The 23 Most Powerful Lessons of Officiating

Obtained from the Fall 2012 MHSAA publication Benchmarks and with MHSAA approval.

1. For all but a few, officiating is an avocation. (Keep your personal life, your professional life and your officiating in balance.)
2. This “business” is seldom fair. (Work on the things you can control. Gracefullyaccept the rest.)
3. Officiating demands a high ethical standard. (Your actions must be above reproach. Don’t give a reason to have your motives questioned.)
4. Each assignment you work is an audition. (Look the part – dress, demeanor, discipline. You are the medium. The medium is the message.)
5. Impersonations don’t work. (You referee who you are.By the way, who are you?)
6. What’s expected is facilitation – players play – you give permission. (Nobody ever paid to watch an official perform. Stay off stage center. )
7. 80% of the job is managing people. Being superior at the remaining 20% won’t cut it. (Learn the artof influencing people and the science of its application.)
8. Criticism comes with the territory. (Plan on it. You have to learn to love itwhen they BOO!)
9. The hallmark of great officiating is neutrality. (Each word and deed must reinforce your impartiality.)
10. Participant safety is a primary responsibility. (Your game decisions should err on the side of safety. Always!)
11. The rules are the foundation of the game. (Acquire a reverence for the rulesand be guided and inspired by it!)
12. There are the rules and then the spiritof those rules. (Enforcing the “spirit of the rules” is possible when you use good common sense.)
13. A solid pregame conference makes a difference – a big one. (Take the lead! Make yours timely, tacticaland tactful.)
14. There’s no score at the start of the game. (Start each game without a bias. A memory will dig you a holefaster than a shovel.)
15. Bad body language will silence good words. (Learn how to deliver the message, especially when they won’t like what you have to say!)
16. I heard you twice the first time. (Be clear, concise and coherent. Minimize the chance of misinterpretation.)
17. It takes extraordinary restraint to get the job done. (Use your emotions and focus to bring calm out of chaos.)
18. Don’t call ’em the way you see ’em, call ’em the way they are. (What you “see” might in fact at odds with what actually happened. Describe with care.)
19. Mistakes are made, and we make them every game. (If you make one, make it for the right If you clearly have made one, own up!)
20. A wrong call will get lots more attention than a right one. (You won’t be paid a premium for making the best call of your career.)
21. Do What When?
    Wrong Action, Wrong Time: DISASTER
    Right Action, Wrong Time: RESISTANCE
    Wrong Action, Right Time: MISTAKE
    Right Action, Right Time: SUCCESS
22. Pour no gasoline! (You are prohibitedfrom making things worse.)
23. It takes a support team to reach the higher elevations. (Remember where you came fromand who broke the trail for you.)