Here are some suggestions to improve your communication skills with fellow officials, coaches, athletic directors, and athletes. I hope those suggestions may become a part of your normal game preparation and assist you in many great years of officiating.

How good of a communicator are you? I suspect we all think we are pretty fair at effective communication until something out of the ordinary happens at one of our games. The coach goes ballistic with a new wing official on his sideline and you, as the referee, are 40 yards away and you haven’t heard a thing. The coach has been over there screaming at you (the guy in the white hat) for some time and isn’t getting an explanation or any satisfaction. He thinks you’re deliberately ignoring him. He feels his only means of effective communication is to scream at you at a decibel level that only you can’t hear. Similar scenarios are acted out hundreds of times a week on fields and courts everywhere. Those incidents just compound our obvious communication problems.

Is there really anything you can do about that? The officials manuals don’t give any guidance on stopping the game and explaining to an irate coach just what has happened. You will probably just have to live with that upset coach. Let’s take a look and see if there are any solutions to that dilemma that we as officials can do to prevent that incident from happening.

Let’s examine your effort at effectively communicating with that coach. Did we do anything to stimulate a constructive communication line before the contest? Have we made an effort to show any interest in a preventive officiating process? The most effective way to stimulate communication with a coach may not be on the court or field. Try starting in the middle of the week with a phone call to the head coach confirming the game site, date, time, and anything that he would like to discuss about the upcoming contest. Most often you will find the most notorious coach can be very pleasant to talk to off the field. You may even want to discuss how the last game went, how his season is going, or any questions he had about his last game. There may be times you will want to leave well enough alone if it has been a long season. Your efforts to open communication will not always be fully successful but will show our willingness to at least listen to our coaches. Remember, communication is a two way street and we might as well be the ones to initiate the conversation. Be brief, courteous, and above all professional.

Next is the professionalism of being on time, at the proper location. It’s our responsibility, no matter what the circumstances, and we must ensure their adherence. In all cases, check in with the game administration when you arrive at the site and again confirm everything is in place and ready for a correct starting time. You might want to confirm if the game clock has been checked out and is in working order. Are there any extenuating circumstances that could have any bearing on the game (halftime or pregame ceremonies, etc.)? Do that before the game and you could save yourself a long night.

The most important communication is a pregame conference among the officials. If the officials don’t understand what they are doing, how can we expect the coaches to know what we are doing? There is no replacement for a good pregame no matter how long you have worked with your partners. Try to cover all the situations that could happen. Use a good prepared pregame plan and don’t cut yourselves short on time. Cover everything before you leave the locker room.

Your pregame conference with the coaches should be short, precise and cordial. Refer to the coaches as "Coach"; don’t use first names even if you’ve known the coach for many years.

Have a card prepared with the names of the officials and their position if applicable. Use a check-off card to verify that all required subject matter is covered so there will not be any question about those preliminaries during the game. Listen carefully to whatever the coach might have to say during that pregame. Hear him out but don’t stand around for idle chitchat.

You’ve done everything right and covered all the bases. Now the fun begins. How do we communicate with a coach that is quite upset and he thinks he is not getting a fair shake? That is when the real challenge begins. Acknowledge that the coach is talking to you. Know when an answer is required or is he making a statement that requires no response. Try to answer questions; if you don’t know the answer, tell the coach you will get an answer when time allows. Ignoring coaches does nothing but infuriate them further. Your answer may be simply that you will relay his comments to another official.

Good communication skills are learned and must be practiced all the time. If you continue to practice those skills, you can make them a habit. Some may seem repetitive at times, but they can and will pay great dividends for your officiating career.

It's an All New Referee

You’ve seen the teaser advertisements the past two months in previous REFEREE issues, and with Christmas just around the corner have we got a gift for you! The new look of REFEREE will be arriving in a matter of days to your mailbox.

More coverage of basketball, baseball, football and soccer. More features! More diagrams! More graphs! Color on every page! More of what you have told us you wanted.

Plus, an important new benefit. In selected articles and columns you will find a small "icon" directing you to the subscriber-only section of the REFEREE website for related information.

Look for your new issue any day. This is a Christmas gift that is going to keep on giving, and giving, and giving all year long!

If you know an individual who would make an ideal candidate for the NASO board of directors, letters of recommendation are due prior to March 1, 2002. In order to recommend someone, please have his or her permission to do so.

The NASO Nominating Committee, which makes the final recommendation for board positions, will consider the recommendations from the membership. This year the terms of NASO Chair Gary Whelchel, Vice Chair John Clougherty and Carter Rankin expire. None can run for re-election. Board member Randy Christal is eligible for re-election.

Candidates must be a member in good standing with NASO and have officiating, management and organizational experience. The nominating committee also takes in to account regional and sport representation in order to give the board a diverse makeup. Serious candidates should be well versed on issues affecting officiating and knowledgeable of NASO’s vision and position on such matters.

Recommendations should be sent to Barry Mano, NASO, 2017 Lathrop Ave., Racine, Wis., 53405.

Doesn't Hurt to Ask

Ever look at your bankcard and wonder how you can get your interest rate lowered? Especially in these times when you hear constant advertising messages telling you about special low rates?

Believe it or not, often you can lower your rate by calling and asking. The credit card business is very competitive and NASO’s long-standing relationship with MBNA, the world’s largest issuer of MasterCard and Visa credit cards, is strong. More than 10 percent of the NASO membership carry the NASO "Pride in Officiating" card.

Not everyone can have their rates lowered. Many factors are considered, including your current balance, past payment history, credit rating and more. But you won’t know if your rate can be a point or two lower unless you ask. Call MBNA at 1-800-847-7378, give them your card number and ask if they will consider lowering your monthly rate.

If you have a different card, call MBNA and ask if they will issue you an NASO card and transfer your existing balance to the new card. Every time you use your NASO MasterCard the NASO "Educational Partner" program benefits.

New NASO Ring Offered

Displaying your pride in NASO membership has reached a new level with the introduction of an association ring, available exclusively to members.

Recently NASO members were sent via the mail a special offer from NASO. The ring has been created with NASO members in mind and offers you a unique ability to display your pride in officiating.

The NASO ring is designed by Jostens, maker of numerous Super Bowl, NBA and other professional, collegiate and high school championship rings. It is available in both a men’s or lady’s design.

The promotional mailing provided a detailed explanation about the ring design and how to order. The men’s gold lustrium ring is $280; the lady’s gold lustrium is $270. A silver lustrium version is available for $220 and $210, respectively. Members can upgrade the stone quality and even the metal quality for additional expense. Every ring comes with a lifetime warranty guarantee on the workmanship and quality.

The NASO men’s ring has a black onyx center with three zirconium stones mounted in the center. Circling the top of the ring are the words National Assn. of Sports Officials. One side of the ring is customized to include the member’s last name placed above the NASO logo and the words "Est. 1980."

On the other side of the ring appear the words, "Impartiality, Competency, Judgment, Fairness, Courage and Integrity."

The lady’s ring is similar, only slightly smaller and has one zirconium stone centered in the middle of a black onyx.

"When someone looks at your ring you can share these characteristics as being the foundation to your professional approach to officiating," said NASO President Barry Mano. "Applying these principles is what makes you a professional."

Members can purchase a specially engraved box to store and display the ring for an additional $25.

Orders are being handled directly by Jostens. Call toll-free, 1-866-999-0800 today. Delivery takes approximately eight weeks. If you need additional information call the 866 number above or e-mail Jostens at daniel.mccormick@jostens.com.

Here's one for the "You've got to be kidding" file...

In the 12/12 issue of USA TODAY, "Lynn Rubin of Union City, Calif., is suing the New Haven Unified School District because his son, Jawaan, was put on the junior varsity basketball team after being asked to try out for the varsity. Rubin seeks $1.5 million in damages and wants coach Blake Chong fired. Rubin said his family had rearranged its schedules to fit varsity practice times, the suit says. Jawaan, a sophomore, was cut from the JV team after confronting Chong. Rubin’s older son, Janou, starred under Chong at Logan High and is a sophomore guard at UCLA. Rubin said he calculated the damages based on potential wages lost from his son’s possible pro career."

ECAC Initiates Softball Umpire Assigning Service

Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) commissioner Phil Buttafuco announced on 12/3 that the ECAC has initiated a softball umpire bureau effective with the upcoming 2002 season for New England-area schools. It is expected that this new service will expand to other regions for the 2003 season.

The decision to add the 13th officiating bureau was based on feedback provided by numerous athletic directors and the enthusiasm expressed by a number of New England umpires.
In preparation for this new service, the ECAC has contracted with Joe Argo (an NASO member) to serve at the New England Softball Coordinator. Argo is one of New England’s most respected umpires and has a wealth of experience in assigning collegiate umpires throughout the southern New England region.

"The ECAC is pleased to offer another quality service to its 313 member institutions," said Buttafuco. "We are extremely pleased that Joe has agreed to serve as our coordinator as he is held with high respect. He will assist our efforts to attract the best umpires in New England to serve the schools utilizing the ECAC Softball Bureau."

Like all other ECAC Officiating Bureaus, the new softball bureau will utilize the ECAC’s Online Officiating System to assign, evaluate and monitor the umpires in New England. Sine its 9/00 launching, the online system allows for all assignments, schedule confirmation, officials availability and officials ratings to be completed through the web-based system. During the period of 1/01 to 12/3/01, the system has been visited 7,728,127 times.

The ECAC also assigns officials in football, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, wrestling gymnastics, fencing and baseball. Together, the ECAC assigned 10,140 games and 29,806 individual assignments using 3,741 officials during the academic year.

Holiday Hours

In order to allow the NASO and Referee staff time to celebrate the holidays, the office will be closed Monday, Dec. 24, Tuesday, Dec. 25, Monday, Jan. 31 and Tuesday, Jan. 1. Regular business hours are 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Central Standard Time.

Happy Holidays

Click here for a special message from NASO: http://ecardview.hallmark.com/

Interested in attending the World Series, Super Bowl, a NASCAR event or any of a dozen other sporting events? NASO and Sports Travel, Inc., can make it possible. Simply click below to learn more about NASO Fan Trips that save you money and create lifetime memories.
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