Referee Magazine March 2017 Preview

HEAD ACHE: WHEN IT’S YOU

PG. 70

March 2017 // referee.com

THE TAX MAN

COMETH

DONNIE EPPLEY

SOFTBALL

SUB COMMANDER BASKETBALL

WHO’S IN CONTROL? VOLLEYBALL

THINK ABOUT IT BASEBALL

PITCHES COUNT

ALL SPORTS

DRIVEN

HEADED FUR TROUBLE?

REST

PG. 74

SOCCER

LOOK SEE FOOTBALL

PERIOD PIECE

MEMBER EDITION

GIVE IT A

$6.95

TAXING By the editors of Referee

When it comes to tax time, understanding the rules of the game will make a big difference.

T

ax day is almost here. It’s time to give Uncle Sam what’s due.

Your taxes for the prior year are usually due by April 15. This year, thanks to how the observation of Emancipation Day landed on the calendar, you’ll get a few extra days — to Monday, April 18 for most folks.

(Those in Maine and Massachusetts get an extra day because Patriots Day — a statewide legal holiday in those states — falls on April 18.)

Hopefully you’re not scrambling to get your forms filed. You can avoid tax-time chaos by making sure you take steps throughout the year to be ready, especially for deductions that require proper documentation.

From NASO’s Tax Guide, here are a few pointers that will help you save time and money on your taxes:

1 That’s classified.

There are two main categories of workers — employees and independent contractors. And what category you fall into makes a big difference come tax time. When officials are treated as employees, they report their income as wages on page one of Form 1040. The employee pays income tax on that income through wage withholding based on information provided to the employer on Form W-4. In addition, the employee must also pay Social Security tax at 6.2 percent and Medicare at 1.45 percent. When

40 | REFEREE March 2017

officials are treated as independent contractors, they are responsible for payment of their own income taxes as well as Social Security and Medicare taxes. Officials who receive more than $600 from any individual payer should receive a Form 1099MISC. Depending on the net amount of officiating income, the official may have to pay taxes by making estimated tax payments, referred to as quarterly payments. The selfemployment tax for independent contractors is equal to the employer and employee share of Social Security and Medicare taxes — 15.3 percent.

The good news is that one-half of the tax is deductible from gross income.

2 Cash cow.

If you’re paid in cash, that doesn’t mean it’s not subject to reporting.

Income is not determined based on how it is paid to you or how much it is. If you provided services for the cash, it is still considered income.

And in an industry where integrity matters, reporting that income keeps that integrity intact.

3 The 10-4 on 1099s.

Officials who are independent contractors and receive more than $600 from any individual payer should receive a Form 1099-MISC. But just because you didn’t hit the $600 mark and didn’t receive a 1099

doesn’t mean that check isn’t treated as income. It is. It’s no different than if you had been paid in cash — you’re responsible for reporting that income.

Types of income you might receive include a flat fee for officiating a game, reimbursement for some of or all of your mileage and amounts for out-of-town expenses like hotel and meals (per diem).

4 They were expendable.

So you made a lot of money officiating, which probably means you’re going to have to pay a bit in taxes. The good news: There are possibly some expenditures that are deductible for income tax purposes that can reduce your tax burden. Generally, any items that are personal in nature are not deductible and items that have a business purpose are deductible.

The tax law defines a trade or business expense as an amount that is ordinary and necessary to the business and paid during the tax year.

Deductibles can be a tricky area, with individual circumstances allowing or disallowing deductions. Consult with your own tax adviser with questions involving your situation.

5 Mileage may vary.

If you use your auto for officiating purposes, you may be able to deduct the expenses related to the operation

of the auto. Business-related parking fees and tolls may be deductible as well — but not speeding tickets and parking fines. Make sure you know the rules — for example, if you stop at home before going to the game site, all of your mileage may not be deductible.

6 The Write Stuff.

When it comes to mileage records, the IRS can be particular about the information you track, and good record-keeping is essential. The NASO Tax Guide includes an official’s game log that outlines information that will be useful come tax time. The log includes room to note the date, games/teams involved, league/conference, site, game time, partner(s), beginning and ending odometer reading, meal/lodging/travel expenses and the game fee.

7 Don’t Trash It. For federal purposes, you should keep proof to support your claim to a deduction for as long as your income tax return can be examined. Generally, that’s three years from the date you file the income-tax return; a return filed early is considered as filed on the due date. The statute of limitations for state returns varies by state.

8 Dues Diligence.

Dues and subscriptions that are specific to carrying out the duties of your job are generally deductible. That includes professional and trade association dues, like NASO’s or a subscription to Referee magazine. The NASO Sports Officiating Summit is deductible. Some of the expenses that might be incurred include travel, meals (at 50 percent) and registration fees. Keep a careful record of those expenses at the time they are incurred. If your camp fee includes meals, it is 100 percent deductible; no adjustment is required for the value of the meals. *

Referee and the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) are here to help you prepare for tax time, and the prospect that the Internal Revenue Service may take a critical look at the income-tax filings made by officials, whether professional or amateur. Information on the taxation of officials, and how income and expenses are determined and viewed by taxing jurisdictions, is contained within the booklet, “Sports Officials Tax Guide.” The information is only a guide; you should contact a professional for advice pertinent to your particular situation. NASO members can download the Tax Guide for free via the NASO Members App. The App is available free through the Google Play and iTunes Store. Members will need to login to their NASO account.

REFEREE March 2017 |

41

VOLLEYBALL

COORDINATOR: MARCIA ALTERMAN

malterman@referee.com

RULES, MECHANICS, PHILOSOPHY

With training and rulebook study, an official’s brain will be ready, with proper focus, to make the right decisions and not question that process. Instructor Ken Tang, Temple City, Calif., teaches referee Anita Dominguez, Hacienda Heights, Calif.

MIND YOUR BUSINESS

By Gloria Cox

H

ave you ever found yourself in the middle of a match feeling like the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz, singing, “If I Only Had a Brain?” Hopefully not, but have you ever wondered if you have the correct brain for officiating?

Do you find it easy to make a quick decision based on a minimum amount of information or do you need time to gather all of the details, process and ponder, and then render a decision? Does your brain retain information better when it is received visually or do you need to hear the facts? Do you dwell on

64 | REFEREE March 2017

mistakes and rethink your decisions or do you accept that, even with your best effort, you will make mistakes and move forward? The good news is that we can help our brain improve in the areas that are important for officiating.

When training to become an official, we read the rulebook, go to clinics, watch matches, discuss volleyball, etc. I discovered long ago that I need to write down information in order to remember it better. It is not sufficient for me to hear the instructor at a training session or even see the information on a screen, even though I know that I am primarily a visual learner,

but the act of writing it down seems to imbed the information into my brain. I have a friend who says that most of the things he has learned over the years have been from discussions, where he can review and analyze situations with other officials. Another friend watches matches, studies the calls of the referees, watches their methods and that helps her decipher what she has read. We all have brains that can benefit from a variety of learning methods, but knowing what works best for your brain can help you optimize that process.

Do you have difficulty clearing your mind of the day’s events and

BOB MESSINA

This Is Your Brain on Officiating

COURTESY OF DENISE AINSWORTH

focusing at the beginning of a match?

Experiments have been conducted where people had greatly improved results if they began thinking about an activity before actually performing it. Watching the warmup and talking about the upcoming match, rather than your post-match dinner plans, can be more beneficial than we might realize. Think of it as priming your brain for the match.

Of course, it goes without saying that preconceived ideas about the outcome of the match can prove to be detrimental to the process.

Do you have difficulty falling asleep at night because your mind will not let you stop thinking of the day’s events? It is important for an official to be able to let the previous point go in order to completely focus on the upcoming point. People who tend to be perfectionists may have the most difficulty with that, but a referee needs to have full brain power for the current point without sharing some of that power with past points.

Officials need to learn to look forward during a match with the understanding that, despite best efforts, all decisions may not be perfect, but nothing can be achieved by looking back during the match.

Do you study a menu at a restaurant as if a test will be given later? Or do you look at it, decide fairly quickly what you want and wait for the waiter to return to take your order? Probably the most difficult aspect of officiating is gathering information quickly and making a snap decision. Malcolm Gladwell, in his bestselling book, Blink, says, “Snap judgments and rapid cognition take place behind a locked door.” In other words, we do not always understand the process of seeing a situation, recognizing a fault and reacting appropriately, but officials do it all the time. Gladwell says further, “It’s one thing to acknowledge the enormous power of snap judgments … but quite another to place our trust in something so seemingly mysterious.” We have all been challenged about a decision and questioned ourselves about what we

saw, but our whistle “just went off” because we recognized a fault and acted accordingly.

Since we have filled our brain with training and knowledge, we need to trust our brain to help us make the right decisions and not question that process. When an entirely new situation arises, your brain will automatically draw on the experiences of past matches and apply that knowledge to the current situation.

A young referee, who was complimented after a match on a job well done, commented that he would feel much better about each match when he had “more matches under his belt,” so that he would not be surprised when a new situation arose. He was wise beyond his years.

Probably the most difficult aspect of officiating is gathering information quickly and making a snap decision.

To answer the question posed at the beginning of this article, we all have the correct brain for officiating, but we need to: 1. Discover our own best method of getting information into our brains.

2. Prepare our brains before the match by discarding thoughts of the day and focusing on volleyball.

3. Train our brains to make one snap decision after another without dwelling on past decisions.

4. Train ourselves to trust our brains to make the correct decisions even though we may not always understand the process.

Gloria Cox is a USAV National Clinician and a member of the USAV national rating and training team. She lives in Austin, Texas, and serves as the Texas NFHS Rules Interpreter. She recently retired from collegiate officiating after 27 years. *

BY THE NUMBERS The maximum number of team substitutes per set for NFHS, USAV and NCAA.

18

15

12

QUICKTIP When the scorer records each team’s lineup for each set, the second referee should confirm that the serving order has been written correctly to avoid delays once the set starts. Then, while the second referee checks team lineups before each set, the scorer should verify player positions as well, using the lineups recorded on the scoresheet. This is a good double-check for both, and establishes good teamwork and cooperation.

SIDELINE New NFHS Volleyball Chair Denise Ainsworth is the new chair of the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee. She began her fouryear term at the annual meeting in Indianapolis in early January.

Ainsworth represented section three on the NFHS Volleyball Rules Committee in 2016 and assumed the role as chair this past July. Ainsworth is an assistant director for the Alabama High School Athletic Association.

The NFHS also welcomed five new members of the rules committee: Jack Hardy (Maine), Marsha Goodwin (Tennessee), Andrea Osters (Michigan), Jo Auch (South Dakota) and Mike Krause (Pennsylvania). Krause represents the NFHS Coaches Association.

Hardy, Goodwin, Osters and Auch are leaders in various ways with their respective state associations and with officiating.

REFEREE March 2017 |

65

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LAST CALL

A PERSONAL STORY BY LEE JORDAN

Tougher Than I Thought Like many readers of Referee magazine, I officiate several sports. I started with soccer more than 25 years ago after my oldest daughter decided that at age 12 she wanted to try officiating.

Unfortunately for her, her first assignment had a coach who yelled at her and she never did another match, and I was too new to know how to deal with it. Fortunately for me, I decided to stay with it.

When I was just a youth, there was no soccer in South Jersey. After my kids started playing in AYSO, I started playing. I fell in with a mostly British

With the other sports I do, I don’t have to actually think all of the time.

things, but before every play. You have to know who the setter is, whether she is front row or back row, who her opposite is, is the rotation right and do this for both teams and then blow the whistle for them to serve. Then, as the play progresses, you have to remember who is front row and who is back row, along with all of the other things that go along with the play — doubles, lifts, nets, unders, ball hitting the floor.

With the other sports I do, I don’t have to actually think all of the time.

With soccer and lacrosse, there are many times the ball is simply not being challenged and, while you can’t daydream, you don’t have to think about where each person on the field is and what position they’re playing.

Even when there is a challenge, all that you have to look for are fouls.

You have time to almost casually observe what is going on on the field. With soccer, offside calls are the responsibility of the assistant referee, and in lacrosse the trail does the player count to determine offside, neither of which requires the kind of constant detailed focus for me that tracking the setter does.

I like volleyball. I do. It’s amazing to watch the ballet-like movement of a team setting up their offense and the athleticism of the defense on wild saves and digs. And I work high school, USAV and some middle school games because I like it and I want to improve. Yet after seven years of this, I still have a hard time with back-row attacks. I get lost in the play and hate it when the coach yells that the call that went against his team was actually their point because of that. Like most of us, I want to get every play exactly right. I keep wondering how long it’s going to take me to have the court awareness that the top referees do. I’m still working on that.

Lee Jordan, Los Angeles, has been a multisport official for more than 25 years. £

Do you have a personal officiating story to tell?

Send your story or queries to lastcall@referee.com

82 | REFEREE March 2017

SHUTTERSTOCK

group of guys and played almost every week for about 15 years. It really helped with my understanding of the sport and gave me a way to stay with it and progress to a National 1 in AYSO and a State level in USSF. About 10 years ago, my graphics business slowed down and I knew that I had to do something to add income and decided to add lacrosse. For me, lacrosse was a relatively easy transition — relatively being the operative word.

The two-official mechanics are the same as high school soccer, so I didn’t have to think about where to be on the field or how to move with the players.

Of course I had to learn what a foul is

in the sport, and how to have the game flow, but I am working on those things and am doing OK. While I’m not a superstar official, I’m a dependable referee you can count on to do a solid game.

Next, I added volleyball. As I was getting older, I realized that I would not be able to keep up the running that is required to work the soccer and lacrosse matches I was doing and I would still need to keep working, so I looked around and decided that since volleyball didn’t require any movement by the official, that could work for me. I’ll come back to this shortly, first let me complete my list.

Next, I added wrestling. I wrestled for all four years of high school and thought it would be a good next sport.

While you do have to move around the mat, and get up and down, there is no running, so I should be able to do it as I get older.

Yes, many of the rules have changed and a lot of the moves that I was able to do back when I wrestled are now illegal, still, it is learning what is currently allowed and figuring out how the system works which, again, isn’t that difficult. I’m moving along in my development as a wrestling official with this being my fifth year. Each year I feel that I am improving and understanding what is needed as the referee.

Now, back to volleyball. When I decided to take it up, with the support of a volleyball official that I knew from soccer, I didn’t think that it would be very difficult. True, I didn’t play the game growing up, just friendly stuff in the park, but I didn’t think it was difficult. What could it be, some handling calls, doubles, lifts, ball in and out of play? No problem. I knew how to manage players and coaches; I’ve done it literally thousands of times at some decent levels.

What I didn’t expect, and what you don’t have to do in soccer or lacrosse, is that you have to think every minute of the match. In addition to the things mentioned above, there are also rotations, liberos and setters. Not only on every play do you have to see these

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