NASO members enjoy a discount to the premier event of the officiating industry – The annual NASO Sports Officiating Summit. This year’s theme — Officiating and Technology: What Works — is aimed at one of the most contemporary dynamics of sports officiating today — technology. The Summit is the industry’s only event for all officiating leaders, no matter what sport or level. Three jam-packed days filled with educational sessions and exceptional speakers designed to help you use technology that will provide solutions for your goals. If you’re the person who makes those thing happen — or wants to — you cannot miss this event.

Hurry! Early bird registration deadline is June 16, 2006 — plus group discounts are available! Visit www.naso.org/summit2006 for further information and registration, or call Jodi Schmidt, Summit coordinator, at 262-632-5448.

Breaking Up is Hard to Do

Cutting off an association with a crewmate or partner may be the most difficult thing an official ever has to do. Even though diplomatic approaches may be employed, the likelihood that a friendship will be undone is a genuine danger.

If you feel a partner or crewmate is slipping up, keep track of the transgressions and alert the official when they occur. When the person in jeopardy forgets previous reminders and admonishments or, worse yet, declines to accept recommendations, a separation is likely the next step.

Problems to be addressed. Remember that dropping a partner or crewmate should be a last resort. Such a move shouldn’t be done if corrective measures haven’t been tried. Proper mechanics can be employed, decision-making can be refined and hustle can be stimulated. But the offender must be made aware of the problem before correction can occur.

Offering tips can be problematic, yet it must be done. Make it constructive, make it positive, but by all means make it emphatic.

More serious problems involve conflicts in personality or officiating philosophy. Perhaps the official in question is too belligerent, berates players or has a cavalier attitude about doing the job. Other issues can be unsavory personal habits such as smoking, excessive drinking, cursing, backbiting, refusing to follow a desired dress code, a sloppy uniform, habitual tardiness, a persistently negative attitude, a weight problem or squabbling with partners.

Not all of those behaviors may fall under the category of philosophical differences, but they certainly can be troublesome, and they may decidedly signal a need to escape from the offender.

What if it’s a relative rookie you have to get rid of, someone you thought had promise but who hasn’t lived up to expectations? You can temper the release by saying the person needs more experience. But you’ll be doing that individual a genuine service by pointing out areas in which improvement is essential. Those areas may be a trifle ambiguous, but if your own judgment is sharp, you should be able to specify areas in need of improvement.

How to do it. The process of termination should feature a frank face-to-face talk. The errors of performance and patterns of non-compliance should be outlined specifically. If you’re ending a relationship for cause, the dismissed party has a logical right to be apprised of deficiencies, and you have an ethical obligation to clarify all factors that led to your final judgment.

You must take pains to articulate the critical items that influenced your decision. Anything less is an act of cowardice, and no official wants that tag. A statement such as, “There just hasn’t been sufficient improvement (or adjustment) on a consistent basis, despite our genuine efforts to effect change. We have to try adding an individual whose mechanics are stronger. I’m afraid we simply must have a parting of the ways,” is an honest yet firm way to deliver the bad news. You may lose a friend, but you won’t jeopardize your own integrity.

Of course, if you drop people on a whim, or because you’ve got a buddy who wants to join your group and you favor that person, then you can expect to be vilified.

It may seem that a phone call would be the best method, but that is quite cruel and distant. A phone release might be judicious, though, if the person to be let go is likely to be surprised or may voice extreme anger. An explosion does no one any good.

A written directive is less desirable for several reasons. It is frightfully cold and impersonal. It may also serve as ammunition for retaliation. That is, if you wouldn’t feel comfortable having your letter flashed around defiantly, then don’t put your decision on paper. An e-mail would be just as dreary.

When to “pull the trigger.” In terms of timeliness, it might be counterproductive to make a change in mid-season. It may not even be legal, if contracts have been signed. Obtaining a suitable replacement may pose an additional problem. The best way to end an officiating relationship is probably to conduct a performance review at the end of the season. That gives both parties a chance to regroup and secure an alternate connection, namely, finding a replacement and, for the outcast, getting a new arrangement with another person or crew.

Written by Jerry Grunska, a frequent Referee contributor, who lives in Evergreen, Colo. This article originally appeared in the 9/00 issue of Referee magazine.

Tales From the Trenches …

Real stories by officials, for officials.

Good mechanics keep us near play but far enough away that we don’t impact what the players are trying to do. Unfortunately, plays unfold that lead right to where you’re standing and there’s no way to move in time. A football umpire in our offices once stripped the ball from a runner! What happened when you got caught up in a play you couldn’t avoid? NASO LockerRoom readers had some tales to tell.

A Lateral to Stripes

“I was officiating a middle school football game and was the linesman. The offense set up for a sweep to my side. The ball was snapped and the sweep started well. When the running back felt he wasn't going anywhere, he looked over his right shoulder and thought one of his teammates was behind him. He flipped it back and it was me he thought was his teammate. When I caught the ball, I saw some defensive players start at me. Being the quick thinker, I stepped quickly out of bounds and blew the play dead. It doesn’t matter what level of football, when the players decide to tackle the referees, it hurts.”

Playing in the Mud

“I was the back judge during a muddy, rain-soaked football game. During a punt, the receiver fielded the ball, and headed right toward me. As the defensive player moved in for the tackle, the runner used me as a shield. As hard as I tried, my ‘wheels’ were spinning like a cartoon character — but I wasn’t moving anywhere. The defensive player and ball carrier converged right on top of me. Needless to say, I was in the middle of the tackle. I picked myself off the ground, my white knickers completely covered in mud. The players, fans and even my crewmates got a good laugh looking at my brown uniform. The ball carrier got up and ran to his sideline. The defensive player got up, looked at me and smiled knowing he had taken the ball carrier and me down. I looked back at him, smiled and told him I want credit for half the tackle. He went to his sideline laughing.”

A Tackle for Tyler

“While working a varsity football game in the umpire position a running back broke through the line and was running at me. With no place to go, I defended myself with a forearm blow that knocked the runner down. The head coach hollered, ‘Good tackle, Tyler.’ All that I could respond was, ‘Thanks, Coach.’ We still laugh about that one.”

Blind-sided

“I was working as the umpire on a varsity game. As the end started to come across the middle, I read pass and started to move up to the line of scrimmage and just as I did the other end was coming across from the other side. I got hit from the blind side and it was not a pretty thing to see.”

A Program You Won’t See Anywhere Else

The 2006 NASO Sports Officiating Summit July 30-Aug. 1 at the The Peabody Memphis in Memphis, Tenn., will be the most important officiating gathering of the year — and it’s not too late to register. Attend Officiating and Technology: What Works and gain essential information and ideas you can use to improve your associations, leagues and programs.

You will be part of many in-depth educational sessions presented by experts. You will receive the information, tools and techniques to help you and your officials improve your use of technology resources. Plus, you’ll have unbeatable networking opportunities with some of officiating’s most influential leaders. Don’t miss out on 2006’s premier officiating event.

To register for the NASO Summit, visit www.naso.org/summit2006 or call NASO at 800/733-6100. We hope to see you in Memphis.

To view previous issues of NASO LockerRoom