outs, after goals or penalties, after sideline OOB 20-seconds horn, for adjusting of equipment. • Participation in play by a player OOB • Any player not in restraining area at the whistle for start of play on a Face Off • Failure to remain 5 yards from a player on a restart • Any substituting violation • Crease violations • Having more than 10 players in the game at any time • Violating Face Off positioning • Having more than 4 long sticks in the game • Failure to advance beyond midfield or into the attack area. • Uniform violations or failure to provide a Horn

17. Crease Play: • No goal can be scored if violation occurs before the ball enters the goal • The crease area is one of the smallest areas on a lacrosse field but the crease play is critical • Crease violations fall into Four situations: • Offensive player steps on / into crease • Player legally or illegally pushed/ checked into crease • Jump/Dive into crease • Jump/ dive that is checked legally or illegally into crease