Cam Ellison leads by example, both on and off the diamond.
38 PRESSURE POINTS
How to manage emotions in high-pressure moments.
58 LAND OF 10,000 VIDEOS
State association-produced training videos are a rousing success. Maybe it’s time for Minnesota — the Land of 10,000 Lakes — to change its license plate slogan.
78 THE LIMITS OF TOLERANCE
Understand when behavior crosses the line in sports.
ON THE COVER
Age: 48
Occupation: MLB umpire
Officiating experience:
Made MLB umpiring debut in 2006 and became full time in 2014. Has worked one Championship Series (2024), two Division Series (2020 and 2021) and the 2017 AllStar Game. Also worked the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
COLUMNS
18 FOOTBALL
Cracking the Code: Four Essential Rule Principles Dissected; NCAA Rule Changes Address Feigning Injuries; Coming @ U; Neutral Zone Scrimmage Kick
32 SOCCER
Keeper on the Clock: IFAB Law Changes Include Goalkeeper Possession Time Limit; A Handy Guide to the Hand Ball; The Art of Wasting Time
44 BASKETBALL
Yes, It’s Me, Again: Backto-Backs Provide Unique Growth Opportunity; Breaking Down Backcourt Violations
50 VOLLEYBALL
May I Help You? Informal Signals Crucial to Communication; The Games They Play; Easy as 1, 2, 3
62 BASEBALL
Locked In: Lessons From a Triple-A Crew; Stick to the Mechanics Script; Is It Over?
70 SOFTBALL
Storm Warning: Be Safe, Not Sorry Dealing With Weather; Agree to Disagree; Hey, Hey, Get Out the Way
80 ALL SPORTS
Mute Button: Limiting Your Speech Heads Off Potential Issues; How Video Has Changed Officiating; Wise Watchfulness Wipes Warts Away
4 PUBLISHER’S MEMO We Were Here Before Them
12 THE GAG RULE
Letters: Oklahoma City Bombing Heroes; Snap Shot: Markbreit’s 90th 14 THE NEWS
Supreme Court Upholds Wrestler’s Suspension; NFL Reveals Officiating Hires; Three Charged With Assault of Referee
68 GETTING IT RIGHT
Ask an Official!; Female Basketball Officials on ‘Fast Track’; 20-Year Reunion
Mitchlers Making Officiating Memories; Praise for Pesotski; Officiating U.P. North
MiLB Umpire Roster
Injury Timeout; Judge Denies Injunction in Protest Case; Survey Says; They Said It
87 CLASSIFIEDS Camps/Clinics/Schools; Equipment/Apparel; Leadership Resources; Training Resources
88 LAST CALL
I Became a Pickleball Referee: “I let my friends know how much time, effort and care officials put into ensuring that play is fair, safe and rewarding for everyone — and how much hard work goes into both.”
FOOTBALL HIGHLIGHT THIS MONTH
Tim McCullough, Riverside, Calif., correctly signals touchdown if this score occurs after an illegal kick in NFHS. The ball is dead after an illegal kick in NCAA.
Mike Estabrook Lake Worth, Fla.
PUBLISHER’S MEMO
We Were Here Before Them
So very, very few magazines ever reach the milestone of publishing for 50 continuous years. In a few months, Referee will check that box. To simply say we are 50 seems to understate the decades of the magazine’s unrelenting support of sports officials. Referee began publication in January 1976 as a bimonthly and then, 18 months later, became a monthly. Beginning in January 1982 each issue has been published in full-color. Since the
Cellphones
Apple Computers
Post-it Notes
Prozac
MRI Technology
DVDs
IBM PCs
The World Wide Web
DNA Profiling
Self-Driving Cars
Ink Jet Printing
HDTV
Microsoft Word
Emails/Texts
GPS
Rollaboard Suitcases
Artificial Hearts
Ride-Sharing Services
Disposable Contact Lenses
Doppler Radar Network
Digital Photography
YouTube
Nicotine Patches
ESPN
Home Central Air-Conditioning
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Body Cameras
start, we have served the officiating industry with this magazine and with many other officiating publications and resources.
OK, with that said, how can I give some sense of the longevity of this undertaking? How about this? The following is a collection of 50 “things” that emerged fully into our lives after the founding of Referee and still impact our lives. I believe such a list bespeaks not only the longevity of this enterprise but also of its impact and our ability to adapt and serve the readers. The list is in no particular order. Enjoy the tour.
Google
Wireless Networks
Instant Replay for Officiating Use
Fox 40 Whistles
Theater Stadium Seating
Online Reservations
Apps
EZ Pass Road Tolling
Laparoscopic Surgery
Amazon
Steadicam
Self-Checkouts
Computer Firewalls
Rechargeable Lithium Batteries
Futons
Universal Product Codes
Rubik’s Cubes
Pop-Top Cans
Gore-Tex
Stealth Aircraft
LED Lighting
Zoom
Voice Mail
Chief Strategy Officer/Publisher
Barry Mano
Chief Operating Officer/Executive Editor
Bill Topp
Chief Marketing Officer
Jim Arehart
Chief Business Development Officer
Ken Koester
Editor
Brent Killackey
Assistant Managing Editor
Julie Sternberg
Associate Editors
Joe Jarosz
Brad Tittrington
Scott Tittrington
Assistant Editors
Addie Martin
Brad Star
Director of Design, Digital Media and Branding
Ross Bray
Publication Design Manager
Matt Bowen
Creative Designers
Dustin Brown
Rob VanKammen
Video Coordinator
Mike Dougherty
Comptroller
Marylou Clayton
Director of Marketing & Audience Development
Dan Olson
Data Analyst/Fulfillment Manager
Judy Ball
Advertising and Sponsorship
Joe deGuzman
Director of Administration and Sales Support
Cory Ludwin
Office Administrator
Garrett Randall
Client Services Support Specialists
Lisa Burchell
Trina Cotton
Bryce Killackey
Editorial Contributors
Jon Bible, George Demetriou, Alan Goldberger, Judson Howard, Peter Jackel, Dan Ronan, Tim Sloan, Steven L. Tietz, Rick Woelfel
These organizations offer ongoing assistance to Referee: Collegiate Commissioners Association, MLB, MLS, NBA, NCAA, NFHS, NISOA, NFL, NHL, Minor League Baseball Umpire Development and U.S. Soccer. Their input is appreciated.
Contributing Photographers
Ralph Echtinaw, Dale Garvey, Carin Goodall-Gosnell, Bill Greenblatt, Keith Johnston, Jack Kapenstein, Ken Kassens, Bob Messina, Ted Oppegard, Heston Quan, Dean Reid, VIP
Editorial Board
Mark Baltz, Jeff Cluff, Ben Glass, Mike Graf, Reggie Greenwood, John O’Neill, George Toliver, Ellen Townsend
Advertising 2017 Lathrop Ave., Racine, WI 53405 Phone: 262-632-8855
Baseball • Basketball • Football • Lacrosse • Soccer
Softball • Volleyball • Wrestling
An official presides over a match with confidence and clarity, embodying the USTA's vision to elevate officiating through innovation and education.
More Than the Call:
With a Bold 2025-27 Strategy, the USTA Empowers Officials to be Key Ambassadors by Combining Innovation and Education
To reach its ambitious goal of 35 million players by 2035, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) recognizes the critical need to enhance on-court experiences. Officials play a pivotal role in achieving this, which is why the USTA's National Officiating staff has redesigned its strategic plan for 2025-2027.
Tennis officials have always been ambassadors for the sport; however, with the “35 by ‘35” goal front of mind, that role becomes even more important in delivering the plan’s vision of “creating the ultimate
to Elevate Every Match
tennis experience through best-inclass officiating”.
The USTA is making an important investment in electronic line calling for community tennis nationwide to improve player experiences and assist officials. This initiative aims to decrease on-court disagreements and conflicts. By reducing disputes, officials can better serve as positive ambassadors for the sport.
The officials’ ambassadorial role is reinforced with an emphasis on learning and development. Through the new USTA Officiating
Development Hub's enhanced online opportunities and more in-person learning, the national office is confident in equipping all tennis officials with the necessary skills and knowledge.
The combination of technology and improved learning and development for officials will contribute to the enhanced player experience and achieving the "35 by '35" goal.
Take a look at the USTA’s 2025 - 27 Officiating Strategic Plan, designed to support the 35 million players by 2035 goal.
USTA Officiating Strategic Plan 2025-27
Our Vision
To create the ultimate tennis experience through best-in-class officiating.
Our Mission
To provide an inclusive experience that inspires officials to develop and grow tennis for all Americans.
Our 2025 Focus
To lead in the roll-out of Electronic Line Calling (ELC) technology facilitating competition fairness, integrity and enhanced experiences for all customers.
Our Guiding Principles
General Guidelines Which Set the Foundation for How We Operate.
PEOPLE
We value PEOPLE first and our people represent who we are. Therefore we support, motivate and encourage our officials to be the best they possibly can.
PHILOSOPHY
Our PHILOSOPHY is that officiating is a way of life, extending beyond the court. Our aim is to facilitate the fairest level of competition and to deliver the ultimate tennis experience to players, coaches and spectators.
TEAMWORK
We value TEAMWORK, therefore we give our officiating teams the autonomy to make mission-driven decisions, for which they will be accountable.
SPORTSMANSHIP
USTA officials play a significant role in delivering a tennis environment that promotes and accepts only the highest level of SPORTSMANSHIP. Sportsmanship is integral in achieving our mission.
Our Key Pillars with 2025 Targets
COMMUNICATION
We understand COMMUNICATION is the cornerstone to our success. Officials will convey information clearly and simply, in a way that ensures the message is understood and accepted.
LEADERSHIP
We value LEADERSHIP and we encourage all USTA officials to be leaders on and off the court. We realize that great leaders adhere to the highest standards of professional discipline. Professional discipline protects our brand and our people.
• By year-end, deliver a robust multi-year Learning and Development plan including new and refreshed in-person and digital experiences. The 2025 focus will be on enhancing the in-person learning opportunities for experienced officials and delivering learning materials supporting the ELC roll-out in community tennis.
• Continue to grow the officiating base, especially from diverse backgrounds, supporting technology advancements in the community space. Growth Manager regions to attain 20% net gain in new officials.
RETAIN OUR OFFICIALS
THE PROFESSIONAL PATHWAY
MARKETING & COMMUNICATION
THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
• Retain 90% of certified officials, year over year (YOY), by offering platforms, products and information that allow our officials to feel connected, valued and integral to the ecosystem.
• Develop the execution plan, inclusive of learning and development solutions for the roll-out of ELC at USTA Pro Circuit events in 2025.
• By creating awareness, enthusiasm and commitment, encourage new and diverse audiences to become members of the officiating community and to retain 90% YOY of our current officiating base.
• By year end, deliver a multi-year user experience strategy for all stakeholders in the USTA officiating digital ecosystem.
Our Pillars and Actions
LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT
INCLUSIVE RECRUITMENT
RETAIN OUR OFFICIALS
THE PROFESSIONAL PATHWAY
• Develop specific training resources on the use of ELC technology.
• Expand the number and variety of in-person workshops with a focus on the 5+ year experienced official.
• Develop a Regional Training Hub for intensive, in-person training for officials.
• Create a specialized training pathway for officials aspiring to become referees.
• Revamp the online training modules to provide quick, focused lessons.
• Develop new roles to meet the needs of providers, outside of the traditional certification structure.
• Expand the continual learning credits program by introducing more opportunities for officials to earn credits.
• Regions serviced by Growth Managers achieve a 20% net gain in new and diverse officials.
• Collaborate with the newly formed coaching team and include officiating resources into the coach curriculum.
• Utilize USTA resources and assets to create awareness among players, coaches and parents.
• Strategically recruit officials into areas where ELC roll-out is prioritized.
• Redefine the USTA Mentoring program by offering more localized and personalized connections.
• Create an online community forum for officials.
• Implement NASO membership program for all USTA officials.
• Leverage NASO newsletter to engage USTA officials.
• Utilize Town Hall meetings with officials to help engage them on all matters relating to certification requirements.
• Build user friendly analytical tools for staff to use to mitigate the loss of certified officials.
• Support the USTA Pro Circuit officiating pathway by delivering workshops across the referee, chair and chief disciplines.
• Prepare for ELC to be delivered across all ITF WTT hard court tournaments.
• Scout, recruit and prepare aspiring USTA officials for international certification.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATION
THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE
• Enhance the B2C process of onboarding newly certified USTA officials.
• Overhaul the officiating@usta.com inbox to improve on efficiences and experience in direct communications with officials.
• Transition the traditional quarterly officiating newsletter to regular monthly NASO digital magazine.
• Support Growth Managers and Section Staff ensuring officiating content is consistent across the USTA.
• Develop initiatives that promote USTA officiating and builds awareness across the tennis ecosystem.
• Map the USTA officiating digital ecosystem to minimize user confusion and improve on UI and UX.
• Develop a three-year officiating digital ecosystem strategy focused on positive UX and streamlined digital and technology tools.
Continual Learning Opportunities
Are All Around You!
Take Advantage and Get Credit Towards Recertification Credit Requirement!
It’s easy to get credit for an experience you have off the court to reach your continual learning credit requirement! From the Officiating Development Hub, select “Submit Training,” answer a few questions about your experience, and earn your credits.
Ways you can earn credits:
Attend a Presentation Attend a Conference Complete CPR Training Complete Online Development Course
Game, Set, Rules: Questions
See answers on page 10.
Scenario A
In a doubles match, the receiver’s partner has one foot in the server’s box. The server hits a second serve and it hits the receiving partner’s foot. What is the decision?
A - Hindrance, replay the point B - Code violation, unsportmanlike conduct for serving team
C - Point to service team
D - Point to receivers, double fault
Scenario B
In a doubles match, Team A vs. Team B; after the first point of a game, Team A is receiving and realizes they switched the order in which they are receiving. How should you correct this error?
Reach Out!
Submit your question about a USTA Regulation or ITF Rule scenario and it may be featured in an upcoming edition. Click on the red box below.
Spirit of Officiating: Teri Cohn
QUICK FACTS
Name: Teri Cohn
Section: Southern California
Certification(s): Roving Umpire
Tier 1, Referee Tier 2, Chair Umpire
Tier 2, Chief Umpire Tier 2, USTA
Certified Official
Game, Set, Rules:
Answers from page 9.
Scenario A Answer: C
The service team wins the point. In this scenario, the serve cannot touch the receiver or receiver’s partner before it bounces. If it does, the service team wins the point.
Scenario B Answer:
The point stands and the order of receiving remains as altered until the end of the current game or tiebreak. For the next game Team A is receiving, they go back to their original order of receiving. As a reminder, a doubles team can switch receiving order at the start of each set, including the start of a match tiebreak.
When did you first become an Official?
I first became an official in October 2005. I was a volunteer at the tournament desk for a Pro Futures at the Claremont Club with a friend who had been talking to some officials about becoming an official. There was a class coming up the following month, and she talked me into going with her and her daughter. Fast forward almost 20 years, and there are still five of us from that class working!
What is your favorite part of officiating events in your section?
We are so lucky in Southern California to have such a wide variety of events year-round. I love being able to work across all platforms –grassroots, professional, collegiate, and adaptive sports, among others. My favorite part is interacting with my fellow officials and the players along their journey. Years later, you will randomly run across someone, and they will remember your help!
What is your most memorable moment in officiating?
One event that was certainly memorable was working as a chair umpire at the Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi, UAE in March 2019. It was not only a magical place, but to work with officials and athletes from all over the world was incredible. I had a memorable match where neither my players nor their coaches spoke English. I had a ball person translate my pre-match from English to Arabic, and I relied on some VERY rusty college Italian to communicate with the other player! Hand signals and smiles go a long way!
What is a fun fact most officials don’t know about you?
I was in a movie! King Richard was shot in Los Angeles in November 2020, at a time when there really wasn’t a lot of tennis being played in our section. A sports casting agency
had gotten in touch with a fellow official looking for umpires who had worked as line umpires in the highest levels of professional tennis. A group of us were selected and spent two weeks shooting two matches.
What does being part of the officiating family mean to you?
It means everything. We truly are a family of unique individuals. We may not always see eye to eye on everything, but it is fun and rewarding to be a part of this group. It has given me some wonderful adventures and memories!
How has officiating helped you grow as a person?
It has helped me be more patient and to listen more carefully. It has certainly opened me up to saying yes to new adventures and getting out of my comfort zone.
What advice do you have for a new official?
Be patient. Listen and learn. Do not be in such a rush to take on higher level tournaments and more responsibility until you have the body of work/foundation to succeed. Time gives you such perspective. Learn from your mistakes and accept them as part of your path to growth. You will look back and laugh! We often hear that you are only as good as your last call/assignment, and it’s so true. Self-reflection and assessment are invaluable.
Spirit of Officiating Recognition Program
Has one of your fellow officials gone above and beyond at an event? Nominate them for the Spirit of Officiating Recognition Program!
THE GAG RULE
LETTERS SAY WHAT?
Oklahoma City Bombing Heroes
Thirty years ago, the lives of so many were affected by the bombing events in Oklahoma City.
I will always appreciate Referee answering my letter and showing up to interview our association members who responded to the Murrah Building bombing.
In a small way, it was positive therapy for my friends to sit down and publicly share their memories of that day. Somewhere in the bombing memorial, the magazine is rotated among many of the artifacts that are displayed for people’s remembrance.
I also stepped in front of the city council as a young parks department employee and gave each council member and city manager a copy for their personal collection. The firefighter on the cover of that 1995 issue is a friend of mine with whom I worked multiple games before he retired. Please extend my appreciation to all who help create great stories every month.
Jeff A. Murray Edmond, Okla.
THEY SAID IT
MARKBREIT’S 90TH
Four-time Super Bowl referee Jerry Markbreit (seated) was honored in March by (from left) retired NFL referee Bill Carollo, Referee publisher and NASO founder Barry Mano, and retired NFL referee Jeff Triplette with a 90th birthday luncheon at Gibson’s Steakhouse in Chicago.
“I honestly just hated it. The frivolous 1-0 challenge in the second inning. Stop the game. Boom, oh it changes and now it’s not 1-1, it’s 2-0.”
— New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone, talking about the ABS challenge system during an interview with Jomboy Media
“Sometimes when I take my frustration out on the refs, it’s not just for me. It’s for my teammates. They’re a physical team. I’ve had two teammates hurt this year in one game against them.”
— Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young during a postgame press conference after being ejected during an April loss to the Orlando Magic
SURVEY SAYS In general, should officials be responsible for monitoring pregame and postgame interactions between players?
13 %
18 % YES NO DEPENDS ON SPORT & LEVEL
69 %
Tell Us What You Think Send email to letters@referee.com
State High Court Upholds Wrestler’s Suspension
MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Supreme Court stripped a wrestler of his state tournament title in April, effectively ending a legal battle that started in early 2019 when officials disqualified him after ruling two unsporting conduct penalties at the last varsity meet of the regular season.
The court ruled 7-2 that the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) was reasonable when it disallowed then-sophomore Hayden Halter to serve his one-game suspension at a JV tournament held between that varsity meet and the beginning of postseason competition. The WIAA had been clear that a suspension had to be served at the level the athlete typically competed, the court ruled.
Wisconsin’s high court also admonished judges for subjecting in-contest decisions to judicial review. “If we allow review of in-contest calls, we risk embarking on a slippery slope toward emergency hearings every time there is a question of whether a three-point shooter’s toe was on the line or a pass interference flag should have been thrown,” Justice Janet Protasiewicz wrote in a concurring opinion. “Entertaining such review would siphon slim judicial resources and undermine the finality of sport.”
In the immediate wake of his disqualification and the WIAA’s
THE WIRE
West Virginia Vetoes
Updated Assault Bill
West Virginia legislation to upgrade current assault and battery protection for officials in the state passed the state’s House and Senate, but was vetoed April 30 by Gov. Patrick Morrisey. The bill — whose lead sponsor was Sen. Mike Woelfel and was also sponsored by senators Mike Oliverio, Bill Hamilton, Scott Fuller, Jay Taylor
NFL Reveals Officiating Hires for 2025
rejection of his attempted run-around of suspension rules, Halter and his family sued, and they found Racine County Judge Michael Piontek willing to re-officiate the disqualifications from the bench using video from the stands and discounting testimony from the experienced wrestling official overseeing the match.
Piontek also granted a temporary injunction that allowed Halter to continue wrestling, and Halter proceeded to advance and win the state championship at the 120-pound weight class.
The COVID pandemic delayed a trial on the matter, and Piontek’s retirement shifted the case to Judge Eugene Gasiorkiewicz. In May 2021, Gasiorkiewicz ruled in the WIAA’s favor. But the Halters appealed, and in 2024 an appellate court overturned Halter’s disqualification. The appellate court also raised larger issues about the WIAA: Was the state association a state actor, and thus required to operate in a much different manner related to due process and equal protection — more like an arm of government than a private organization?
The appeal to the Wisconsin Supreme Court seemed poised to address the state-actor matter — with questions swirling about the potential implications for sports officials,
See “Suspension” p.17
and Brian Helton — aimed to add minimum sentences for assault and battery of athletic officials.
Morrisey wrote in his veto message that he finds these offenses “abhorrent,” but “cannot justify a crime against a referee carrying a minimum sentence that is double that for assault on a police officer.” He said he encouraged the bill sponsors to work with his office to “craft better legislation.”
NEW YORK — Five new onfield officiating hires are set to take the field heading into the 2025 NFL season.
Big Ten referee Larry Smith and Atlantic Coast Conference referee Marcus Woods will join the NFL staff at the umpire position. Quentin Givens and Andy Warner most recently worked line of scrimmage positions in the
Big 12 Conference and will do the same in the NFL this year. Mountain West back judge Courtney Brown will work the same position in the NFL starting in 2025. Smith, Givens and Warner have been members of the United Football League officiating staff and all five individuals have spent time in the Mackie Development Program (MDP), geared toward identification and development of prospective NFL officials and named in honor of the late Wayne Mackie. He served as an onfield official in the league for 10 years and as vice president of officiating development for five
See “NFL New Hires” p.16
Eppley Promoted to IAABO Executive Director
IAABO President Don Thorne announced April 27 that Donnie Eppley will step into the role of executive director, effective July 1.Eppley, currently IAABO’s director of membership and technology, has been with the organization for more than 25 years. A retired NCAA Division I basketball official, Eppley is also the coordinator of basketball
officials for the D-I Horizon League and D-III Middle Atlantic Conference.
“For more than 25 years, Donnie has been a steady hand behind the scenes, strengthening our organization and expanding our reach,” a post on IAABO’s Facebook page read. “In his new role, we are confident Donnie will continue to grow IAABO’s footprint as we train and support basketball officials
SPEAKERS
TOPICS
Lisa Jones
David UYL
NCAAW Basketball Referee
RESPECT: Moments of comfort and convenience can be compared to times of challenge and controversy when measuring a person. Attendees will lean on that message to help uncover and implement the respect needed within yourself, your crew, your staff and your association.
WORKSHOPS: Narrowly focused topics compiled into a vivid, dramatic picture of how to lead in developing, directing and defending officials.
Montgomery is the place to be this summer for anyone who cares about the future of sports officiating. Register now for two and a half days of networking, social events, small group breakouts and a full program focused on the hottest issues facing officials and officiating leaders.
NCAA Baseball Umpire doug sirmons
NCAAM Basketball Referee sandra serafini
Retired FIFA Soccer Referee
RON TORBERT
NFL Referee steve shaw
NCAA National Coordinator of Football Officials
MOTIVATION: Propel officiating forward. Inspiration, performance, communication and human potential are certain to serve officials and their leaders in advancing the industry.
SUPPORT: A strong foundation is the base for any useful defense mechanism — and when the pressures mount, officiating leaders must lean on that firm structure to support officials and answer to other stakeholders.
LEADERSHIP: With great power comes great responsibility! Demands being made on officials have never been greater and we must be equipped to rise to the occasion. Learn how to effectively lead officials at all levels.
STAFF DEVELOPMENT: People are your number one asset so listen to some of the industry’s best in this panel discussion of how to identify, hire, support, direct and celebrate a staff of officials.
07/27-7/29 montgomery, al
U.S. Officials Selected for FIFA Club World Cup
Four U.S. Soccer and FIFA officials have been appointed to work the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, held June 14-July 13 throughout the United States.
Referee Tori Penso, assistant referees Brooke Mayo and Kathryn Nesbitt, and video assistant referee Armando Villarreal are the four officials representing the U.S. in the tournament.
Penso, Mayo and Nesbitt were the only three women selected as onfield officials for the tournament, according to U.S. Soccer. Penso was one of 35 referees chosen, while Mayo and Nesbitt were among 58 assistant referees. Villarreal was one of 24 video assistant referees selected.
The trio of women are no strangers to trailblazing at soccer’s highest levels. Penso, Mayo and Nesbitt were the first Americans to lead an officiating crew during a FIFA World Cup Final, coming at the 2023 Women’s World Cup final between Spain and England in Australia. Villarreal was the assistant video referee for that final.
Among other achievements for members of the crew, Penso was MLS’s first full-time female staff official. Nesbitt was the first
THE
WIRE across the country — and beyond.”
Felix Addeo, IAABO’s current executive director, will transition into a new role as associate director, according to IAABO.
MLB Umpire Wendelstedt Hit in Face by Line Drive
MLB umpire Hunter Wendelstedt was hospitalized after he was struck in the face by a line-drive foul ball April 16 during a game between the New York Mets and Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Wendelstedt immediately
person ever to work both a Men’s World Cup Final (Qatar 2022) and a Women’s World Cup Final (Australia/New Zealand 2023). Nesbitt also took home recognition as U.S. Soccer’s 2024 Female Referee of the Year earlier this year.
In total, FIFA selected 117 officials from 41 members associations across all six confederations to work the inaugural edition of the tournament’s new format. The FIFA Club World Cup was previously a full knock-out tournament, but this year will shift to a mostly roundrobin format, with the later rounds remaining knock-out style.
“As every new competition starts, the selected referees are among those who have the privilege to be part of this for the first time, so I’m sure that all the match officials will be thrilled,” said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee.
The 32-team competition will take place in 11 U.S. cities. Group stage play runs through June 26, followed by the round of 16 (June 28-July 1), quarterfinals (July 4-5), semifinals (July 8-9) and the final on July 13.
SOURCE: FIFA, U.S. SOCCER
fell to the ground after he was hit by the ball off the bat of the Mets’ Tyrone Taylor in the seventh inning. After being tended to by Twins medical staff, Wendelstedt, 53, was able to slowly walk off the field on his own.
Crew chief Todd Tichenor told a pool reporter after the game that Wendelstedt was coherent and speaking but going through concussion protocol. At press time, Wendelstedt had yet to return to the field and there was no timetable for his return.
NFL
New Hires
continued from p.14
more until his unexpected passing in 2022.
The MDP program draws candidates from a pool of nearly 4,000 individuals in the league’s scouting database. Beyond their D-I collegiate officiating experience, these new hires benefit from MDP opportunities to attend the NFL’s annual preseason officiating clinic, participate in NFL mini-camps and training camps and officiating NFL preseason games.
There is extensive postseason collegiate officiating experience between the five new NFL officiating hires. Most recently, Smith worked the College Football Playoff (CFP) Quarterfinal 2024 Peach Bowl between Texas and Arizona State, Woods worked the 2024 Las Vegas Bowl between Texas A&M and USC, Brown worked the 2024 Fenway Bowl between UConn and North Carolina and Warner worked a CFP first-round game between Indiana and Notre Dame. Brown, a former defensive back and seventh-round draft choice of the Dallas Cowboys in 2007, will become the third official on staff with NFL playing experience.
Game Ends After Coach Contacts Umpire
An April 13 game at a USSSA youth baseball tournament in Westlake, La., ended in a forfeit after a coach shoved an umpire. Video of the incident showed a coach from the Louisiana Reign youth baseball team get into an argument with the home plate umpire before the coach shoves the umpire with his chest. The coach was immediately ejected; another coach is seen running on the field before both umpires walk off.
Westlake police said the incident is being investigated under a state law that prohibits physical contact with a sports official. An official statement from the Louisiana Reign organization acknowledged the incident and asked the coach, identified as John Bailey, to step down from his position with the team.
Coach Arrested for Attacking Referee
A man arrested April 29 is accused of attacking a referee
Three Charged With Assault of Michigan Basketball Referee
CASS COUNTY, Mich. — A viral video of a Michigan high school basketball referee being hit with multiple thrown objects has led to three individuals being charged with assault. The incident happened Feb. 26 at the end of a boys’ district semifinal game between Benton Harbor and Buchanan at Dowagiac Union High School.
At the conclusion of the game, one of the referees is seen in the video heading toward the scorer’s table. On his way to the table, the referee is hit in the head with a basketball thrown by one of the players. The referee was also hit with bottles and cups of water thrown by players and individuals in the stands. The video also shows a coach throwing an empty Gatorade bottle at the referee as well as two other bottles being thrown at the referee from elsewhere in the gym. The referee ultimately falls to the floor and is then helped up by police officers who would eventually escort him off the court and into the locker room. According to police, the referee was also hit with a notebook in the hallway as he tried to leave the building.
Following the incident, Benton
weeks earlier at a high school basketball tournament in Winter Garden, Fla., where he had been one of the coaches, according to police. Alvin Pegues, 37, faces a charge of aggravated battery on a sports official during or after a contest, records show.
Pegues was the coach for Windermere High School during the tournament on Feb. 1 at Foundation Academy in Winter Garden, according to his arrest warrant. A witness told police Pegues had been arguing over calls and saying inappropriate
Harbor Area Schools Superintendent Dr. Kelvin Butts released a statement largely placing the blame on fans. However, police stated it was a coach and players from the school who initially threw objects at the referee, prompting the assault charges.
In April, the Cass County Prosecutor’s Office authorized charges against a 28-year-old man (Devontae Jones) and a 43-year-old man (Vallen Johnson). Jones, who was an assistant coach for the team, has since been fired from the school. The school district fired Jones in the days following the incident after learning of his involvement.
Both men face charges including 93-day misdemeanor assault and battery and 90-day misdemeanor disturbing the peace. Arraignment for both of the accused will be held at a future date.
Suspension
continued from p.14
such as whether game reports could become public records. But the state’s high court did not address the issue of state-actor status, ruling that the facts and issues of this particular case did not raise that question. In
things to the officiating crew, leading one of the referees to issue him to technical fouls.
Police were told Pegues should have been ejected after the second technical, but he was allegedly allowed to stay because no one else from Windermere was around to finish the game. After the game, multiple witnesses told police that Pegues approached one of the referees and pushed him through the locker room doors; Pegues pinned the referee to the ground and punched him
A juvenile has also been charged with one misdemeanor count of assault and battery and one misdemeanor count of disturbing the peace. Because the juvenile resides outside of Cass County, it is expected the matter will be processed in the county where the juvenile lives. Benton Harbor school officials confirmed a student was involved in the incident.
Benton Harbor had just been eliminated from the playoffs with a 39-36 loss when the items were hurled at the referee. Police identified a Benton Harbor basketball coach and multiple Benton Harbor players as the perpetrators, according to police.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association is also investigating the incident, according to Geoff Kimmerly, MHSAA director of communications.
fact, the two justices that dissented did so because they felt the case did not rise to the level that it needed involvement by the state’s highest court — it did not meaningfully develop the law or answer questions of statewide importance.
in the face several times before bystanders could get him Pegues off. Pegues had already left the school by the time police arrived and was later arrested during a traffic stop.
Iowa Streamlines Official Registration Process
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) and Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) have collaborated to streamline officials’ registration process for the 2025-26 school year.
When officials register through DragonFly for the 2025-26 sports seasons, they will be able to pay a singular fee for sports shared between the IGHSAU and IHSAA. Sports that will no longer require separate boys’ and girls’ sports fees include basketball, cross country, soccer, swimming, track and field, and wrestling. Previously, officials had to pay separate fees when registering for sports shared between the IGHSAU and IHSAA.
SOURCES: CLICKORLANDO.COM, IAABO, IHSAA, MLB, WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
JAROSZ jjarosz@referee.com
CRACKING THE CODE
Four Essential Rules Principles Dissected
By George Demetriou
The differences between the NFHS and NCAA codes number in the hundreds. Some are relatively minor and others are quite complex. If you don’t work both codes, do not be deterred from reading this column. Although the two codes will be compared, the idea is to point out basic principles that differ because those root differences sometimes find their way into the other code either as
a philosophy, a practical application or an outright mistake. Here are four key situations you may encounter:
1.Kicks crossing the neutral zone. Under NCAA rules, a kick that crosses the neutral zone is a major event that triggers several rules. Primarily the continuity of downs is broken, so there is no longer a line-to-gain or a neutral zone. That means if no one subsequently touches the ball, it belongs to the receiving team. Under no circumstances may team A advance
such a kick. The ball is dead as soon as team A gets possession inbounds, even if that is behind the neutral zone.
In NFHS play, a kick crossing the neutral zone is notable, but has nowhere near the significance it has in a college game. What is of greater importance is the location of the ball with respect to the neutral zone when it is touched first. In effect, the continuity of downs is not broken unless the receiving team touches the ball while it is beyond the neutral
Tim McCullough, Riverside, Calif., confidently signals touchdown. If this score occurs after an illegal kick in NFHS, the offended team has options. If an illegal kick occurs in NCAA, the ball becomes dead immediately. This is one of many fundamental differences between the two codes.
zone. Here is a play that illustrates the difference.
Play 1: Fourth and six on team K’s 30 yardline. K1’s short punt strikes the ground at team K’s 35 yardline and untouched caroms back to team K’s 25 yardline where K2 recovers it and advances to team K’s (a) 29, or (b) 37 yardline before he is tackled. Ruling 1: In NFHS, although the ball crossed the neutral zone, no one touched it there. When the ball returned behind the zone, it became a loose ball that anyone can recover and advance. Because the continuity of downs was not broken, team K must make the line-to-gain in order to retain possession. Thus in (a), team R will take over on downs while in (b), team K is awarded a new series. In NCAA, because the ball crossed the neutral zone, K2’s touching is illegal, even though it happens behind the neutral zone. The ball is dead when K2 gains possession. In both (a) and (b), team R will put the ball in play where K4 recovered it.
2.Scoring on a try. The original philosophy of the purpose of a try was to reward a team scoring a touchdown with the opportunity to score additional points. The rules regarding what transpires after a touchdown changed frequently in the early years of the game, but have been relatively stable in recent years. Nonetheless, there is a major difference between the codes regarding the try.
In college play, other than the points awarded for scoring (two vs. six), a try is the same as any other scrimmage play. In NFHS, only the offense can score, thus the ball is dead when the defense gains possession. Furthermore, unlike any other scenario, the ball is immediately dead if a kick try fails (4-2-2i). It is interesting to note that if the ball is fumbled on a two-point try attempt, the ball remains live, but only the offense can advance it.
3.Shifts and motion. In NFHS play, a shift is the action of one or more offensive players who, after a huddle or after taking set positions, move to a new set position before the ensuing snap (2-39). The NCAA rule is similar but requires the simultaneous change of position or stance by two
or more offensive players (2-22). The NCAA rule gives the offense the advantage of making inconsequential movement before the snap.
Play 2: Team A gets set while quarterback A1 remains standing upright behind the center. A1 steps forward and places his hands under the center (a) at the instant the snap is made, (b) which is made after he is motionless, but prior to one second having elapsed, or (c) which is made after he is motionless for one second. Ruling 2: In NFHS, it is illegal motion in (a), an illegal shift in (b) and legal in (c). In NCAA, it is illegal motion in (a)since he was moving forward at the snap and legal in (b) and (c) because only one player moved and there was no shift.
4.Fouls that end the play. There are no fouls under NFHS rules that cause the ball to become dead. In NCAA play, an illegal kick (not illegally kicking the ball) results in a dead ball. The only such scenarios are when a return kick is executed (6-310b) or when a punter runs beyond the neutral zone and thereafter kicks the ball (6-3-10c). The live-ball fouls cause the ball to become dead and a five-yard penalty is enforced from the spot of the foul for a return kick or from the previous spot with a loss of down for the kick beyond the neutral zone after the kicker has been beyond the neutral zone.
Under NFHS rules, the penalty for a kick beyond the neutral zone is 10 yards from the end of the run (spot of the kick) and the down is repeated. The loose ball is considered a fumble, and the receiving team may decline the penalty in order to keep possession should they recover the ball, with or without an advance. It is worthwhile to note that when this type of illegal kick occurs, the players and the downfield officials will not know an illegal kick occurred; the ball will be officiated as, a legal kick even though by rule, it is a fumble. The correct options can be addressed after the play ends. Since the ball becomes dead in NCAA when it is illegally kicked, the preceding scenario is avoided. George Demetriou has been a football official since 1968. He lives in Colorado Springs, Colo. *
High school football officials, which of the following rule changes would you most prefer?
Implementing a 2-minute timeout/warning each half: 50 %
Ball carriers down by contact (LIKE NFL): 41 %
Adapted kickoff (similar to NFL): 9 %
SOURCE: REFEREE
SIDELINE
2025 David M. Parry Award
Bob Waggoner, retired NFL official and associate coordinator of officials for the Collegiate Officiating Consortium (COC), was named the recipient of the 2025 David M. Parry Award, presented annually to a college football officiating coordinator for exemplary professionalism, leadership and a commitment to sportsmanship. Waggoner spent 20 years officiating in the NFL and was assigned to Super Bowls XL and XLIX as back judge and field judge, respectively. He has served officials across the Big Ten, Mid-American, Missouri Valley and many other D-I, D-II and D-III conferences as a COC leader since 2009.
TOOLS
Guide to the Forward Fumble Rule
This in-depth, 16-page Guide to the Forward Fumble Rule: 11 Plays You Need to Know takes you through the new rule elements and crucial play scenarios you need to know before taking the high school football field this season! The full-color guide, complete with MechaniGrams and rulings, costs $5.95 and is available at store.referee.com/football.
TEST YOURSELF
In each of the following you are given a situation and at least two possible answers. You are to decide which answer or answers are correct for NFHS and NCAA rules, which might vary. Note: In kicking situations, K is the kicking team, R the receiving team. Solutions: p. 87.
1. A1 takes a handoff from A2 and runs for a touchdown. After the ball is dead and while A1 is prone in the end zone, B3 jumps on top of him and is flagged for a personal foul.
a. The penalty is declined by rule.
b. The penalty must be enforced on the try.
c. The penalty must be enforced on the kickoff.
d. The penalty may be enforced on the try or kickoff.
2. Fourth and goal at team B’s five yardline. A1’s legal forward pass to eligible A2 is complete for a touchdown. While the pass is in the air, A3 blocks B4, who is attempting to defend A2 and he is flagged for pass interference. The next play will be:
a. Fourth and goal for team A at team B’s 20 yardline.
b. First and 10 for team B at its own five yardline.
c. First and 10 for team B at its own 20 yardline.
d. Team A try.
3. Fourth and five for team K from its own 45 yardline. R1 is flagged for running into punter K2. Receiver R3 muffs the kick at his own five yardline. The ball rolls into the end zone, where it is recovered by K4.
a. The result of the play is a touchdown for team K.
b. The result of the play is a touchback for team R.
c. The penalty is declined by rule.
d. The penalty will be enforced from the previous spot and team K will have first and 10 at the 50.
e. The penalty must be enforced on the try.
f. The penalty must be enforced on the kickoff.
g. The penalty may be enforced on the try or kickoff.
NCAA Rule Changes Address Feigning Injuries
By Joe Jarosz
The NCAA Football Rules
Committee took steps to address the practice of feigning injuries, among other topics, at its March meeting in Indianapolis. The Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which is charged with evaluating how rule changes affect player safety, financial impact and image of the game, approved the changes in April. The changes are presented in perceived order of importance. For official rule language and interpretations, always consult NCAA publications.
Feigning Injuries (3-3-6)
Concern has arisen in recent years in regard to teams using the injury process to gain an unfair playing advantage. The only real mechanism to deal with the possible gamesmanship of feigning injuries has been left to conference office action after consultation with the national coordinator of football officials. To address the strategy in real time, and to discourage the unethical and unsportsmanlike behavior, language was added as follows: “If a player presents as injured after the ball is spotted by officials, that team will be charged a team timeout or a delay penalty if all timeouts have been used.”
Timeouts in Extra Periods (3-1-3h)
For games tied at the end of regulation, each team will be allowed one timeout for each of the first and second extra periods. Beginning with the third extra period, each team will be allowed one timeout for the remainder of the contest. No changes were made to carry over timeouts. Timeouts not used during regulation periods may not be carried over to extra periods and unused extra-period timeouts may not be carried over to subsequent extra periods.
Because a team’s possession series is only one play for a twopoint try beginning with the third extra period, the game could theoretically have one timeout per play from that point onward without this change. To maintain game flow, the change described was approved in addition to limiting radio and television timeouts to the timeframe following the first and second extra periods only (not each break between extra periods). Lastly, the mandatory two-minute break period was eliminated after the fourth extra period. It remains in place after the second extra period only.
Instant Replay – Referee Announcement (12-6-1d)
In a rule change aimed at simplifying referee stadium announcements following replay review, the principles of “confirmed” and “stands” have been combined into the ruling of “upheld.”
Referee announcements following replay review will now take one of two forms, instead of the previous three options. If the video evidence confirms the onfield ruling or if there is no indisputable video evidence to overturn the onfield ruling, the referee will announce, “After further review, the ruling on the field is upheld.” If the onfield ruling is overturned, the announcement remains the same as pervious years where the referee describes the ruling with a description of the video evidence and how play will be resumed.
Scrimmage Kick Formation (2-1610)
The definition for scrimmage kick formations has been further clarified to remove ambiguity in execution. Rulebook language literally clears the path from snapper to potential kicker and offers fewer opportunities for deception by way of kicking team formations.
According to new rulebook language, “a scrimmage kick formation is a formation with no player other than the potential kicker aligned within the frame of the snapper and no player aligned in the clear path from the snapper to the potential kicker.”
In addition, the word “player” has been changed to “potential kicker” when requiring someone needs to be 10 or more yards behind the neutral zone (unless a potential holder and kicker are seven or more yards behind the neutral zone for a place kick).
MechaniGram A depicts a scrimmage kick formation because no player other than the potential kicker, who is positioned 10 yards behind the ball, is aligned within the frame of the snapper and no player is aligned in the clear path from the snapper to the potential kicker.
MechaniGram B depicts a nonscrimmage kick formation because a player other than the potential kicker is positioned within the frame of the snapper and is in the path from the snapper to the potential kicker.
Additionally, a potential disadvantage for the defensive team has been removed by way of a rule change regarding defensive lineman positioning and contact on scrimmage kick plays. Team B players within one yard of the line of scrimmage at the time of the snap must be aligned completely outside the frame of the body of the snapper and must not initiate contact with the snapper until one second has elapsed after the snap, but only if the snapper is not on the end of the line of scrimmage.
If the snapper is the end person on the line of scrimmage, the defensive linemen are allowed to line up inside the frame of his body and may initiate contact immediately after the snap.
MechaniGram C depicts the snapper on the end of the line, therefore the defensive linemen are allowed to line up inside the frame of his body and may initiate contact immediately after the snap.
CASEPLAYS
Runner Drops Ball
Play: B1 intercepts a pass by A2 and returns the ball for an apparent touchdown. Prior to crossing the goalline, however, B1 drops the ball at team A’s one yardline in his excitement about the apparent score. The ball rolls forward into the end zone and out of bounds. Ruling: This is a fumble and results in a touchback. Forward fumble rules are not in effect as the ball went out of bounds in the end zone and not between the goallines (NFHS 8-2-1c, 8-5-1, 8-5-3c; NCAA 7-2-4c, 8-6-1a, 8-7-1).
Free Kick Out of Bounds
Play: If a free kick is touched either by team R or by team K and goes out of bounds, and the touching is caused by the team R or team K player being blocked into the ball by an opponent, is the touching ignored? Ruling: For NFHS, on free kicks an inbounds player has not touched a free kick if he has been blocked into the ball within the 10-yard neutral zone and therefore the touching is ignored. For NCAA, any inbounds player has not touched a free kick if he has been blocked into the ball or the ball has been batted at him (NFHS 6-1-5, 6-1-6; NCAA 6-14a, b).
Feet Tangled?
Play: Eligible A1 and B2 are running downfield next to each other. The pass is in flight and both players look back to find the ball. The covering official determines that (a) the players feet became incidentally tangled or (b) one player purposefully impedes the other by sticking his leg out. Ruling: In (a), there is no foul for the incidental contact. In (b), the player impeding the other has committed pass interference. In NCAA, officials must determine whether or not the pass was catchable before moving forward with a ruling of pass interference (NFHS 7-5-11a; NCAA 7-3-9g).
“T” S ignal on F ree K icks (2-8-3)
Language was added to the definition of an invalid fair catch signal to further clarify legal team B actions. Specific attention was brought to invalid signals by changing “a player of team B” to “any player of team B” when describing the actions of invalid signaling. Also, giving a “T” signal during a free kick is now included in the list of invalid signal descriptions.
Defensive M ovement/ D isconcerting S ignals (7-1-5a-4 &5)
A rule change for last year was implemented to discourage illegal defensive movement and disconcerting signals in order to clean up pre-snap action. Additional language for 2025 clarifies defensive intentions and will make it easier for officials to rule on such action with higher degree of certainty. “Any player within one yard of the line of scrimmage (stationary or not) may not make quick and abrupt or exaggerated actions that simulate action at the snap and are not part of normal defensive player movement in an obvious attempt to make the offense foul (false start).”
New this year, the threshold for a foul now includes the simulation of action at the snap and requires an obvious attempt to cause the offense to false start.
To maintain order in cadence by the offense and defense on any given play, the rules committee has determined specific language and action reserved for each team: “The terms ‘move’ and ‘stem’ are reserved for defensive cadence and may not be used by the offense. The offense may use a clap as a starting signal and this signal may not be used by the defense.” Violations to anything described here result in a dead-ball foul for delay of game and is penalized five yards from the succeeding spot.
Substitution F ouls A fter the TwoM inute T imeout (3-5-3b)
The penalty for substitution fouls by the defense has been
updated to address a potential loophole with less than two minutes remaining in either half. After the two-minute timeout in either half, the offended team has the option of resetting the game clock to the time displayed at the snap when the defense commits a substitution foul and 12 or more players are on the field and participate in the down. If the 12th player on defense was attempting to exit and had no influence on the play, the normal substitution penalty is enforced and there is no clock adjustment.
Technology — Coach-to- P layer C ommunications
(1-4-11b Exc.)
Coach-to-player communications through the helmet is now permitted for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), in addition to Football Bowl Subdivision, which was allowed for last season. The same communication will be permitted for D-II and D-III for the 2026 season.
Technology
— Tablets (1-4-11a Exc. 3)
Tablet technology continues to be addressed through the rules committee, namely allowing interconnectivity with other devices to project larger/additional images in the locker room during halftime intermission for 2025. Previously devices were not allowed to be interconnected at any time. Additionally, an appendix was added to assist conferences in developing policies for situations dealing with tablet failure.
Optional Equipment — Eye Shields
(1-4-6c)
With added language regarding eye shields, manufacturers of “nearly clear” shields had until June 1 to submit products to the rules committee for review ahead of the 2025 season.
Joe Jarosz is an associate editor at Referee . He officiates college and high school football, college and high school basketball, and high school baseball. *
expert
We break down the most impactful high school rule change of 2025— featuring 11 real-game scenarios that show exactly how it plays out. With clear definitions, relevant case plays, and expert analysis, you’ll be prepared for every call, every time.
In this photo series, Dan Furman, Palmdale, Calif., is faced with a reality with which all umpires can empathize. Priority No. 1 is survival; then we can turn the page toward the finer officiating points.
Coming @ U
1
1 The line of scrimmage official on the camera side of the field or the back judge likely has the best look at the defender’s hand on or near the facemask of the runner. For NFHS, this becomes a foul if the defender grasps the facemask. A five-yard penalty results if the action stops there, but a 15-yard penalty is enforced if the action becomes grasping and twisting, turning or pulling (9-4-3h Pen.). For NCAA, mere grasping is not a foul. Twisting, turning or pulling the facemask is required and the penalty is 15 yards (9-1-8).
2
The ball is becoming shielded by players, so the line-of-scrimmage officials must be patient in deciding if this play ended. The way the runner is falling to the ground is setting up for a typical double action, meaning the ball is in one position on the field when the runner is down by rule and will likely be a yard or two farther once his torso hits the ground and he comes to a stop. Lineof-scrimmage officials should note the ball is at roughly the 10 yardline and the runner’s knee is about to hit the ground. Confirm the ball carrier maintains possession until he is down before ruling the play over and observe action as the players come to a stop a few yards in advance, but be prepared to rule progress at the 10 yardline.
3 Although we cannot see the ball from this camera angle, let’s assume the runner has possession. He is down because body parts other than his hands or feet are on the ground (NFHS 4-2-2a; NCAA 4-1-3b). Although line-of-scrimmage officials are focused on determining the progress spot and ruling the play dead, they and the rest of the crew must be on high alert for dead-ball action. Defender No. 55 looks to be taking an attacking posture and might be headed toward committing a personal foul. In NFHS, he might commit a spearing foul by driving the crown of his helmet into the opponent or simply a personal foul by piling on a player who is lying on the ground (2-20-1c, 9-4-3). In NCAA, he might commit a personal foul by piling on an opponent after the ball has become dead and it may or may not be coupled with a targeting foul for making forcible contact (indicator required) against an opponent with the crown of his helmet (9-1-3, 9-1-8).
2
3
Neutral Zone Scrimmage Kick
Alegal scrimmage kick is one that’s made by team K from in or behind the neutral zone prior to a change of possession. The definitions of a kick’s location relative to the neutral zone differ in NFHS and NCAA. For NFHS, the point at which the kicker’s foot contacts the ball is considered the location of the kick, so PlayPics A and B are legal. PlayPic C depicts an illegal kick because the kicker’s foot was beyond the neutral-zone plane when contact with the ball occurred. For NCAA, all three kicks depicted are legal because when the kick occurs the ball and/or the kicker’s body are in or behind the neutral zone. In order for the kick to be illegal, the kicker’s entire body and the ball must be or have been beyond the neutral zone. The down marker can be used as a reference point because it denotes the forward limit of the neutral zone. *
NEUTRAL ZONE
This is the comprehensive guide you need to be ready to work High School football this season. All new and recent rule changes broken down, Points of Emphasis clarified, and tough situations made simple – all in a full-color, magazinesized annual guide. Includes hundreds of caseplays and quiz questions!
CAM ELLISON LEADS BY
EXAMPLE, BOTH ON AND OFF THE DIAMOND.
Cam Ellison has a knack for working with people. His resume includes a career with the Federal Bureau of Prisons that has spanned nearly a quarter-century and two decades as an NCAA Division I softball umpire with four Women’s College World Series assignments. He has repeatedly displayed the ability to bring people together, regardless of their gender, religion, ethnicity or personal experience.
The 50-year-old Ellison, who resides in North Augusta, S.C., has built his life around the concept of service. One of four siblings, he is the son of a career military man; his father, Gregg, spent 23 years in the U.S. Army.
Ellison was born in Dalton, Ga., but moved around growing up; he also lived in California, Kentuckyand Texas, and attended four different high schools in four years.
“It was wild,” he recalls, “but I still have a friend or two in each place.”
Ellison’s father instilled in him a sense of discipline that has shaped his life ever since.
YOU RESPECT ME. I RESPECT YOU.
BY RICK WOELFEL
“He didn’t waver on it,” Ellison said “If it was something I’d done or needed to work on, he held me to that standard and didn’t waver on it. If I did something and I was on punishment, and the punishment was a week, then it was the entire seven days. (But) when my dad would come home, he would immediately go back to the bedroom and change out of his uniform. He never brought that part home.”
Cam Ellison’s ability to work well under pressure has garnered respect from fellow umpires as well as coaches. Here he is during a plate meeting with Alabama head coach Patrick Murphy.
Following his graduation from high school, Ellison enlisted in the Army himself, ultimately achieving the rank of specialist E-7. His seven years of active duty also included a deployment to Bosnia. But while he remained a reservist following his discharge, Ellison found the idea of continuing with a full-time military career unappealing.
“I started a family,” he said. “I made up my mind I just didn’t want to move my family around. So, I decided to get out.”
Following his discharge, Ellison aspired to a position with the Georgia State Police, but that organization had a hiring freeze
in place at the time. Instead, at the encouragement of a friend, and already equipped with a security clearance, he applied for a position with the Federal Bureau of Prisons at what was then a new facility in Edgefield County, S.C., near the Georgia border. The institution was to be his professional home for most of the next 23 years.
Ellison began his career as a corrections officer. At the time, Edgefield was a highsecurity institution.
“We got the guys the other penitentiaries couldn’t handle,” he said.
In 2005, Edgefield became a medium-security facility. Today, it houses some 1,800 male inmates. Ellison became a recreation specialist, allowing him to blend his life experiences with his people skills.
“Moving around and experiencing different cultures helped me in the prison system,” he said. “It’s just about being you. It’s about respect. That’s the biggest
ME. YOU.
YOU RESPECT ME. I RESPECT YOU.
thing. You don’t have to rule with an iron fist to get respect.
“I told the guys, ‘I didn’t put you in here and I can’t get you out. You respect me as I respect you. You know I have a job to do just like you have your sentence to do.’
“Plus, I ran the rec yard. When you’ve got the rec yard, it’s a little bit different because that’s where they burn off the energy, they get out the frustration, they exercise. So, it’s a different environment down there. Now, is that where the most stuff happens? Of course. When you’ve got 1,800 guys locked up in one place, something is going to happen.
“But it’s a different environment. Everything was centered around sports and wellness and fitness and it was a way for some of the guys to connect back on the outside. And kind of forgetting they were in prison.
“It helped all my co-workers because when you get guys out there burning energy, that’s less that you have to worry about them up in the cells acting up and getting somebody killed or getting somebody hurt. I took pride in that.”
Ellison’s superiors took notice. Jaynell Hutchinson was the warden at Edgefield from 2019-22. She credits Ellison for the environment he maintained on the yard, a setting where there is always the potential for volatility.
“The biggest place for incidents to occur in the prison is usually out in the rec yard,” she said, “because you have a diverse group of individuals, inmates, who come from different criminal histories and backgrounds. In my years at Edgefield, not once was there a significant incident in recreation.”
During Hutchinson’s time at Edgefield, Ellison took on the role of education supervisor, which had been vacant. Hutchinson cited Ellison’s attitude as a key to his success in that role.
“Cam is very well respected at that institution,” she said. “He walks the talk, and he does it with kindness and compassion.
“He is always positive. There is never a situation when you ever see Cam upsetor raise his voice, even if someone’s not done what they were supposed to do.
“And then on top of that, he’s encouraging and always motivated to do something to help out. If I needed something to be done he would say, ‘Ma’am, I’ve got this.’ We used to joke and say (Ellison) is the mayor of Edgefield.”
His full-time job, however, is not his only passion. Most weekends, you can find him wearing a different uniform, calling balls and strikes on the softball diamond.
While winding down his active-duty career, Ellison first explored umpiring. While stationed at what was then Fort Gordon near Augusta, Ga., an Army buddy asked him to umpire baseball games in a local rec league. Motivated by a desire to serve, Ellison agreed. He was not unfamiliar with officiating — his father had a long career working basketball and softball.
“I would go watch his games,” he recalled. “I didn’t ever think I would do it.”
Ellison made his debut on the baseball diamond but couldn’t help but notice a girls’ softball game on an adjacent field.
“They were doing everything the guys were doing,” he said. “Plus, the game didn’t go as long.”
Ellison began working recreation, highschool and
Cam Ellison’s Army Reserve unit was sent to Iraq in 2017. (Left) Ellison is pictured with Col. Raymond Jackson and (right) with Col. Mark Sydenham.
travel softball in and around Augusta.
“It was a hobby, a little parttime gig to put some gas in the car,” he said.
But Ellison’s umpiring career got a jump start when Mike Raynor saw him work and approached him about doing college softball games. At the time, Raynor was an established Division I umpire himself and also made the assignments for lower-level conferences. Today, Raynor serves as the umpire coordinator for a plethora of conferences including the ACC, Big South and Conference USA, among others. He says Ellison made an immediate impression.
“He had an aptitude for the game,” Raynor said. “He had the people skills. He had the composure, and he certainly had the desire.”
Raynor recalls inviting Ellison to observe a series Raynor’s SEC crew was working at South Carolina
“We invited him to the pregame and postgame to sit and watch what happens off the field,” Raynor recalls. “He was hungry. He took that (experience) and ran with it.”
With Raynor’s support, Ellison handled his first college assignment in 2006 for an association that was based in Atlanta and assigned college games at various levels, including Division I games at Georgia Tech in the days before conferences had coordinators.
Longtime umpire Larry McCadden was active in that group and a mentor to Ellison.
“He came in at a time when a lot of people were trying to get into officiating, especially African-American guys,” McCadden said, “He was patient. And he listened. He never tried to show up a coach He conducted himself in a professional manner from the start.”
Ellison’s future was promising, but following that
season his Army reserve unit was deployed to Iraq.
Raynor and others assured him he would be welcomed back with open arms and it was during his deployment that Ellison resolved to take his umpiring career as far as his work ethic and determination would allow.
“I promised myself if I made it back from over there in Iraq, I‘m going to give it my best shot at Division I ball,” he said. “I’m going to try it and wherever it goes is wherever it goes.”
Ellison was back on the field for the 2008 season and his climb through the ranks began in earnest. The climb was accelerated in part because Ellison had a “clean slate” and fewer bad habits to unlearn than some other umpires.
Ellison says his military training made him more open to accepting instruction at a time when he was still transitioning into civilian life.
The fact that a number of his umpiring mentors had served in the military made the transition less difficult.
“In the military, we learned things by the numbers, step by step by step,” he said. “It’s
Cam Ellison, who is a crew chief in the SEC, calls balls and strikes in a 2025 conference game at Alabama.
somewhat robotic the posture that you have.
“When I got into umpiring, that’s how I did the transformation, going from robotic to smoothing everything out, smoothing mechanics out, making yourself look fluid, making yourself look comfortable, but still authoritative at the same time. The military really taught me that.”
Ron Alexander, himself a veteran, tutored Ellison at the start of his college career. Alexander spent 21 years in the SEC and made two WCWS appearances. His instruction methodology was straightforward.
“I wouldn’t sugarcoat anything,” Alexander said. “I would tell him, ‘This is the way it is. This is what you have to do,’ and it worked well.”
Alexander was paired with Ellison for the latter’s first SEC conference weekend, which saw South Carolina host Florida.
As the junior man on the crew, Ellison had the plate for the final game of the series, which ended on a checked swing with the bases loaded, amid much debate.
YOU RESPECT ME. I RESPECT YOU.
“It was an eye-opening experience for him,” Alexander said. “He kind of knew what he was getting into after that. Cam is just kind of standing there wondering what the hell is going on. When we got back to the locker room he said, ‘I don’t see how you all do this every weekend.’”
But by 2013, Ellison was working regionals and super regionals, having demonstrated he possessed the intangibles that make an elite umpire.
“We can all call balls, strikes, safes and outs,” he said. “But, it’s the way you communicate. The way you carry yourself on and off the field.
“I tell a lot of people, it’s really who you are because when the pressure is on you, I don’t care how much you try to put this persona on, when the pressure is on, the true you is going to come out.
“That’s no different in life. I take that from going to war. You can train, train, train, but once those bullets start flying, you’re going to know what you’re made of. You can train and go out and shoot 100 out of 100 at the shooting range, but when somebody starts shooting back at you, you’re going to find out what you’re made of.
“It’s no different on the softball field and that’s what I carry over. It’s about you, it’s about what’s in you.”
Ellison takes a sense of confidence onto the field that blends his umpiring and life skills.
“Do I get nervous? Heck, yeah,” he said “I was always taught, if you don’t get nervous before a game, something’s wrong But I’m not afraid.
“I tell the younger umpires, ‘You have to have a different mindset.’ Even whether it’s war, whether it’s day to day, whether it’s prison or just being on the field, you can’t go into it saying, ‘Well, I hope nothing happens.’
“I don’t go to the prison saying, ‘I hope nothing happens.’ I go in there saying, ‘If something happens, I’m going to be able to take care of it.’ If I go on the field, no matter what happens, as a crew we’re going to be able to take care of it. It’s what I tell my crew on our pregame every single time.”
One of those people who quickly took notice of Ellison’s ability to handle the pressure is Christie Cornwell, umpire coordinator for the SEC. She says Ellison has the whole package.
“He has outstanding skills on the field,” she said, “so his judgement is great. He’s good at his job, that’s part of it. He’s also just a wonderful man. He puts his crew first and the needs of the game first He’s also an outstanding leader.”
Through the 2024 season, Ellison had worked 13 NCAA D-I regional tournaments and 12 super regionals.
His first WCWS assignment came in 2018. He got the call while headed home after working a super regional at Florida State.
“I almost ran off the road,” he recalls. “You do a super regional, you know you’re in the running, but there were a lot of good umpires ahead of me. I just never thought I would get the call that year.”
A WCWS assignment would theoretically be the ultimate achievement for any umpire. But for Ellison, the high of receiving the assignment was followed by a down cycle that almost caused him to hang up his mask and chest protector.
“When I came home from my first World Series, I had survivor’s remorse,” he said. “There’s a group of us, if you look at our careers, we’ve been on the same level. There have been many people that have put in the work that probably deserved to go before me, and I recognized that and I had no problem with that.
“So, when I did get the call, I got ahead of some of my friends and some people that probably should have went ahead of me.”
But soon, Ellison started hearing from within the softball community that he received the World Series assignment because of his ethnicity rather than on merit.
“After the Series, I kind of fell in this little slump-type depressed mood,” he said. “And then you hear the talk and I heard the little whispers, ‘The only reason Cam got it is they have to meet a quota.’”
Ellison was selected for the WCWS again the following year. He says the assignment was “a year of validation for me” after what he says was a
In 2022, Cam Ellison (center) received the Charles E. Samuel Award from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Here he is pictured with Colette S. Peters, former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and John Lothrop, the deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
hard 2019 season.
“I’ve always had the right people around me,” he said. “People that were genuine. They were still in my corner. I would have probably quit after that first Series if it wasn’t for them, if it wasn’t for my dad. My dad’s my biggest fan.”
Ellison also credits his wife, Karen, daughter, Bria, and sisters — Audrey and Edyth — for allowing him to chase his dreams and giving him support during those difficult moments.
Ellison made his third trip to the WCWS in 2021 and returned again last year.
He was making an impact off the field as well and enhancing his relationships with his professional colleagues. In January 2022, he assumed the position of Affirmative Employment Program Chairperson. In that role, he was charged with forging effective relationships between management and the unionized Federal Bureau of Prison staff and overseeing diversity efforts.
Ellison cites the importance of diversity in the federal prison system because inmates at an institution like Edgefield are sent there from various locales around the country.
“They may have an institution in West Virginia that has never seen Black people, has never seen Hispanic people,”
he said. “Then, you throw these inmates in there, how do you manage them?
“That’s where the problem kind of comes in. So now when you have minority inmates, the federal government says, ‘Let’s try to put a minority staffer there.’ Now, you have a whole different dynamic Now you have a person that’s living in the community that this community may have never seen before.”
Ellison’s efforts in the area of diversity led him to be named the recipient of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ Charles E.Samuels Award for ’22. The award, which is named for the first African-American director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, recognizes an employee who “furthers the mission of the agency by demonstrating extraordinary commitment to developing and maintaining productive working relationships among staff through partnerships with labor and management, encouraging diversity and inclusion, and promoting respect and compassion for all.”
Cam Ellison credits his family with allowing him the opportunity to chase his dreams and reach the highest levels of softball umpiring. Here, Ellison is seen with his daughter, Bria, on the day of her college graduation from the University of South Carolina Aiken.
“I got into diversity because of just who I am,” he said. “I’ve experienced different cultures. It just kind of suited me.”
In 2023, Ellison left his position at Edgefield and was promoted to a position at the Federal Bureau of Prisons regional office in Atlanta.
There, he reports to Crystal Owens, who is the regional executive assistant in that office. Owens cites Ellison’s ability to connect with people, which makes him successful.
“He’s the type of person that will make your day better,” she said. “I can walk down the hallway and a group of people are in his office and getting a feel-good spirit because he has that spirit about him. He embodies that expectation that human beings are kind to other human beings, despite socioeconomic status, despite the color of your skin, despite the cultural background you come from.”
“I DON’T CARE HOW MUCH YOU TRY TO PUT THIS PERSONA ON, WHEN THE PRESSURE IS ON, THE TRUE YOU IS GOING TO COME OUT.”
Ellison is eligible for retirement from the Federal Bureau of Prisons if he so chooses. Whatever the future holds for Ellison, on or off the softball field, he has been on an extraordinary journey. He is quick to point out he has not made that journey alone.
“I have lived an extraordinary life,” he said. “I have been blessed with everything I’ve done and accomplished.
“I couldn’t have done it without the people around me. I didn’t do this on my own. I had the right people around me at the right time. And, they’re still around me now.”
Ellison says his commitment to diversity issues stems from his own life experiences.
Rick Woelfel is a freelance writer from the Philadelphia area. He officiated high school softball. *
COORDINATOR: JOHN VAN DE VAARST
KEEPER ON THE CLOCK IFAB Law Changes Include Goalkeeper Possession Time Limit
By John Van de Vaarst
The IFAB approved several changes to or clarifications of the Laws of the Game at its 139th Annual General Meeting, hosted Feb. 28 by the Irish Football Association in Belfast, Ireland. The changes are presented here in approximate order of importance.
Indirect Free Kick (Law 12.2)
The section of Law 12 on goalkeeper possession has been amended. The amendment means if a goalkeeper holds the ball for longer
than eight seconds — with the referee using a visual five-second countdown — a corner kick will be awarded to the opposing team.
This replaces the previous Law, which awarded an indirect free kick if a goalkeeper held the ball for more than six seconds. After that Law was introduced, referees did not enforce it properly and there have been various judgment decisions about how long “six seconds before the release” really is. The enforcement issue led to the Law being changed.
Language in several other Laws also changed in accordance
with the amendment to Law 12. Law 17.3 (Corner Kick) has been amended to provide information on the goalkeeper restriction of eight seconds, while Law 5.6 (Referee Signals) explains the visual fivesecond countdown wherein the referee holds a hand above the head with five fingers up and lowers a finger as each second passes.
Play 1: A1 takes a shot on goal and goalkeeper B2 dives and parries the ball away from the goal. B2 scrambles forward and gains possession of the ball with the hands. The referee begins the countdown of
Eric Elliott, Clearfield, Utah, must be aware of potential time-wasting tactics teams might utilize during stoppages of play, such as while setting up a corner kick.
eight seconds as soon as goalkeeper B2 gains possession of the ball with the hands and stops their momentum. B2 stands up and moves forward with the ball toward the edge of the penalty area. The referee then reaches the last five seconds of the eightsecond count and begins the visual signal. B2 does not release the ball after five seconds are counted down. Ruling 1: The referee is to stop play and award a corner kick for team A. The referee delayed the countdown until the goalkeeper gained clear possession and applied the Law correctly.
Dropped Ball (Law
8.2)
A new section has been added to Law 8.2 (Dropped Ball), which provides additional guidance on procedures for a drop ball that occurs outside the penalty area: “If the ball is outside the penalty area when play is stopped, it is dropped for the team that had or would have gained possession if this is clear to the referee; otherwise, it is dropped for the team that last touched it. The ball is dropped at its position when play was stopped.” This allows the referee to drop the ball to a team that was about to take possession after the ball was played by an opponent.
Play 2: Approximately 25 yards from the goal, B1 is hit in the head with a hard pass from B2. The ball deflects off of B1’s head and is going directly to A3. B1 goes to the ground immediately after being hit. The referee stops play to ensure B1’s safety. After B1 is cared for, the referee restarts the match with a drop ball for team A at the point where the ball was when the referee sounded the whistle to stop play. Ruling 2: This is the correct procedure. The referee temporarily suspended the match for the injury so the correct restart is a drop ball. Since A3 would have clearly gained control of the ball, the drop ball is awarded to team A.
Team Captain (Law 3.10)
Guidelines have been introduced for any competitions wishing to apply the principle of only the captain approaching the referee in specific
situations, which was successfully implemented in a number of competitions last year, according to the IFAB. Competitions are encouraged to utilize this provision to foster better communications between the referee and players.
“The IFAB agreed that stronger cooperation and communication between captains and referees, who often face verbal and/or physical dissent when making decisions, can help instill higher levels of fairness and mutual respect, both of which are core values of the game,” a news release from the IFAB read. “The (Annual General Meeting) participants emphasised that competition organisers, players and match officials should work collaboratively to adhere to these guidelines.”
Ball in Play (Law
9.2)
Language has been added to Law 9 to deal with a coach, substitute or bench personnel touching the ball before it crosses the touchline: “An indirect free kick with no disciplinary sanction will be awarded if a team official, substitute, substituted or sent-off player or player who is temporarily off the field of play touches the ball as it is leaving the field of play and there was no intention to interfere unfairly.”
Other Changes
Video Assistant Referee (VAR): Competitions now have the option for the referee to make an announcement after a VAR review or lengthy VAR check.
Practical guidelines for match officials: A new position for the assistant referee on penalty kicks was incorporated into the guidelines. As the VAR can monitor goal/ no goal decisions and goalkeeper encroachment, the video assistant referee should be positioned in line with the penalty mark, which is the offside line.
John Van de Vaarst, Ellicott City, Md., is a NISOA National Clinician, National Assessor and former State Level USSF Referee and Assessor. He is Referee’s soccer coordinator. *
THEY SAID IT
“The best referees are those who can read the game like a player and anticipate what’s coming next.”
— Former FIFA and UEFA referee Björn Kuipers in an interview with UEFA.com.
SIDELINE
Bodycams Coming to Club World Cup
For the first time in the history of the tournament, the FIFA Club World Cup will have its referees wear bodycams in 2025. Footage will be made available to broadcasters during matches for the 32-team competition in the U.S.
“It is a good chance to offer the viewers a new experience, in terms of images taken from a perspective, from an angle of vision which was never offered before,” Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA referees committee, said.
FIFA is debuting a revamped format of its Club World Cup this year, featuring teams from international federations including the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA); South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL); Asian Football Conference (AFC); Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF); and Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The 32 teams are split into eight groups of four, with each team playing three group stage matches in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each group advance to the knockout stage, starting with the round of 16 and culminating with the final.
SOURCE: BBC
TEST YOURSELF
In each of the following, decide which answer or answers are correct for NFHS, NCAA or IFAB rules/Laws Solutions: p. 87.
1. A1 is taking a throw-in deep in the attacking zone. A1 throws the ball toward the goal. It rebounds off the goalpost and into the goal.
a. Goal.
b. No goal; restart with a goal kick.
c. No goal; restart with a corner kick.
2. A1 commits a late sliding tackle, recklessly fouling B2 near the goalline. The tackle occurs shortly after B2 has kicked the ball and it has already crossed the goalline.
a. Caution A1 and restart with a corner kick.
b. Eject A1 and restart with a corner kick.
c. Restart with a direct free kick for team B.
3. A1 kicks the ball toward the touchline near the team bench. Just before the ball goes into touch, a substitute from team A kicks the ball to the side.
a. Caution the substitute and restart with a drop ball.
b. Restart with a drop ball for team A.
c. Restart with an indirect free kick for team B at the point of the infraction.
4. As A1 is legally tackled outside the penalty area by B2 and passes the ball in the direction of A3, A1 goes down and appears injured. The ball is very close to B4 when the referee stops play.
a. Drop ball to team A since it last had possession.
b. Drop ball to team B since B4 was closest to the ball and would have gained possession.
c. Indirect free kick for team A since it had possession when play was stopped.
5. A1 is in an offside position when A2 takes a shot on goal. Goalkeeper B3 saves the shot, parries and the ball rebounds to A1. A1 plays the ball and is then carelessly fouled by B4 inside the penalty area.
a. Penalty kick for team A.
b. Penalty kick for team A and caution B4 for stopping a promising attack.
c. Offside.
A Handy Guide to the Hand Ball
By Robert Kaufmann
Over the years, there has been lengthy discussion on what constitutes a hand ball. This article will focus on the latest interpretations of the hand ball — often referred to as “handling” in rulebooks — and various scenarios that must be considered.
What happens if the player is falling or stumbling, and his arms, while in a natural position for falling, make contact with the ball as they fall, stumble or hit the ground? That would not be a handling violation unless they use the arms to control the ball after initial contact. If the player is falling and reaches out their arms to protect themself from the ground, contact with the ball would again be considered inadvertent and not to gain an advantage. The rules have been written to allow the official to look at the positioning and actions of the arms as a means of helping determine if the touching of the ball by the defender was deliberate.
Normally, if the player’s arms are specifically moving to contact the ball, that is a strong indication of a deliberate handing violation. However, in recent years rulemakers have made it clear that it is not a violation if a defender moves the hands toward the body to protect themself from the ball hitting them, as this is considered a reflexive action, particularly if the defender is contending with a ball that has been kicked from close range. This is even more the case if the ball is headed for a vulnerable part of the player’s body, such as their groin, face or chest. In these cases, there is no violation, even if the arms are moving toward the ball, if they are reflexively moving to protect the player’s body from the ball causing potential harm. In general, the rules and their interpretations are made to allow the referee to call a foul for a handling violation that is a deliberate
attempt to gain an advantage from the handling of the ball by the arms. In a similar vein, the rules are made to allow the referee to keep the ball in play and not penalize a player who has made inadvertent contact with the ball without the intention of gaining an advantage.
There are several specific rules that relate to handling violations by the goalkeeper. If a goalkeeper commits a handling violation by touching the ball a second time in the penalty area, it will result in an indirect kick. If the goalkeeper plays the ball a second time in the goal area with or without his hands or arms before it touches another player, and it prevents a promising attack, the goalkeeper gets a yellow card. If the second touching prevents an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, the goalkeeper gets a red card. If the goalkeeper parries the ball, and then picks it from the ground after a controlled parry, that would constitute an illegal second touching of the ball. That would result in an indirect kick to the offensive team at the spot of the violation, or on the goal-area line, if the violation is in the goal area. If a shot deflects off the goalkeeper’s hands to the ground in an uncontrolled way, the goalkeeper can then pick up the ball. If the goalkeeper catches the ball, he is allowed to bounce the ball or throw the ball up in the air and catch it in the six seconds that he is given before he has to release the ball. If a goalkeeper uses his hands to receive a pass back from a defender, this is a foul resulting in an indirect kick for the offense. If using his hands to play the pass from the defender might also be considered denying a goal-scoring opportunity from all of the other DOGSO requirements, this is still not considered a DOGSO violation, and the restart remains an indirect kick at the spot where the goalkeeper touched the ball. If the goalkeeper leaves the penalty area, he is subject
to the same rules as other players regarding handling violations. If the goalkeeper is outside of the penalty area and handles the ball deliberately to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO), a red card is issued for the offense.
If a defender is guilty of a hand ball in the penalty area, it will result in a penalty kick. If it was a deliberate hand ball to prevent a goal, a DOGSO violation, in or outside of the penalty area, the result is a red card whether or not a penalty kick is called or if the goal is scored. If the defender commits a hand-ball violation while stopping a promising attack outside of the penalty box so that there is not a penalty kick, a yellow card is issued and a direct kick is awarded. If a defender stops a promising attack in the penalty area with a handling violation and a penalty kick is awarded, no cards are issued.
If a defender in the penalty area is guilty of a non-deliberate handling offense when denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, it would be a yellow card (not a red card) in addition to the penalty kick being awarded. A non-deliberate handling offense could be where the ball touches the arms when they are in an unnatural position, but the player did not move the arms to the ball to create a deliberate hand ball. If the player is guilty of a non-deliberate handling when stopping a promising attack in the penalty area, it is a foul and a penalty kick, but no cards are issued. If the player commits a non-deliberate handball that stops a promising attack outside of the penalty area, it is a yellow card (not a red card) and there is a direct kick. For offensive players, the rules
concerning handling are the same as they are for a defender, except in regard to penalty kicks when the violation occurs in the defender’s penalty area. If the ball touches the offensive player’s hands or arms when they are in a normal position for being stationary or running with the ball, and they do not direct the ball with the arms after the contact, as in PlayPic A, there would not be a violation. If, however, his arms are in an unnatural position, or they move to control the ball after a legal
The Art of Wasting Time
By David Cymerman
Soccer has elevated time-wasting into a sophisticated art form. In soccer, running out the clock by using various delaying tactics is time-wasting — the practice of a
winning team allowing the clock to expire through a series of preselected plays, either to preserve a lead or hasten the end of a one-sided contest. This is usually done by a team that is winning by a slim margin or tied near the end of a game to reduce the
contact, as in PlayPic B, that would be a handling violation resulting in a direct kick for the defense.
Spectators and even some coaches do not thoroughly understand the handling rule. The referee must be consistent in applying the rule and know all the possibilities of handling violations versus incidental contact.
Robert Kaufmann, Glen Rock, N.J., is a lawyer who has been a high school, youth and senior amateur referee for 18 years. *
time available for the opposing team to score. As a pastime, time-wasting is undervalued. To do nothing takes real imagination. Soccer players strategically waste time, which means that the 90 minutes of nominal play time is reduced not only by
CASEPLAYS
Reckless Goalkeeper
Play: Team A is awarded a penalty kick, which is taken by A1. Goalkeeper B2 makes a diving save and controls the ball. B2 immediately gets up and is congratulated by several team B players. B2 begins running toward the edge of the penalty area to release the ball. As B2 passes A1, A1 makes a comment and B2 recklessly elbows A1 and continues to run forward. Ruling: B2 is to be cautioned for the reckless act. The game shall be restarted with a penalty kick. If this is an NFHS game, B2 must be removed and a new goalkeeper must report into play. This may be a substitute from the bench or a field player (NFHS 12-5-1f9; NCAA 5.6.4; IFAB 12.3).
Obvious Offside
Play: A1 takes a shot from just outside the penalty area. The ball glances off of B2. Goalkeeper B3 dives to save the ball and directs it from the goal along the goalline. B3 dives again to push the ball back to prevent it from going over the goalline for a corner kick. A4, who was in an offside position at the time A1 took the shot, recovers the ball, shoots and scores. Ruling: Offside. B2 did not make a deliberate play on the ball. If the goalkeeper saves the ball and it returns to an attacker in an offside position, it is offside (NFHS 11-1-5b; NCAA 11.2.3.1; IFAB 11.2).
Postgame Dissent
Play: During the course of a game, A1 is cautioned for simulating a foul. A1 briefly directs dissent at the referee and then the game is restarted. There are no other incidents, other than normal fouls, during the game that involve A1. After the game A1 approaches the referee and extends the arm in a motion of a handshake. The referee goes to shake hands and A1 pulls the hand back, turns and walks away. Ruling: Although the game is over, A1 should be issued a caution for dissent and then the red card should be displayed for the second caution (NFHS 12-1c; NCAA 12.4.3; IFAB 12.3).
natural stoppages such as fouls or the ball out of bounds, but also by teams strategically taking advantage of such stoppages.
Strategic time-wasting is done by delaying the restart of play after game events that involve stoppage to retrieve and position the ball and players or temporary holding of the ball to allow teammates to reposition themselves. A tied score is advantageous for the weaker of the two teams. The game of soccer has a nominal time of 90 minutes, and the effect of wasting time on the result is very different depending on when a stoppage occurs. The weaker of two tied teams can accomplish little by wasting time in minute 10 of the game, but time-wasting in minute 80 could be very valuable. A tie could be considered a moral victory.
The deliberate act of slowing the game down or breaking the game up, when in the lead, has become an expected strategy in today’s game. It has been given a new name, “game management.” A successful team usually possesses effective game management and knows when and where to use it. The game provides natural time stoppages. Extending the length of stoppages when the ball is out of play allows players to rest and time to run off the clock. When the ball is in play, playing in a way as to keep possession of the ball as long as possible rather than attempting to score is another method of consuming time. A common practice by the winning team is to minimize the ability of the other team to interfere or counter by creating low-risk, lowevent plays.
Carrying the ball into the corner of the field and shielding it from the defender is a common tactic. This will commonly lead to a free kick if the frustrated defender pushes the player out of the way, or it can also lead to a throw-in by the defender placing a tackle and managing to legally contact the ball so close to the line it often rolls out of play. This can be repeated to continue time-wasting.
Another example is leading team players standing companionably over a corner kick together as vital seconds tick away. The kick is delayed and
the clock continues to run down. The referee should warn the players and advise them to put the ball in play.
Simulating a minor injury such as a cramp or pain after a minor foul by a player from the winning team should not be condoned. The referee needs to determine if there is an injury and if so, stop the clock (NCAA or NFHS) or add time (IFAB) when this occurs. If adding time, the referee should advise the player that this is being done so that their delay is not impacting the game. Feigning or exaggerating injury is where most time damage is done.
While preparing to take a free kick, players will often attend to their uniforms by performing actions such as tucking in jerseys or pulling their socks up, along with overzealous stretching, to “milk” the clock and disguise their intentions as an act of plausible deniability. A team trailing by a small margin near the end of regulation or overtime may counter their opponent’s attempt to run out the clock by intentionally committing personal fouls while on defense.
The throw-in also has a long chapter in the history of time-wasting. Strenuously attempting to throw the ball back into play before finally leaving it to a teammate. This act ought to be considered a cautionable offense because it happens so often. Also, taking time to ask the referee where the throw-in should occur takes seconds off the clock. Moving downfield and having the referee move the thrower back is a third example.
Substitutions are a common time-wasting tactic late in the game, lengthening the duration of stoppages while the change is made. The NCAA instituted a substitution clock stoppage in the last 15 minutes of play in the second half if the team in the lead substitutes (3.8.8). The NFHS has a similar requirement for the last five minutes (7-4-3). IFAB allows the referee to add time for delays (7.3). For NCAA and NFHS, these rules apply when the winning team is substituting but do not apply to the losing team. Players may also feign injury, kick the ball away, obstruct the taking of a quick free kick by an
opposing player, or delay the taking of their own free kicks or throw-ins. If the referee considers a delay to be unreasonable, the offending player may be cautioned. For NCAA and NFHS games, the referee always has the authority to stop the clock.
When playing at home, there have been instances where teams have been accused of time-wasting by instructing (or allowing) their ball people to delay returning or providing an available ball to the away team. The assistant referee should admonish the ball person if this is occurring. If it continues, the referee can have the ball person removed.
Goalkeepers play a very special role in time-wasting for unique variants on retrieving the ball from behind the goal. Slow placement of the ball on goal kicks always involves finding the right blade of grass. Re-tying laces or readjusting gloves is very common. The referee can warn
or even caution the goalkeeper in these cases.
Goalkeepers have always shown a special aptitude, whether pausing to kick mud off the boots on the post before a goal kick or attempting to stretch the six-second rule (or eightsecond for IFAB) to release the ball to the maximum. The goalkeeper might collapse onto the ball due to a floating ball or common easy save to convince the referee that this was a genuine effort but wasted time. The referee must have the courage to enforce the six-second rule (or eightsecond for IFAB) if this becomes an issue.
The most irksome aspect of time-wasting — taking it in turns to go down with a cramp, delaying free kicks by pointing at some nonexistent impediment to restarting the game. Time-wasting should be seen as a game among members of the team controlling the ball, members of the opposing team and the referee
team. Referees are required to prevent time-wasting and to penalize it with yellow cards. When players of the team that will not restart the game are near the ball as the referee stops the play, they can try to speed up play by quickly returning the ball to the throw-in or free-kick spot, or to slow it down by being slow to return the ball. The latter is a behavior that referees are especially alert to and may penalize. The incentives in favor of time-wasting could still influence a team to waste time despite the referee and opposing team’s attempts to limit time-wasting.
The referees as custodians of the rules/Laws of the game must protect its integrity by assuring the game is played in nominal time.
David Cymerman, Colonia, N.J., is a National Emeritus NISOA Referee, National Instructor and assessor. He is an emeritus USSF State Referee, instructor and assessor. Cymerman is also a chapter high school interpreter. *
PRESSURE POiNTS
by Joel Fish, Ph.D.
How to Manage Emotions in High-Pressure Moments
Officials often tell me, “I have difficulty managing emotions during high-pressure moments.” I’ll then ask the official to give me some examples of situations that are mentally and emotionally challenging. Quite often, the official is great at managing emotions in nine out of 10 highpressure game situations. But there are often specific cases when an official is still learning to control his or her emotions. For example, the official might struggle to let go of a mistake and move on to the next play, such as after a successful coach's challenge. Or officials could find their emotions getting in the way during the last possession of an intensely played game. Officials can sometimes struggle when they are being observed and evaluated by a particular coordinator.
For officials, what constitutes a high-pressure moment can vary. One football official said to me, “I don’t care if there are 50,000 fans in a stadium or if it’s a playoff game on national TV, that doesn't bother me. But if one of my parents is at a game watching me referee, my knees shake.”
But for optimal performance, officials must be able to maintain control over their emotions throughout a contest — from the opening moments of play to the very end of competition.
Fear not. The necessary skills to manage one's emotions in all high-pressure situations can be developed.
PRESSURE POINTS
Pursuing Small Improvements can have huge payoffs
Emotions aren’t the enemy. They are a fundamental and natural part of the human experience. But officials must continue to learn how to manage them more effectively.
Each of us has emotions in highpressure situations that are easier to manage, and emotions that are more difficult to manage.
It's common for sports officials to face challenges related to confidence, composure, fear, frustration, anger, self-doubt, uncertainty, etc. Having difficulty managing these emotions can often lead to an official performing tentatively or being overly aggressive.
Healthy versus unhealthy coping mechanisms — Sports officials will develop healthy or unhealthy habits and coping mechanisms to deal with challenging emotions that accumulate over a long season.
The new technologies to evaluate sports official performance, including replay, have added another significant level of stress in high-pressure moments.
Additionally, thanks to social media, officials face more public scrutiny than ever before. “The whole world is watching.” Most sports officials know that limiting social media related to individual performance is important, but developing strategies to do so can be difficult.
To succeed at managing your emotions in high-pressure moments, aim for small incremental improvements throughout the season. If you aim to improve one percentage point per week, over the course of a season and even with setbacks, you could easily become 3-5 percent better at this — and that’s a margin that provides a huge mental edge and noticeable performance-related results.
Seven Common Emotions when the
heat is on
Identify which emotions are easier and more difficult for you to manage. Set a goal to more consistently channel these emotions in a positive direction.
7 BASIC EMOTIONS
Anxiety Fear
Uncertainty
Frustration
Joy
Self-Doubt
Tentative
Acting
Self-Critical
Flustered
Lack of Focus
Complacency
Mental Performance STRATEGIES & TECHNIQUES FOR those big MOMENTS
Ladder of Success
Identify game situations where your mental attitude is typically at the top of the “Ladder of Success” and situations where your mental attitude is often on the lower rungs. Practice self-talk, breathing, visualization, etc., and see if this helps your mental attitude move up the ladder the next time you’re in a high-pressure moment. Remember a past situation where you were at the “I Succeed” level of mental attitude. Access this positive memory the next time you need it to bolster your confidence and to give yourself a shot of courage to thrive even when the pressure has been turned to maximum.
Additional strategies to Face the Pressure before, during and after the big moments
PREGAME (anticipation of high-pressure moments)
Strategies: Positive self-talk (ex., “Trust myself, trust my preparation”); positive “what-ifs” (ex., “What if … I do something extraordinary!”); more isn’t always better (ex., more thinking, more film study, etc.). More of something can sometimes lead to overthinking, which can lead to paralysis by analysis.
DURING THE GAME (in the high-pressure moment)
Strategies: Regulated breathing (ex., slow down, relax body language); the “choose to” exercise (ex., choose to let go of the past play, choose to be in the moment, etc.); “Darn! Stop! Next play!” exercise (ex., first step, say to yourself, “Darn” (to let the emotion out), second step say, “Stop” (to put a period on the past play), and on third step say, “Next play” (as a cue word to move on to the next play).
POSTGAME (evaluating your performance afterward)
Strategies: Start by identifying three things that you did well during the game, then set goals for how to improve. Implement healthy coping mechanisms and positive habits (relaxation, conversing with peers, taking off the sports official “hat” and putting on the friend/family “hat,” etc.) Keep perspective — what are the takeaways from your game performance that you can apply in the next highpressure moment?
Your Mental Preparation for a Game
Visualize yourself in a high-pressure moment, thinking clearly, moving swiftly, communicating crisply, narrowing the focus, controlling what you can, embracing the high-pressure moment, performing at your best, etc. Before a game, visualize yourself officiating at your best in high-pressure moments so when that moment happens in a game, you can feel as if you’ve already been there before. At that moment, you can say to yourself, “I’m in this situation, and I know what to do.” Whenever you can say to yourself, “I’m ready for the situation, I know what to do,” you’re going to feel more confident and composed, and your officiating skill and training are more likely to be expressed in your performance.
Mindset: The Bigger
The Game, The Narrower The Focus
In anticipation of high-pressure moments, or during a game with highpressure moments, in order to control what you can, identify the three basic technical points that you want to keep in mind. These three technical points can become your “mental anchors.”
A baseball umpire recently asked me, “How can I focus better in highpressure moments?” The umpire and I talked about how the bigger the game, the narrower the focus should be. I asked the umpire to identify the three technical points that he wanted to be his “mental anchors.”
The next time he was in that highpressure situation, he was able to say to himself, “I’m in this situation, I know what to do. I want to keep it simple, be mindful of my positioning and body language, and take one pitch at a time.”
The umpire reported this strategy, over time, helped him to be more in control of his emotions in high-pressure moments, rather than his emotions being in control of him.
Develop A Mental Skills Performance Plan
A basketball official recently told me she tended to overthink in highpressure moments. She and I then worked on a plan with the goal of applying that plan the next time she faced big-game situations.
The plan consisted of:
•Picking up the signals her body was giving her that she was starting to get stressed (heavier breathing, stiff body language, etc.).
•Doubling down on her personal character strengths she had identified (“I am prepared. I have grit. I embrace pressure moments. I have confidence. I have courage.”).
•Lifting her head and maintaining upright body language.
•Self-talk: “I’m ready.”
The official told me she felt more confident knowing she had a plan for whatever high-pressure moment she would experience.
In general, officials will feel more confident and composed when they have a proactive mental skills performance plan to use in pressure moments, rather than feeling as if they are reacting to those moments.
Positive Crew Dynamics
Crew dynamics are a major factor for officials managing high-pressure moments. The goal is to have crew members be able to talk to each other about how the crew wants to handle high-pressure moments. Another goal is to continue to create a crew environment where officials can ask for help from one another, give strategies to one another and communicate to one
another in the spirit of learning and improving.
A soccer official recently said to me, “It’s really good for my confidence when I can openly and honestly ask for help from my crew colleagues during a game. It makes me feel as if we’re really all in this together.”
Emotional Regulation
Monitoring and managing your stress level is an important strategy for consistently managing your emotions in high-pressure moments. When stress levels are too high, it impacts your ability to think clearly, communicate effectively and show good judgment. Stress is not necessarily a negative feeling, but learning how to manage stress, particularly in the heat of competition, is an important mental performance skill.
Different phases of emotional regulation in a high-pressure game situation:
Thriving Surviving Struggling “Red Flag” Moment “I got this” “Something isn’t right”“I can’t keep this up” “I need help”
Actions to take in a high-pressure game situation:
Thriving Surviving Struggling “Red Flag” Moment Stay the courseDeep breath, relaxationSelf-talk: “I can do this”Talk to a crew member for support & guidance
Hope and Optimism Are Connected To Motivation
Believing one can learn how to perform better as a sports official in high-pressure moments is an important factor in actually being able to do so. Being able to see oneself as a work in progress is an important personality trait that is helpful in order to go through the learning curve and growing pains of improving in officiating.
Hope is the belief that if you continue to work at your officiating craft, you can learn to improve the consistency of your performance. This is particularly true as it relates to having the confidence to perform your best in high-pressure moments.
Optimism is the personality trait of seeing the cup “half full,” and looking at the positives in a
situation, so one can build on one’s strengths and continue to work on areas in need of improvement.
Hope and optimism contribute to an official having the energy, determination, grit and persistence necessary to improve.
The opposite of hope and optimism is losing one’s belief that your officiating performance can ever improve. For example, once we get to a mental place of “it doesn’t matter what I do anyway, nothing’s going to change and get better,” this negatively impacts motivation to keep trying. This mindset can also contribute to showing up physically to a game, but being unable to fully engage mentally.
Ways To Evaluate Progress In Managing Your
Emotions In High-Pressure Moments
Progress in handling high-pressure moments as an official is not linear. That is to say, not every game is going to be better than the previous game. More realistically, managing emotions is a threesteps-forward, two-steps-back, one-step-forward, one-step-back process.
With that in mind, it’s more reasonable to assess progress on a weekly basis. Over the course of a week, the goal is to have more good moments in handling your emotions in high-pressure situations — more good-OK moments — and fewer not-OK moments. In addition, the goal should be for those not-OK moments to be shorter in duration — that you’re better able to more quickly let go of mistakes, move on to the next play and embrace the next high-pressure moment.
A realistic goal, over the course of a week’s time, is to be trending in the right direction in terms of managing your emotions in highpressure situations.
An exercise for evaluating progress in managing your emotions in high-pressure situations:
After each game or competition that you officiate, jot down if there were mentally high-pressure moments. If so, were you able to manage your emotions in a good-OK or not-OK way? Keep track of your performance in highpressure moments over the course of a week. Are you trending in the right direction? If so, why? If not, what can you learn to say or do differently in these moments that would be helpful for you in managing your emotions more effectively in the next high-pressure moment?
A volleyball official recently told me, “I’m still learning to strive for perfection rather than being a perfectionist. It’s really been helpful for me to evaluate my performance in terms of whether or not I am trending in the right direction rather than on a point-by-point basis.”
A hope and optimism question to ask yourself:
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest), where are you as a sports official as it relates to hope and optimism that you can improve your performance in high-pressure moments?
Are there specific officiating situations where your hope and optimism that you can perform your best are higher than in other situations? If so, why?
Are there things that you have learned to say or do to help you to feel more hopeful and optimistic as an official when you’re getting frustrated and discouraged? If not, this would be a great “how to” question to ask one of your officiating colleagues.
SUMMARY
In sports officiating, managing one’s emotions in high-pressure moments is a critically important mental skill to develop. Your performance — and your officiating career — will benefit from it. It helps to keep a mindset that it’s a work in progress. But embracing the challenge to get better in this area and accepting it as part of your professional development is a way to make it an exciting, creative opportunity to improve in your craft.
Joel Fish, Ph.D., is a sport psychologist and licensed psychologist, who is the director of The Center for Sport Psychology in Philadelphia. Dr. Fish has given professional development presentations to, and developed programs for, numerous local, state and national sports officials organizations. *
YES, IT’S ME, AGAIN Back-to-Backs Provide Unique Growth Opportunity
By Tim Sloan
Before I ever called my first basketball foul, I was a young, successful soccer official. The good news was that, at 22, I still had 23 years before FIFA retirement age to screw up my potential however I chose; the bad news was that I spent a lot of afternoons and evenings working senior-level soccer between teams that were more than weekend warriors: They were serious about it and might have considered intimidating the kid as a valuable, winning strategy. What complicated
it was the official shortage at the time had me working the same teams five or six times per season. The good news is I kept getting to go back; the bad news was that the Corinthian notion of familiarity breeding contempt sometimes came true, whether I was good at my job or not.
So, I asked my mentor, a seasoned official, how I should handle going back to the same place all the time; I was still a little insecure about it. His response has stuck with me all the 40-plus years since: “When you walk up before they say a word, look them straight in the eye, smile, and say,
‘Yes, bloody me, again.’”
The equation in basketball these days is, “More games, plus fewer officials, plus more experience equals more exposure to the same schools — and not always pleasantly.” This past season, I went through a 10-day period of seeing the same school three times — two of which went down to the last shot. I had been scheduled for two, then stuck into a third … because. One of the coaches, I’m sure, isn’t happy to see the same players at practice every day. So, I imagine seeing the same referee(s) trot through the door every other night might not
Sometimes, officials are assigned to work the same team repeatedly in a short timeframe. If this is the case, Washington officials (from left) Tony Churlin of Monroe, Shayne Day of Everett and Erik Ifland of Bothell should warmly greet the coach each time and treat each game as its own entity and opportunity to improve as an official.
have been his idea of variety. My only attitude, in this case, was, “Tough.” I submit that it should be yours, too. Here’s why.
My head, back when I was 22, was where I worried that I didn’t belong, yet. I wasn’t sure that was OK: If you have the right attitude to officiating, you understand two things:
1.You’re only as good as your last game, and,
2.You are not some deity’s gift to the game.
That means that as an up-andcoming official, I hadn’t built as much credibility as I had capability. I put pressure on myself to be nothing less than top-shelf until the teams grew accustomed to me. I was haunted by the specter of some Sunday afternoon ending in a stack of red cards, and one pink slip I could have avoided with a thicker resume. I think the problem is when we worry about going back to the same place too often, we tend to dwell on this “half-empty” mindset — whether we’re new or have been at it for decades: What will the teams think when they see my sorry tuchis reappear too soon? If it’s “half-full,” you should be saying, “Lucky them.”
If you’re a lousy official, it doesn’t matter where you go, not to mention how often. The cold shoulder before the game will turn into hot heads during the game, psychoanalyzed over a warm beer afterward. It won’t matter if it was your third time back since Christmas or your first time there, ever. If that’s your biography, go to the same place 12 times and avoid annoying any more coaches than you must. At the other end of the scale, in the perfect world where unicorns run with your herd, your assigner will have used AI to plan everyone’s schedule and evenly distribute exposure. Then, a dearth of winter storms, flu bugs and pulled hammies leaves it that way and you’re vaguely remembered wherever you turn up. In between, stuff happens, and you start remembering the way to Timbuktu High without need of Google Maps. Instead of muttering, “This is my lucky day …,” remind yourself it’s their lucky day; they’ve got you
If you have a reputation of always doing a great job, it shouldn’t matter
if you were just there. Capability and credibility trump all with the good people and don’t change anything with the headhunters: That’s your win. If you’ve done OK (especially if you’re new) when there before, they’re still forming their opinion of you; your attitude is you have another opportunity to build their confidence in you. That’s what you want, isn’t it? That’s your win. If you struggled last time, this is your chance to make it better: That’s your win. In summary, every visit to the same place should be an opportunity to build your upside. If you don’t see it that way, then maybe you’re right expecting them to burst into tears when you walk out on the floor.
Don’t worry about them. Let them worry about you.
Turn every new visit to an old place into their chance to see you shine. If you go into a gym with any less than an attitude of, “Yes, me, again,” you’re setting the table for your own demise. Instead, exude the positive image of being there to run the game, take care of business, then leave. When they read that in you, they’re apt to conclude you’re either capable or nuts. That gives you enough time to begin rewarding their patience.
Becoming a successful official includes a large helping of managing your reputation. An important part of that reputation is your sustainability in the crowd that’s seen you before. You won’t get far by avoiding the bright lights or hiding in the dark corners of obscurity to get the big games you want. You must go through the front door and make believers of people with regular reminders. Whether it’s three games in three weeks or three games in three years, it doesn’t really matter.
Embrace the reality and inevitability of back-to-back games and turn them into the opportunity they should be. If you’re constantly working on your development, every trip back should be a little bit better rather than a little bit worse.
Tim Sloan, Davenport, Iowa, is a high school football, basketball and volleyball official, and former college football and soccer official. *
BY THE NUMBERS
The number of officials assigned by the NBA to work the first round of the 2025 Playoffs who have worked more than 100 postseason games in their careers:
Scott Foster – 255
Marc Davis – 204
Tony Brothers – 201
James Capers – 189
Zach Zarba – 159
Bill Kennedy – 151
Ed Malloy – 143
John Goble – 139
David Guthrie – 110
SIDELINE
Crawford Gets Hall Call Longtime former NBA referee Danny Crawford has been announced as a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2025. Crawford, 71, and a resident of Naperville, Ill., worked 32 seasons in the NBA from 1985-2017. He officiated more than 2,000 regular-season games and 300 playoff games. In 1995, he began a 23-year run of officiating at least one NBA Finals game in every season, through his final campaign in 2017. He becomes just the 17th referee to be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame.
THEY SAID IT
“I’ve always disagreed with the argument that the refs should call it the same the whole game. The game changes. Sometimes you need to blow the pea to tighten things up. They did, the players adjusted, and we’ve got an amazing final 12 minutes. Reffing is more art than science.”
— Seth Davis, longtime NCAAM basketball reporter, about perceived officiating changes that occurred during the 2025 NCAA men’s championship game between Houston and Florida.
SOURCE: X.COM
TEST YOURSELF
In each of the following, decide which answer or answers are correct for NFHS, NCAA men’s and NCAA women’s rules, which might vary. Solutions: p. 87
1. A free throw ends in all of the following scenarios, except which?
a. The try is successful.
b. It is certain the try will not be successful.
c. The defense violates.
d. The offense violates.
2. During a jump ball, when the official is ready to toss the ball, but prior to releasing the ball, non-jumpers may do which of the following?
a. Move away from the jump circle.
b. Move around the jump circle.
c. Move onto the jump circle.
d. Enter the jump circle.
3. Which is true if team members are wearing identical numbers?
a. It can only be penalized if discovered prior to the game starting.
b. It results in an administrative technical foul when discovered.
c. It results in a technical foul charged to each team member who is wearing an identical number.
d. It cannot be penalized if discovered after the ball becomes live.
4. A1 is fouled by B2 during a live ball in an excessive manner, and B2 is assessed an intentional foul (NFHS and NCAAW) or flagrant 1 foul (NCAAM). A1 is injured on the play and must leave the game. Which is true of the resulting free throws?
a. Free throws are only shot if team A is in the bonus.
b. A1’s substitute shall shoot the free throws.
c. Any team A player or team member shall shoot the free throws.
d. Team B’s coach shall select who shoots the free throws from the remaining four players on the floor.
5. A1 is fouled during an unsuccessful try. A1 is not a good free-throw shooter, but A2 is. A2 steps to the free-throw line while intentionally attempting free throws that A1 should be shooting. What is the result?
a. No penalty. A1 shall simply be sent to the line to shoot the free throws.
b. Team technical foul charged to team A.
c. Technical foul charged to A1.
d. Technical foul charged to team A’s head coach.
Breaking Down Backcourt Violations
By Joshua Schroeder
Rules are the backbone of every sport and provide the groundwork for athletes to be able to compete fairly among each other. Some of these rules require a great amount of judgment by officials to determine whether or not a rule has been violated, such as block/charge, continuous motion or screens.
Others are less subjective, needing little to no discernment beyond the observation of the violating act. So why is it then these black-and-white , straightforward situations are often ruled incorrectly or simply missed entirely? Well, in most instances, the answer is not fully understanding what the rules actually mean. Obviously, we cannot tackle the entire rulebook in one article, so let us start with backcourt violations. If you were to ask random official s to describe what a backcourt violation is, they would likely tell you it occurs when the offense has the ball in the frontcourt, sends it into the backcourt and then retrieves or touches in again in the backcourt. But what if the defense deflects the ball? Or maybe it bounces off the offensive player after that defensive tip. Is it always a backcourt violation regardless? The short answer is no, and this is why the rule can get confusing, so let us break it down.
The rule starts by telling us that a player shall not be the first to touch the ball in the backcourt after it has been in team control in the frontcourt (NFHS 9-9-1; NCAAM/W 9-12.4), which means we must first figure out how team control and the ball being in the frontcourt are defined. A team is in control of the ball when a player of the team is in control or while a live ball is being passed among teammates (NFHS 4-12-2; NCAAM 4-9.2; NCAAW 4-8.2). The location of the ball is where it is in contact
with a player or the court in the frontcourt or backcourt, respectively. Remember, the division line is considered part of the backcourt. So, after the ball is in control of a player, when it touches the frontcourt, or a player standing in the frontcourt, it officially obtains frontcourt status.
So our original statement is true, right? When the offense has the ball in the frontcourt, it is in team control in the frontcourt. And if it goes into the backcourt and is touched again, it’s a violation, but only sometimes. Because there is a second part of that rule that is quite important. The ball must be last touched by a player or teammate in the frontcourt before it goes to the backcourt (NFHS 9-9-1; NCAAM/W 9-12.4).
OK, now we are getting somewhere. So, if dribbler A1 in the frontcourt accidentally fumbles the ball off her own leg, causing it to roll into the backcourt, if anyone on team A were to be the first to touch it in the backcourt it would be a violation. But let us take that same scenario and change the fumbled ball onto defender B2’s leg, rolling into the backcourt. In this scenario anyone, team A or B, could be the first to touch the ball in the backcourt without any violation. Why? Because the ball was not last touched by team A.
What if defender B1 bats the ball out of dribbler A2’s control and this defender’s action causes it to hit A2’s leg and then into the backcourt? This is where the rule gets confusing because the answer depends on the level of play. According to NFHS and NCAAW rules, the answer is backcourt violation, because it is all dependent on who touches it last, similar to the out-of-bounds rule. If a ball is batted by B1, causing it to unintentionally hit A2 before going out of bounds, you wouldn’t rule the ball to be out of bounds on team B, right? Team A touched it last so it’s off of team A. Well, backcourt is no
different. The fact that team B starts it all with a deflection is irrelevant. Whomever the ball touches last is responsible for where it goes next, which in turn decides who is allowed to touch it first without penalty.
However, in a game using NCAAM rules, there is an exception that would make the answer to this situation, legal play. “A pass or any other loose ball … in the frontcourt that is deflected by a defensive player, which causes the ball to go into the backcourt may be recovered by either team even if the offense was the last to touch the ball before it went into the backcourt” (NCAAM 9-12.5). It is important to know this exception is for men’s college games only, and when working any other level below should not be recognized as legal. Got it?
Here’s something else we see quite often yet ruled on inconsistently. After a made goal, A1 dribbles the ball into the frontcourt and is stopped by a double team in the corner. A2 is advancing up the floor. A1 releases the ball on a pass to A2, who jumps from the backcourt, catches the ball while airborne and lands with both feet entirely in the frontcourt. This is a backcourt violation. But why?
The ball was caught while the player was airborne and never went into the backcourt. Sorta, but not technically true, because the location of an airborne player is from where they were last in contact with the floor. This means A2’s status was still in the backcourt. When the passed ball, which was in team control last touched by A1 in the frontcourt, is caught by A2, the ball gains backcourt status and where that player lands becomes irrelevant.
Most officials know there is a specific rule that defines the location of the ball during a dribble, informally known as the “all three points” rule. It states the ball is not considered in the frontcourt until both feet of the dribbler and the ball touch entirely in the frontcourt (NFHS 4-4-6; NCAAM/W 9-12.3c) Knowing this rule helps
A ball in control of team A in the frontcourt that is deflected by a defensive player, which causes the ball to go into the backcourt, may be recovered by either team unless the offense was the last to touch the ball before it went into the backcourt. PlayPics A and B depict a legal play in NFHS and NCAAM/W. PlayPic C is a backcourt violation in NFHS and NCAAW, but due to a rule exception, is legal in NCAAM.
tremendously when determining whether the ball gains frontcourt status. However, many officials seem to conflate this rule with every situation involving the division line and it should not be.
Consider this scenario: A1 is holding the ball while straddling the division line, with one foot in
the frontcourt and the other in the backcourt. As the defense applies pressure, A1 starts to pivot legally, lifting and returning the non-pivot foot several times in the backcourt, never once bringing it over the division line into the frontcourt. This should be ruled a backcourt violation because as soon as the non-pivot
CASEPLAYS
Technical Before the Game Play : Before the game, a technical foul is assessed to A1 for hanging on the rim. Team B’s head coach wants to replace designated starter B2 with B6 to shoot the free throws for A1’s technical foul. Is such a substitution allowed without penalty? If so, must B6 remain in the game after shooting the free throws? Ruling : B6 shall be permitted to substitute into the game for any of the starters and shoot the free throws. B6 is not required to remain in the game and may be replaced by any legal substitute, except for B2, who must remain on the bench and cannot enter until the first opportunity after the game clock has properly started. There are no rules restricting a player leaving the game unless that player is required to remain in the game to shoot free throws or is the designated jumper, which is not the case in this scenario (NFHS 3-3-2, 3-3-4, 8-3, 8.3; NCAAM 3-6.1.j, 3-6.1.k, 8-3.4, AR 3-12; NCAAW 3-6.1.j, 3-6.1.k, 8-3.3, AR 3-17).
Foul During Loose Ball
Play : A1 is holding the ball in team A’s frontcourt and is being guarded by B2. B2 slaps the ball away from A1, and A1, B2, and A3 all run after the loose ball. A3 grabs B2 from behind, putting both arms around B2, which keeps B2 from getting to the basketball, and that allows A1 to retrieve the ball. What is the result? Ruling : A3’s contact is clearly not a legitimate attempt to play the ball. The result shall be an intentional personal foul (NFHS), flagrant 1 personal foul (NCAAM), or intentional foul (NCAAW). In NFHS and NCAAM, the penalty is two free throws to B2 and a throw-in to team B at the spot nearest the foul (NFHS 4-19-3c, 7-5-3b, 10-7 Pen. 4; NCAAM 4-15.2.c.1.b, 10-1 Pen. d.2). In NCAAW, the penalty is two free throws to any team B player or team member and a throw-in to team B at the division line (10-13.1.a).
A player with a pivot foot in the backcourt (PlayPic D) can step with the non-pivot foot into the frontcourt and then back to the backcourt (PlayPic E) without committing a backcourt violation. However, if the opposite were to occur, with the frontcourt foot being the pivot foot (PlayPic F), and the player brings the non-pivot foot into the frontcourt, then back to the backcourt (PlayPic G), it’s a backcourt violation in all three rule codes.
foot is taken off the floor, A1 is only touching the floor in the frontcourt, therefore establishing both player and ball location status in the frontcourt. When the foot is returned to the backcourt, A1 was last to touch in the frontcourt and first to touch in the backcourt. The fact that all three points never touched entirely in the frontcourt is irrelevant because that rule applies specifically to a dribbling player.
There are many other backcourt scenarios worth discussing and if
you happen to hear one and wonder what the correct ruling may be, just remember what we learned. All backcourt situations involve player and ball location. If you can identify the last touch in the frontcourt and first in the backcourt, you will find your answer every time.
Joshua Schroeder, Schaumburg, Ill., is a certified state clinician and the founder of the Officials Institute, a nationwide online officials association and YouTube training channel for high school basketball officials. *
VISIONINACTION
Experience Historic Montgomery
e Heart of the O ciating Industry Heads South is Summer
One of the great things about attending the annual Sports Officiating Summit presented by NASO is the chance to experience a different city every year.
This year the center of the officiating universe will be in Montgomery, Ala., July 27-29 at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center. Attendees will experience three days filled with educational and inspirational sessions from renowned names in the officiating industry.
The event will be centered right in the heart of historic Montgomery, just blocks from the Alabama State Capitol and Martin Luther King’s former church. The city has something for everyone. Discover the perfect blend of a charming southern town and a vibrant new south city in Montgomery.
When attendees aren’t soaking up the best thinking on the most urgent topics in officiating, there are plenty of things to do in and around Montgomery. Long known for its historical importance, especially regarding the Civil Rights movement Montgomery features some fascinating museums.
The Equal Justice Initiative’s longawaited projects The Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, alone, justify a trip to Montgomery. Housed in a former slave warehouse, the Legacy Museum tells the story of slavery and racial inequality in America, from the time of the Transatlantic Slave Trade to today’s endemic of mass incarceration.
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!
After you’ve toured the museum, head outside to the adjoining National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the nation’s first memorial dedicated to honoring victims of racial lynching.
If you need some time to decompress, head to the city’s Riverwalk, where you can stroll by the famous Harriott II Riverboat, see Riverwalk Stadium (home to the Montgomery Biscuits minor league team), and maybe even catch a concert at the Riverwalk Amphitheater.
One of Montgomery’s latest developments, Montgomery Whitewater is an outdoor recreation complex anchored by a man-made whitewater course that brings the great outdoors to the doorstep of downtown. Situated on 120 acres just off I-65 and on the Alabama River, Montgomery Whitewater offers its namesake whitewater rafting trip, as well as kayaking, flatwater activities, climbing walls, and a full-service restaurant.
Leaders of state high school officiating programs, local association officers, supervisors, coordinators, assigners, conference administrators, and sports officials at all levels from around the country and the world benefit from the Sports Officiating Summit. Every year, more than 400 leaders and decision-makers attend the summit.
Make plans now to attend the 2024 Sports Officiating Summit in Montgomery. Go to www. sportsofficiatingsummit.com or call the NASO Offices at 1-800-733-6100 to register today.
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MAY I HELP YOU?
Informal Signals Crucial to Communication
Certain plays can be very difficult for first referees. Especially a play where the ball hits the top of the tape and the first referee must decide if the ball hits the tape and rebounds back to the attacker’s side untouched or if the blocking team contacts the ball. Thomas Walden, Huntington Beach, Calif., gives an informal “four” signal to the first referee to give additional information in order to help the first referee determine which call to make.
By Rick Brown
Effective prematch discussions frame how referees work together during a match. The R1 typically shares what help is wanted. In return, the R2 shares how he or she offers help, including head nods or shakes, movement away from the post and toward the court, and the use of discreet, informal signals.
Agreements are reached. The R2 commits to timely informal help and awareness of when the R1 shows hesitation and/or appears to want more overt help, even to be led in certain situations. The R1 commits to scanning for help on typical plays like tape shots (four hits or play on), when screened (play on, illegal hits, two hits), back-row play, possible back-row takeoffs near the attack line and libero overhand sets with foot position near the attack line. The R1 looks for the R2 to take the feet and offer information to help with legality or a possible foot on the line. The R1 may take the R2’s help, wave it off with a head shake or signal “legal attack” for takeoffs very close to the line to let everyone know the footwork was legal.
Experienced partners already have agreements but may use the prematch time to discuss recent plays where communication could have been better. Referees who haven’t worked together have more to discuss to familiarize each other with their styles. If using headsets, it’s important to remember verbal communication is matched with visual help through head nods (“yes”) and shakes (“no”). Together, these provide the R1 with quicker information than the discreet hand signals that may follow. Verbal communication should not replace non-verbal communication, however. If more than one form of help is provided, the R2 must ensure the info is consistent to avoid confusing the R1. For example, help delivered concurrently via a headset microphone
and R2’s head gestures must match each other. Discreet help that follows should make sense to the R1 based on other information provided. The R2’s way of communicating that no fault observed has to be clear to the R1. With headsets, an audible “good-goodgood” is matched with a head nod that indicates “play on.” Verbalizing “no-no-no” is used to indicate no touch by the blockers off a tape shot rebounding to the attack side, matched by a head shake “no” to alert the R1 to a possible four-hit situation.
The R1 must know if R2’s hand movement during a rally will imply rally-ending discreet information. The R2 does not offer opinions on ballhandling that is clearly visible to the R1 but should know when the R1 is blocked from seeing the contact. This is when informal help — by way of discreet signals shown in the chest area, as shown in PlayPic A on the next page — shows the observed fault, while a head nod and verbal “yes” indicate the R2 saw no fault, including a legal, slow rebound save out of the net.
R2 the Primary Talker
The R2 is the main person sharing audibly during a rally, with singlesyllable verbalizations such as “goodgood-good” for play on or “no-nono” for no block touch observed on a tape shot. The first syllable in the “three-peat” is spoken sharply, and word repetition drums in what the R2 observed. This helps with many playing situations where an R1 wants to know what the R2 viewed to decide whether or not a fault occurred.
In regard to communication with coaches, when responding to a coach’s concern, the R1 communicates what was observed from the stand to the R2 that applies to the playing action in contention. The R1 can hear the coach’s question/concern through the R2’s microphone (many coaches at higher levels use this method to get their point across to the R1) to facilitate info sharing.
Head Nods and Informal Help
Head nods, along with the R2 typically verbalizing “yes-yes-yes” into the microphone, affirm no fault
was observed. Head “shakes” are considered negative (the R2 may also verbalize “no-no-no” into the microphone) and are commonly used to show the R2 saw no block touch on a third hit into the top tape that rebounded to the attack side where, if the R1 concurs, the fault may be four hits if contacted again by the attacking team. These head movements offer timely confirmation regarding what an R2 observed and supplement communication over the headsets. There is no discreet signal in the chest area for play on if the referees agree the R2’s hand movement will indicate rally-ending information only. The R2 then follows with informal signals as appropriate. Headsets supplement rather than replace informal help signaled in the chest area.
Centering helps confirm for the R2 what the R1 did with the help. Consider a play where the R2 signals an illegal attack based on seeing the libero’s foot on the attack line while overhand setting the ball on the first or second contact. The R2 knows the R1 will judge ball height if the next team contact results in a completed attack when the ball was totally above net height. The R2 may see the R1 was aware of the help but waved off the attack as legal if, in the R1’s judgment, part of the ball was below the top of the net on the next contact. Again, the R2 gives information and it is up to the R1 to make the final determination.
Lead Me
In some situations, the R2 becomes aware the R1 needs more than informal help. By agreement, the R2 will lead the R1 when observing the “deerin-headlights look,” a plea-for-help expression, unusual delay (uncertainty) reacting to a bang-bang antenna fault after scanning the crew, etc. When the R2 sees the R1 uncertain who won the rally and sometimes the correct fault, the R2 should step up to save the crew. If the R2 knows who lost the rally, the R2 makes eye contact, often stepping to the fault side, then initiates the award of rally if the R1 doesn’t do so. By agreement, the R2 may lead the R1 in signaling the fault. These are atypical plays marked by R1 hesitation and a look asking for R2 to help. Rarely, if
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QUICKTIP
Players often play a ball out of the net using their forearms. The net will be moving because of the ball contacting it. Before you whistle a net fault, be sure you saw the player’s arms or hands contact the net itself, rather than net contact caused by the ball being driven into the net. If in doubt, let play continue and err on the side of it being a legal hit as opposed to a net fault.
SIDELINE
W4 Becomes W5
The Big 12 announced in April it would be joining the W5 volleyball officiating consortium and named Joan Powell as its coordinator of women’s volleyball officials. The Big 12 joins the West Coast, Mountain West, Big West and Big Sky conferences under Powell’s leadership.
“Joan’s addition to the conference will enhance training, accountability and support for our officials and coaches,” said Scott Draper, Big 12 chief football and competition officer, in a statement. “Joan brings decades of knowledge and experience that I am confident will lead to an improved program going forward.” Powell takes over for Anne Pufahl, who had been the coordinator for the Big 12 since 1999.
TEST YOURSELF
In each of the following you are given a situation and at least two possible answers. You are to decide which answer or answers are correct for NFHS, NCAA or USAV rules, which might vary.
Solutions: p. 87
1. At the end of a rally, the referees notice a player has blood on a kneepad. What action should the referees take?
a. Require the player’s team to take a timeout to address the blood situation.
b. Require the player be replaced immediately by a substitute. The player cannot re-enter until the kneepad is removed or changed.
c. Allow the player 30 seconds or a reasonable amount of time to remove, replace or clean the blood-stained kneepad. If the blood situation cannot be resolved in a reasonable amount of time, a substitution should be made for the player until the issue is resolved properly. The coach may also take a timeout to allow more time to address the situation.
d. Allow the player to continue playing.
2. Which of the following is true for an injured player replaced by exceptional substitution or an injured libero replaced by re-designation?
a. The injured player/libero may not play for the remainder of the match.
b. The injured player/libero may not play for the remainder of the current set but may play in later sets during the match.
c. The injured player/libero must leave the bench and warmup area for the remainder of the set.
d. The injured player/libero cannot be sanctioned for unsporting conduct after they are replaced.
3. When are lineups due prior to the start of a match?
a. Three minutes prior to the end of timed warmups.
b. Two minutes prior to the end of timed warmups.
c. One minute prior to the end of timed warmups.
d. Thirty seconds prior to the end of timed warmups.
ever, should the R2 lead the awarding of a point. These are one-off situations where the R1 clearly has no idea what to do and the R2 must step in to save the day. With the use of headsets, this can be avoided as the R2 can walk the R1 through what happened on the play. Again, this is something that should be discussed prematch and R2s should never go into a match expecting to step on the R1’s authority.
Another situation that requires agreement involves a third hit into the top tape with a block up where the ball rebounds to the attack side. The R2 uses “yes-yes-yes” accompanied by an affirmative head nod to say, “I saw a block touch.” “No-no-no” with a negative head shake conveys, “I saw no touch.” Without headsets, it’s visible help only by showing four hits in the chest area, as shown in PlayPic B.If the R2 is unsure about the touch, there is no audible help and no head gesture; when this occurs, the R1 knows it’s solo and sell. R1s expect to get help from the R2 on these types of plays. And if the ball lands “out” rebounding off the net on the R2’s side of the court, the R1 expects the R2 to use an open-hand gesture to indicate “out, off you” or simply an extended open arm toward the player/team having last contacted the ball.
When Help Is Not Seen
Partners agree on what the R2 will do when informal help is not observed since we want all clear faults to be whistled. We know R2s should not offer ballhandling opinions but, by agreement, they should know what to do when certain clear faults occur that they have to help to get right. Examples include a back-row block by the last server, a back-row attack well above net height where the attacker
got the attack line, libero overhand sets in the attack zone that lead to an attack above the net, or a ball touching the court such as on a failed floor save (pancake).
When help is not seen, some faults may be whistled by the R2 per agreement but not before taking additional steps to make the R1 aware of the help. R2 ballhandling judgments don’t result in a whistle; nor may the R2 whistle four hits or what the R2 believes is a reaching-over-the-net fault. Clear back-row faults or a down ball may be whistled per agreement, but the R2 uses movement to have the R1 see the help and have the first opportunity to whistle the fault. Headsets make it more likely that an R1 will be aware of what the R2 has observed. The R2 moves toward the court to be seen to allow the R1 to register and accept the help or wave it with a legal play signal. If unsuccessful and the fault is clear, the R2 should whistle the fault.
Informal Signals
Various rule codes address similar informal help signals, most of which occur during a rally. Some help is offered before a rally begins. At the start of a set, some receiving teams may hide setter location. If the R1 may not be sure whether a setter is front or back row, the R2 provides that info via headset or informal signals. The ready signal is given by the R2 while in position on the receiving side, having completed the court scan before turning the court over to the R1.
Regardless, partners must be on the same page regarding informal help. Headsets may help resolve situations that might otherwise require an R2 to cross the court or facilitate an See “Informal Signals” p.55
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very time a player jumps near the net, second referees need to make a decision on whether or not that player illegally contacts the net. Sometimes, the calls are obvious. A player jumps and crashes into the net, making it obvious a fault occurred. Other times, it may not be so obvious. Take this play for example. There are three things the second referee should be looking at to determine if there is a net fault:
The
ball’s fault
Did the ball make contact with the net causing the net to sway? If so, then the blocking team’s contact with the net may or may not be a fault. If the ball contacts the net with such force that it causes the net or antenna to contact a player, no fault has been committed. This is a judgment call for the second referee (NFHS 9-6-7a; NCAA 15.2.1.1; USAV 11.3.3).
A hairy situation
The middle blocker’s hair appears to touch the net on this play. However, in all three codes, this is legal. It is not a fault if a player’s hair contacts the net or the antennas (NFHS 9-6-7a; NCAA 15.2.1.3; USAV Interp.).
Right is wrong 1 2 3
The final thing to look at is the outside blocker’s right arm/elbow. Due to shadowing, it is difficult to tell if she is contacting the net. However, if she is contacting the net — and we establish the ball didn’t cause the net to contact her — she would be guilty of a net fault in all three codes (NFHS 9-6-7a; NCAA 15.2.1; USAV 11.3.1). Remember, in NFHS, a player touching the net at any time the ball is in play is a fault. In NCAA and USAV, it is only a fault if that contact occurs during an action of playing the ball or it interferes with the play. Actually touching the ball is not a requirement.
Informal Signals
continued from p.52
occasional needed conference to obtain clear information from the crew. Requesting a card is ruleset specific with NFHS expecting the R2 to carry, display and communicate the card requested and the player/coach/ member/team being sanctioned. Other rule codes don’t have R2s carrying cards and rely upon a verbal sanction request.
Needed Understandings
There are a variety of challenging plays that can occur in a match; awareness of the R2 giving help is essential. The R2 may have help on a possible floor save, offer help with two hits or an illegal hit when the R1 appears blocked and the R2 has a great angle, and offer help on a save out of the net where the R2 may have a better view of whether or not the ball came to rest. Discussing how to handle the “unusual four” help call often moves from discreet to overt and requires R2 movement toward the court if headsets aren’t being used to alert the R1. The R2 knows when the R1 was unlikely to have had the angle to see
a possible “extra” contact and is not likely to be scanning for help expecting four hits. This can happen when a ball quickly touches a player on the side of the body away from the R1. This is a “trust me” call where confusion can be avoided from a prematch agreement. The R1 knows the R2 will own the call and explain the fault to the affected coach.
In conclusion, not every situation where an R1 needs help is addressed during the prematch, and the R1 trusts the R2 to use common sense when offering help. This may involve a rare conference at the stand seeking input from the entire crew. Knowing who had what angles on a playing action helps the R1 in evaluating crew info. Again, headsets provide an additional tool for every aspect of timely, clear communication, however discreet signals are still a must, whether using headsets or not.
Rick Brown, Westerville, Ohio, is a longtime girls’ and boys’ high school volleyball referee, working 23 state tournaments. He is a local and former state rules interpreter, former USAV Regional/PAVO State Referee, and former PAVO National Line Judge, working multiple D-I postseason matches. *
The Games They Play
By Michael Flowers
In the world of volleyball, momentum can be a gamechanger. A team on a scoring run builds confidence, while the opposing team scrambles to reset and regain control. This ebb and flow is a natural part of the game, but sometimes teams employ tactics known as “gamesmanship” to disrupt momentum — whether by wiping the floor excessively, taking extra time to tie a shoe or strategically using the challenge system in NCAA matches. While officials cannot completely control all of these elements, they play a critical role in maintaining the integrity and pace of the game.
Let’s take a look at the scenarios presented below, what is legal and
what may be pushing the envelope, and cover the ways in which referees can deal with each of them.
Wiping the Floor: Legitimate Safety or Stalling Tactic?
Sweat on the floor poses a legitimate safety risk, and officials must ensure wet spots on the playing surface are properly addressed. However, some teams may exploit this necessity by repeatedly requesting floor wipes during key moments, especially when an opponent is on a roll. Be more tolerant on hot days when inside gyms that may not have air conditioning. If later in the season and everyone in the stands is wearing hoodies because it is cold outside, the likelihood of needing a lot of floor wipes should be minimal.
CASEPLAYS
Time to Serve
Play: The first referee authorizes service. After seven seconds, S1 tosses the ball and hits it across the net. The first referee whistles for a delay of service and awards a loss of rally/point to team R. Ruling: Correct in NFHS, and incorrect in NCAA and USAV. In NFHS, the server must make contact with the ball within five seconds after the first referee authorizes service. In NCAA and USAV, the server must make contact with the ball within eight seconds after the first referee authorizes service. In those two codes, the referee would need to issue a replay for an inadvertent whistle (NFHS 8-1-1; NCAA 13.1.3.3; USAV 12.4.4).
Execution of Serve
Play: The first referee authorizes S1 to serve. S1 holds the ball up with her left hand and then hits the ball out of her left hand with her right hand and sends the ball over the net. The ball lands untouched on team R’s side of the court and the first referee awards a point to A1. Ruling: Correct in NFHS, and incorrect in NCAA and USAV. In NFHS, a server may hold the ball and contact it or may toss the ball and contact it for service. In NCAA and USAV, the server must toss the ball or clearly release it before contacting it for service and may not hit it out of his or her hand, otherwise it is illegal service (NFHS 8-1-1; NCAA 13.1.3.2; USAV 12.4.1).
Too Many Contacts?
Play: S1 jump serves a harddriven ball over the net. Team R’s libero dives and contacts the ball which then just brushes R2 in the shoulder. R3 then sets the ball and R4 hits it over the net. Ruling: In all codes, this is four hits on team R and a loss of rally/point should be awarded to team S. Whether intentional or not, each contact of the ball by a player counts toward the three allowable team contacts allotted to the team (NFHS 9-4-3; NCAA 14.4.1; USAV 9.1, 9.3.1).
How can officials manage it? Establish clear expectations with teams before the match regarding floor wiping procedures. Encourage efficient wiping processes and ensure excessive requests are not being used as a delay tactic. Recognize patterns — if a team consistently calls for floor wipes during the opponent’s scoring runs but not during their own, this could be a sign of gamesmanship. Lastly, communicate with game management, and the floor crew if there is one, to keep the process moving efficiently.
Tying Shoes: A Convenient Pause
Athletes have to tie shoes from time to time, but when it becomes a strategic pause rather than a necessity, it can affect the flow of the game. Officials should remain aware of when and how often players use this tactic. Be aware of players who ask for time to tie their shoes and the first thing they do is bend down and untie their shoes. This is a telltale sign that some gamesmanship is occurring. Also, be aware if it is the same player over and over again asking to tie shoes. Once is probably normal. Twice may or may not be OK. Three times becomes a habit and indicative something else is happening. Especially if they occur at meaningful times in the match.
How can officials manage it? If a player stops to tie their shoe during live play, ensure that the action is necessary and not excessively prolonged. Use discretion — if a player frequently stops play to tie a shoe but never does so on the bench, it may be worth addressing with the coach. Also, encourage players to check and secure their laces during substitutions, timeouts and other natural stoppages. The best time for this is between sets while doing lineup checks.
The Challenge System: A Strategic Timeout?
Collegiate matches offer another wrinkle when it comes to these dilemmas. While officials do not control how or when coaches use their challenges, it is important to be aware that some may use them strategically — especially if they are out of timeouts. A coach may knowingly
challenge a play they suspect will not be overturned simply to give their team a breather and disrupt the opponent’s momentum, especially late in a set or match where they know they either use the challenge or lose it anyways.
How can officials manage it? Be mindful of when and how challenges are used, especially late in sets when a team has exhausted its timeouts. Work efficiently to review challenges so unnecessary delays do not extend longer than needed. Understand that while the challenge system is a tool for fairness, it can also be used as a momentum disruptor — this awareness can help officials stay focused and maintain control of the match’s tempo.
It isn’t our job to determine if a coach is using a challenge simply to slow down momentum. If a coach has a challenge, it is well within his or her rights to use it. Our job is to be aware a coach may want to use a challenge, even when the call really isn’t in much doubt, simply to give players a rest or slow momentum.
While the other two scenarios allow us to use some judgment and common sense to determine if a stoppage in play is warranted, when it comes to challenges, as long as the call the coach is requesting to be looked at is challengeable, we must allow it.
Final Thoughts: Keeping the Game Moving
While some aspects of gamesmanship are beyond an official’s control, being proactive and aware can help minimize unnecessary delays and maintain the integrity of the match. By setting clear expectations, recognizing patterns of potential stalling and working with game management, officials can ensure that tactics do not interfere with fair competition. The goal is not to eliminate every small delay but to ensure that the game is played within its intended spirit — where skill, strategy and execution, not gamesmanship, determine the outcome.
Michael Flowers, Elgin, Ill., is a high school and USAV certified referee. He worked the Illinois High School Association Girls’ State Finals in 2021. *
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STATE ASSOCIATION-PRODUCED TRAINING VIDEOS
ARE A ROUSING
SUCCESS.
MAYBE IT’S TIME
FOR
MINNESOTA — THE LAND OF 10,000 LAKES — TO
CHANGE ITS LICENSE PLATE SLOGAN.
Great things often spring from humble beginnings.
Just consider Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, for whom the big time began in their garages. Jason Nickleby might not make a billion dollars in his lifetime, but he started something that is having a significant impact on high school officiating in America: training videos.
Nickleby, the assistant director of the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL), is responsible for his state’s officials and football administration. He’s also a Big Ten referee. When he was hired 10 years ago, his mandate was to transform officiating development.
“I was coming from a teaching role and I just felt that as a state association, we should be doing everything we can to provide new resources for officials in the way of training and development,” Nickleby said. He wanted to replace “the method that’s been used since the dawn of time, and most associations use, which is, ‘Send us your money, take this test, see you next year.’”
Playoff Requirement
It began in 2015 when he started harvesting video from television broadcasts of the MSHSL state championships and splicing them into training videos shared with officials and coaches. By the
COVID years, his platform was well established, but the ban on face-to-face rules meetings pushed their importance to a higher level.
At the behest of his network of state support people who realized its value, he elevated the training — making it an element of the qualifications to officiate. Officials are now required to watch some of the videos he produces as part of the registration process each year.
Later, officials wishing to work state playoffs must view several dedicated videos as a requirement for consideration. Nickleby uses the Arbiter platform to track officials’ compliance, but the videos are available on YouTube for anyone to watch.
The videos focus primarily on mechanics and rule interpretation. Before each season, he prepares eight weeks’ worth of video, taken from the previous year’s state finals broadcasts. Each covers subjects like pass interference and the criteria for calling it (or not calling it). A typical video lasts about 30 minutes, comprised of about a dozen plays chosen to clearly illustrate the principles he intends. He talks through each situation from a mechanical, technical and practical standpoint. The goal is to have officials and coaches come away with the understanding of, “This is how the state expects it to be
done.” That makes football easier and less controversial to coach and officiate. Nickleby uses Pinnacle Studio to collect the video and Camtasia software to package his presentations.
“We don’t get a lot of complaints,” Nickleby said. “Every once in a while, a veteran official will say, ‘Why do you have to cover (that) in so much detail?’”
His answer is, “Fifteen percent of our officials are brand new and another 20 or 30 percent are only in their first handful of years; they don’t know the stuff you know. My final point to them is that the people who actually have the worst habits, which I’m trying to break, are the people who’ve been doing it the longest.”
Nickleby must be doing something right. The coaches’ council recently voted, 23-0, in favor of keeping the videos coming.
It’s Catching On
State administrators are a well-connected group. Naturally, the success of the MSHSL program attracted the attention of other states. One is Ohio, where Beau Rugg is the director of officiating for the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) as well as its football commissioner. His organization manages its sports through a stable of regional directors and he relies on them for much of the day-to-day coordination of officials. In consultation with coaches and those coordinators, he develops a feel for the current issues and opportunities for development.
OHSAA doesn’t have the resources to upload video and manage compliance
on something like Arbiter, so watching video isn’t mandatory. Instead, Rugg issues weekly missives to coaches and officials. These include instructionals and policy information along with video files. The latter are of plays submitted for his review by coaches and officials, with his commentary added. They’re selected for their teachable moments and, as in Minnesota, are well received.
“I probably watch 15 hours of video per week and spend another couple of hours putting together the video I send out,” Rugg said. “We’re choosing what we watch: ‘Here’s the play, and here’s what happened.’”
He then uses the video to spell out what his five (and often six) officials should be watching on the play. He works on guiding them to focus on the consequential parts and to dismiss the inconsequential parts. The focus is to make best use of the available eyes to protect the safety of the players and keep the game moving. He believes it’s a success.
“Whether you’re just watching high school or any football video,” Rugg said, “spend some time thinking about, ‘Am I watching the important people or not?’ I spend a lot of time on getting them to understand that.”
Iowa Follows Suit
Iowa High School Athletic Association assistant director for football Jared Chizek and Big Ten side judge Monte Tilgner have developed a vibrant platform from scratch in record time. Chizek, who has been in his position for the past three
years, has been encouraged in this undertaking by what people like Nickleby have accomplished.
Tilgner’s enthusiasm and competence certainly hasn’t hurt. He volunteered to watch video and assemble training, and his commitment has morphed into something the state cheerfully remunerates him to continue.
“I would say (mechanics) was a weakness in our state, to speak frankly,” Chizek said. As a result, Tilgner’s videos tend to focus on coverage keys for officials, replete with examples of the “thresholds” for when fouls should be called.
Chizek and Tilgner are trying to speak as a single voice on the critical elements meriting a flag. When there is no concrete national mechanic or philosophy to draw from, they fill the void with the directives NCAA officials are given. That sometimes calls for a bit of improvisation. That’s because the rulebooks are different and five-person high school mechanics differ from sevenand eight-person college coverage.
Every varsity game in Iowa is available to officials and coaches on HUDL. That creates a lot more volume of play-sharing, which, in turn, provides Tilgner and Chizek
Having easy access to training videos has helped officials understand what philosophies the state association wants them to adopt.
with more diverse situations to cover.
“I touch base with Monte on Sunday night just to see what he received, and then again on Monday,” Chizek said. “It’s usually Wednesday evening when he puts the training tape together and we have something to share by Thursday.”
The videos, produced with a free-to-use platform called Screencast-o-matic, are 30 to 40 minutes long, covering a dozen plays. They’re available on YouTube and attract about a thousand viewers a week — not all of them from Iowa.
Replacing Face-to-Face
The training has become so effective that one of Tilgner’s mandates is to now prepare a two-hour preseason video to replace the old triennial faceto-face clinics. Chizek says the benefit to the sport in Iowa has been unquestionable.
So, that’s football: Three different approaches, differing production resources, catering to diverse organizational structures and one practical end — improvement of officiating performance with greater potential to retain officials.
The consensus is if a picture is worth a thousand words,
the right video in football is worth even more. Rulebooks provide requirements, casebooks provide background, mechanics manuals provide expectations. The right videos show context and nuance that could never be communicated as well in those other media.
The advice is to keep the content simple and indisputable. There is enough to be gained from explaining why a judgment is clearly correct or incorrect without the torture of plays with conflicting issues confusing people.
The leaders also say keeping up communication with coaches and officials is critical to the usefulness of video. If officials fear that asking for advice about a play they kicked could work against them, the thirst for helpful dialogue quickly dries up.
The football community “gets” there’s a lot less blackand-white in their sport than many others, so a good explanation of how to cover a play better next time usually forgives the error. When officials get over the fear of Big Brother condemning them as they try to develop, the video process becomes more objective.
“… THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE THE WORST HABITS, WHICH I’M TRYING TO BREAK, ARE THE PEOPLE WHO’VE BEEN DOING IT THE LONGEST.”
to their compilers. That simplifies the time and effort that might scare away good help. It also costs money, but they’re sure it’s well spent in favor of the benefit it provides.
awakens and says, “Hey, why are we all inventing our own platforms when this could be a combined effort?”
There aren’t many states in the video mode. Minnesota offers video in 16 sports, Ohio a half-dozen, and Iowa just football. Preparing football video has the advantage of a week between games. That provides plenty of time to receive, digest, compile and distribute training
Jason Nickleby, MSHSL assistant director, began producing training videos in an effort to improve the performance of his officials and to standardize mechanics.
A generation ago, officials were trained only with manuals and flipcharts. They communicated by telephone and mail. The challenge was getting officials together to learn and hear a consistent message.
Portable video has changed all that. Five people sitting in the back of a van can watch the state video on a Mac Mini. That can generate a lot of useful discussion during the trip to that night’s game. The paradigm has inverted from many voices in one place to one voice in many places.
sport like basketball might be more problematic to attempt even though Minnesota and Ohio already do.
NCAA basketball equivalent of a Jason Nickleby might be working six nights a week, living out of a suitcase and dashing through airports when not sleeping. Not too much of a problem, they assure, because there will always be competent directors and retired officials to
Forget for a moment about pass interference and block/charge; there are many other sports where video can be a boon to understanding. Nickleby uses the example of Minnesota’s gymnastics coaches who love video that illustrates the difference between two scores on the same vault. How video is used in each sport is limited only by the imagination of the presenters; the common denominator is having the time and expertise to prepare them.
states also make thirdparty editing services available
Video gained traction through increased access to simple, affordable technology for breaking down and disseminating the raw feed. Initially, more states will say, “If (enter rival state name) can do it, we can do it.” But the real evolution will be when the community
The consensus from Minnesota, Ohio and Iowa is this: Useful training videos don’t have to be that hard to produce anymore and are a solid positive to building the quality of officiating. As more states invest in the concept, they’ll see their wish come true: More competent officials, and more of them. Tim Sloan, Davenport, Iowa, is a high school football, basketball and volleyball official, and a former college football and soccer official.
EDITOR:
COORDINATOR:
LOCKED IN Lessons From a Triple-A Crew
By Patrick Faerber
I recently watched a Minor League Baseball crew work a Triple-A game at Coolray Field in Gwinnett, Ga. At that level, you expect professionalism, sharp mechanics and a commitment to detail. And sure enough, something subtle but powerful stood out.
With runners on base, the second-base umpire, Ray Valero, was in a hands-on-knees set every single time the pitcher engaged the rubber. No drifting, no distractions — just consistent, focused engagement pitch after pitch.
This might sound small, but it’s something many high school and small-college umpires still miss.
Too often, umpires on the bases fall into a passive rhythm between pitches. Standing tall. Arms crossed. Waiting for action. But the best umpires don’t wait for something to happen — they stay fully engaged, every pitch, every moment. And that starts with the stance and focus between pitches.
When we get lazy between pitches, we miss balks. We miss subtle illegal actions. We miss opportunities to anticipate what’s coming. And it’s not because we don’t know what to look for — it’s because we’re not actively looking.
Good umpiring isn’t just reacting to what happens. It’s being in the right mindset and position before it happens. That begins with treating every pitch like it might lead to something important — because it often does.
The same goes for rotations. As the plate umpire, don’t rotate because R1 is going to third. Rotate because you know that if the play develops, your crew needs you there (see MechaniGram). You’re not chasing the play. You’re anticipating the possibility — and positioning yourself accordingly.
Operating out of a hands-on-knees set every time the pitcher engages the rubber will allow Kevin Massie, Argyle, Texas, to be ready for anything that might happen when the ball is live.
This proactive mindset is what sets apart the professionals. It’s what allows crews to get plays right under pressure. And it starts with being present from pitch one, not just when the ball is batted.
We talk a lot about mechanics and rules — and those things matter. But don’t overlook the mental and physical discipline it takes to be locked in between pitches. Next time you’re working,
challenge yourself: Stay set with runners on. Watch the pitcher closely. Rotate with purpose. Stay ahead of the game.
Don’t wait for the ball to be hit to care about the game. Be engaged. Be ready. Be in it.
Patrick Faerber, Alpharetta, Ga., is a former professional umpire who now works high school baseball and football. He is Referee’s baseball coordinator. *
Stick to the Mechanics Script
By Jon Bible
When I started umpiring, there were no nationally mandated college or high school field mechanics. State and local organizations, individual crews and umpires pretty much winged it. As a result, there were many ways to cover plays in the outfield and on the bases. Things were fine when
umpires who used a given set of mechanics worked together, but come playoff time (and others), disasters could happen when umpires who used different sets of mechanics were thrown together for a few days.
When a group of umpires from diverse areas is assembled and not on the same page, there’s not enough time in pregame meetings to anticipate every scenario that
BY THE NUMBERS
52.2%
Percentage of times MLB teams won their Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) challenges this spring.
In 288 spring training games using the ABS, teams were successful on 617 of 1,182 challenges.
The system averaged 4.1 challenges per game, and the average review time clocked in at just 13.8 seconds.
Catchers led the way, winning 56% of their challenges, compared to 41% for pitchers.
Batters split right down the middle at 50%
THEY SAID IT
“I think that (the umpires) were more receptive to using it on every pitch, because nobody knows what he would have called. The problem with the challenge system is it points out when you’re wrong. And I think nobody likes to be shown, in front of 48,000 people, they just missed the pitch. The players … prefer the challenge system because it’s a smaller change and they generally prefer smaller changes. The argument that they make is if you have an automated strike zone, the framing catcher, he goes away. It’s like a lost art. It’s not necessary anymore … maybe you get a more offensive-minded catcher as opposed to the framing guy, and the framing guy loses his job.”
— Rob Manfred, MLB commissioner, in an interview with the New York Times, speaking on the preference of automated ball/strike systems for umpires and players
TEST YOURSELF
In each question, decide which answer is correct for NFHS, NCAA or pro rules. Solutions: p. 87
1. With R1 on first and two outs, there is a 1-2 count on B4. R1 breaks on the pitch, and B4 checks his swing. F2 throws through and retires R1 at second for the third out. After the play, the defense asks the plate umpire to get help on the checked swing because it would rather not have B4 lead off the next inning.
a. The appeal is allowed, and if the batter is declared out for the third out, the out on R1 at second is a play that never really happened.
b. The appeal is not allowed.
c. A “fourth out” appeal is not allowed on a runner or a batter, by rule.
d. The request may be granted but is not required.
2. When a runner dives over a fielder:
a. The runner is out and the ball is immediately dead.
b. Unless interference occurred, the ball remains in play, and the runner is only out if he was tagged.
c. The runner is out, and the ball remains live unless interference occurs.
d. The runner is warned for committing a dangerous act.
3. R1 is attempting to score when the catcher, without the ball, is blocking home plate allowing R1 no access to score. R1 remains upright and runs over the catcher and the umpire judges it is malicious contact. The umpire will:
a. Declare R1 out and eject him.
b. Allow R1 to score on the obstruction.
c. Allow R1 to score on the obstruction and then eject him.
d. Return R1 to third base.
e. Eject the catcher for obstructing R1.
4. If a runner on third runs into the third baseman who is attempting to get to a foul fly ball:
a. The runner is out.
b. The batter is out.
c. The umpire must judge if the fielder could have caught the ball had he not been contacted.
This MechaniGram shows the approved rotation mechanic when there is a clean base hit with runners on first and third base in two-umpire mechanics. This allows for an umpire to remain ahead of and “accept” the play at third base.
might arise, settle on how to cover it, and expect everyone to absorb what’s been decided and operate seamlessly. And this assumes there’s a crew chief who can be the “decider” in the event of disagreement; I’ve been in my share of situations where there was none.
When mechanics are developed ad hoc, the umpires in any game must think about where to go when the ball is hit — instead of reacting instinctively as they’re used to — and looking over their shoulder to see where their partners are. If umpires aren’t where they should be, others may feel compelled to fill the hole, and this can result in people running around in all directions.
There will almost inevitably be two umpires (or none) at a base if a play develops or in the outfield on a trouble ball. I’ve been in this unfortunate situation many times, including one in a College World Series game (thankfully, I was off that game), where home plate was
This MechaniGram shows the approved rotation mechanic when there is a fly ball hit with less than two outs and runners on first and second base in three-umpire mechanics. Again, this rotation puts an umpire ahead of the next possible play.
uncovered and the crew had to group-call a tag play with no one closer than 60 feet away. Mistakes can happen when working with unfamiliar partners, even if we’re all used to using the same mechanics, but the possibilities are multiplied if we’re using mechanics developed on the spot.
Today, there are complex sets of mechanics at the NFHS and NCAA levels, and the expectation is umpires will adhere to them across the board. For the most part we do, but pockets of resistance still exist. Some college coordinators and high school assigners may add their own twist and tell their umpires it supersedes the national mandate. Some umpires don’t stay abreast of changes and may be using partially obsolete mechanics. Some may do their own thing because they think it’s better, are resistant to change in general or, as in my example below, have personal reasons for doing so.
I used to work with Joe, a college
umpire who got heavier every year. When he had the plate with younger partners, he changed the rotations so he wouldn’t have to cover a base if someone went out on a trouble ball. Not only did this cause everyone to think about what to do when the ball was hit and look to see what their partners were doing, but it could have hurt the young umpires’ careers. If an observer was there who didn’t know what was going on, he might think the crew just didn’t want to do things the right way. This doesn’t make that person eager to help anyone on the crew advance, and if he has the ear of someone for whom these umpires are already working, he may sell them down the river for not doing what they should be doing.
I understand wanting to ignore mechanics we don’t agree with; indeed, some changes have left me wondering if the folks who implemented them did so just to justify their existence. And I’m not going to play holier-than-thou and claim never to have been a maverick myself.
Over the years, however, I came
Is It Over?
By George Demetriou
The basic principle of completing a baseball game is that each team must have an equal number of innings — unless shortened because the home team needs none or only part of its half of the final inning (NFHS 4-2-2; NCAA 5-8; pro 7.01a). NCAA and professional games are nine innings, while NFHS games are seven. But when it comes to how and when games end, all codes are aligned on one thing: The last inning matters most.
When It’s Over
The game ends when the final inning is complete and:
•The visiting team is ahead, or
•The home team is ahead after completing its turn at bat.
to believe the interest of uniformity trumps our wanting to do things a certain way because we think it’s better. Admittedly, some of my change of heart resulted from my being chosen to head the NCAA Umpire Improvement Program when it was created in 1990; its primary charge was to bring uniformity to mechanics nationwide, so of necessity, I became a true believer. But I was on that path anyway because I had been in enough situations where we had to blend different mechanics, usually the night before the games began, to know that many times it just didn’t work well.
In addition to the ones I’ve noted, another reason why it’s best if everyone sticks with the prescribed mechanics is they’ll likely be better than what we come up with on our own. The folks who write the NFHS and NCAA mechanics aren’t bums picked out of a bar; almost all are former umpires with lots of experience at high levels that’s taught them what does and doesn’t work. Having been in mechanics discussions, I can attest that things are not done haphazardly; lots of
time is spent going over options until the group settles on one. Sometimes they don’t get it exactly right and will have to do some tweaking later on, but at least what they come up with will be well thought out and reflect lots of experience on the field.
If we think our way of doing things is preferable to what’s mandated, there are channels through which we can try to effect change. In the meantime, we should stick with the script. This applies, by the way, to coordinators and assigners as well as umpires. In fact, for them to be mavericks is arguably worse than for the troops to do so, because they’re supposed to set an example. When they deviate from what’s been prescribed, they put their umpires between a rock and a hard place because they’ve no choice but to comply. If they’re seen going rogue, regardless of the reason, by an outsider who carries weight, that could hurt them down the line.
Jon Bible, Austin, Texas, worked seven NCAA Division I College World Series. In 2019, he was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in Lubbock, Texas. *
The game ends when the team behind in score has completed its turn at bat in the seventh inning, or any inning thereafter if extra innings are necessary. Since the home team leads 10-5, this game is over.
If the score is tied after the last inning is complete, the game continues until:
•The visiting team outscores the home team in a completed inning, or
•The home team scores the winning run in the bottom half of an inning (NFHS 4-2-2; NCAA 5-8d; pro 7.01b).
Calling It Early
A game may be stopped early for a number of reasons, such as darkness, field lighting restrictions,
If the home team scores a go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh inning, or in any extra inning, the game is terminated at that point. Once the home team scored the fourth run to take a 4-3 lead, the game is over.
weather or mechanical failure. A delay of at least 30 minutes is required before a game can be officially called due to weather (NFHS 4-2-3; NCAA 5-8c; pro 7.01c).
To be considered official:
•The game must have reached at least five innings.
• Or, if the home team is ahead, four and one-half innings will suffice.
Halted, Suspended or ‘No Game’?
In professional baseball, if a game is called before it becomes official,
CASEPLAYS
Boxed Out
Play: In the fourth inning, Herbert is told to go to the on-deck circle to pinch hit. After the current batter gets a base hit, the defensive coach visits the pitcher. During this time, Herbert steps into the batter’s box, briefly digs in and then steps out. The offensive coach never officially reports Herbert as a substitute. The defensive coach, assuming a pinch hitter is entering, initiates a pitching change. As the new pitcher trots in from the bullpen, the offensive coach calls Herbert back and instead announces Elijah as the pinch hitter. In the seventh inning, Herbert is once again sent up to pinch hit. After he steps into the batter’s box, the defensive coach objects to his presence. Ruling: In NFHS, because the ball had not been made live in the fourth inning while Herbert was in the batter’s box, he had not officially entered the game and is still eligible to participate. In NCAA and pro, once Herbert stepped into the batter’s box in the fourth inning, he became an unannounced substitute. When he was removed before a pitch was thrown, he lost his eligibility to re-enter. Therefore, in the seventh inning, Herbert is considered an illegal substitute. In NCAA, he is declared out upon discovery. In pro, he is simply removed from the game (NFHS 3-3-1d; NCAA 5-5g4, 5-5j1; pro 5.10d, 5.10j2d).
No Turns Allowed Play: The pitcher, after coming set with hands together in the stretch position, turns his shoulders to check the runner at first base. Ruling: This is a balk. Once the pitcher is in the set position, turning the shoulders is considered a movement associated with the delivery. This movement must be toward the plate unless the pitcher first steps off the pitching plate or makes a legal pickoff (NFHS 6-11; NCAA 9-1b; pro 5.07a2).
A game becomes regulation when five full innings have been played, or if the home team has scored an equal or greater number of runs in four or four and a fraction innings than the visiting team has scored in five innings. This game is in the fourth inning, so it is not a regulation game.
This game has gone more than five innings and the home team is leading, 8-6. This game would be a completed regulation game unless the state association has adopted a game-ending procedure.
Since the home team hasn’t batted in its half of the sixth inning, the score reverts to the last completed inning, so the home team would win, 4-3, unless the state association has adopted a game-ending procedure.
it is ruled “no game.” It must be replayed in its entirety (7.01d). If the game is official and tied, it’s a suspended game that resumes at a later time (7.02a6, 7.02b4B).
The NCAA allows a halted game to be resumed from the point of suspension — but only if the rule is adopted in advance by both teams or as part of a conference/tournament policy (5-9). If the halted game rule isn’t in effect, a called game is either ruled official or declared no contest.
High school associations can adopt their own procedures for games that don’t reach official status. Most allow games to be resumed from the point of interruption or modify when a game reverts to the last completed inning (4-2-4).
Uneven Innings — What Happens?
If a game becomes official but ends before teams have had an equal number of at-bats, several scenarios are possible:
•The score may revert to the last completed inning.
•The game may be declared a tie.
•The game may be resumed under halted/suspended rules.
In NFHS and NCAA play, a tie game counts in team records as ½ win and ½ loss (NFHS 4-2-2; NCAA 5-10). Under pro rules, a game that’s tied at the time of suspension must be completed — ties are not recognized in pro ball (7.01d, 7.02a6, 7.02b4B).
Play Examples
Play 1: The score in a night game is 1-1 after (a) six innings, or (b) nine full innings when the lights go out. Ruling 1: In NFHS and NCAA, the game is ruled a tie. Under pro rules, the game is suspended and will be resumed.
Play 2: The home team leads 5-4 at the end of six innings. They score one run in the bottom of the seventh before rain halts the game. Ruling 2:
In pro, the home team wins, 6-4. In NCAA, the result would be the same unless the halted game rule is in effect.
Play 3: After five innings, the home team leads 2-0. The visitors score two in the sixth, but the home team responds with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. The game is called with the home team still batting. Ruling 3: In NFHS and pro, the home team wins, 4-2. In NCAA, the result would be the same unless the halted game rule is in effect.
Play 4: The visitors lead 1-0 after six innings. They score twice in the top of the seventh, but the game is called mid-inning. Ruling 4: In NFHS and NCAA (without the halted game rule), the score reverts to the last full inning — the home team wins, 1-0. In pro, the game is suspended.
Play 5: The home team leads 2-0 after five innings. The visitors score three in the top of the sixth, and the
game is called with the home team still batting. Ruling 5: NFHS/NCAA revert to the last full inning — home team wins, 2-0. That said, it is not uncommon for games at those levels to have a suspended game rule at the state or conference level that would suspend this game. Pro rules suspend the game.
What About Mercy Rules?
In NFHS, states can adopt a “run rule,” usually ending the game when one team leads by 10 or more runs after five innings (or 4.5 if the home team is ahead). A game may also be terminated at any time with mutual coach consent (4-2-2, 4-2-4).
The NCAA permits a 10-run rule after seven innings by conference rule or pregame coach agreement (2-79, 5-8b4). Pro baseball has no mercy rule — every win must be earned over nine innings. George Demetriou, Colorado Springs, Colo., is the state’s rules interpreter. *
Improve pace and efficiency without sacrificing control. Packed with practical tips and proven strategies, this book will help you manage game flow like a pro.
GETTING IT RIGHT
Ask an Official!
By Brad Star
In April 2023, football official Jerry Lang, Verona, Wis., attended the annual Wisconsin Football Coaches Association (WFCA) meeting in Middleton, Wis. It was his first time, and he was impressed by its size and the attendance.
“This, to me, was the true nerve center of high school football in the state of Wisconsin,” said Lang, 62, who has been officiating high school football for four years.
football officials to field questions for coaches at the meeting,” Lang said. “Obviously, these individuals would have a great depth of rules knowledge but also possess a great deal of common sense to help coaches understand how an official would apply or use the rules to properly administer a game.”
Two years after his initial visit to the WFCA conference, Lang’s idea came to fruition. Accompanied by a group of current and former high school and college football officials — including Heath Powell, Milwaukee; Chuck Hable, Oshkosh; Jeff Stern, Racine (who was Referee’s football editor); and O’Brien — Lang hosted an “Ask an Official” booth at the 2025 WFCA meeting April 4 at the Marriott West in Middleton.
Lang said they did not have as much visibility as he hoped, probably due to where the booth was located within the convention center, but they did have several deep rules discussions with coaches. The officials prepared a rules quiz for coaches to take, though most coaches struggled with it.
“(The coaches) didn’t really like that,” Lang said with a laugh.
Female Basketball Officials on ‘Fast Track’
For only the second time in California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) history and the first time since 2022, all California girls’ basketball state championships were officiated by all-female crews in 2025. The state championships for each of the CIF’s six divisions were held March 14-15 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.
The appeal to be a female official is growing in 2025 because the good ones can get on a “fast track” to higher levels, according to former NCAAW Division I basketball official Wendy Dailey, an assigner in Northern California.
“The NCAA, WNBA and the NBA want more female officials,” Dailey told Sports Illustrated in March. “It was not like that when I was officiating. Women that are in shape, know the rules, are team players and communicate well have a chance to get to higher levels much faster right now.”
“Getting all-female crews isn’t as easy as it seems,” said Harry Schrauth, another assigner in Northern California. “I have 270 officials in Northern California; less than 20 are women. Additionally, the real good (female officials) move up so fast — we lose them.”
SOURCE: SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
20-Year Reunion
But he noticed something was missing.
“The idea of no formal representation of football officiating at the meeting crossed my mind,” he said.
Lang said his high school football crew, headed by Pat O’Brien, Madison, often fields rules questions from head coaches and assistant coaches during pregame meetings. He figured that, at a meeting of more than 2,000 high school football coaches, there would be many more questions to be answered.
“My idea was to have a presence of knowledgeable WIAA (Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association)
Lang was satisfied with how the interactions with coaches went; coaches were respectful and didn’t come to the booth just to complain about calls that had gone against them in the past. He also thought it was beneficial that the officials were able to give coaches some insight into why the NFHS introduced certain rules in the first place.
“We are not necessarily on different teams,” Lang said of the relationship between officials and coaches. “We are there for the same reason: supporting education-based athletics as an extension of the classroom.”
Lang hopes to bring the booth to the WFCA meeting annually.
Brad Star is an assistant editor for Referee *
Demolition of a longtime minor league baseball stadium, McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I., is underway. McCoy was built in 1942 and served as the home of the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, from 1970 until 2020 when the team moved to Worcester, Mass.
Many fans stopped by to see the stadium one last time, including Jim Jackson, a former baseball umpire who worked at McCoy many times. And McCoy gave Jackson a parting gift: While reminiscing at the stadium, Jackson ran into fellow former umpire Paul Prachiak, with whom he had worked for 30 years but hadn’t seen in 20.
SOURCE: WRPI (PROVIDENCE, R.I.)
Have you heard an inspirational or motivational officiating story? Send your ideas to
From left, Pat O’Brien, Heath Powell, Jeff Stern, Jerry Lang and Chuck Hable ran an “Ask an Official” booth at the 2025 Wisconsin Football Coaches Association annual meeting April 4 at the Marriott West in Middleton, Wis.
BECOME AN NASO GAME SAVER
Studies prove that the best way to get and keep officials is through one-on-one contact with other officials. Sports officials who are willing to help recruits are needed.
NASO Game Savers are established officials who are willing to help guide officiating prospects through the process of becoming a sports official in their local area and chosen sport(s) by putting them in touch with the right people, associations, leagues and assigners, and leading them through the necessary steps toward becoming a registered official.
STORM WARNING
Be Safe, Not Sorry, Dealing With Weather
By Brad Tittrington
We plan for a lot of things when we head to the field to call a game or arrive in a city for a weekend series or tournament. The one thing we sometimes don’t plan for is weather. While we might plan for the temperature by packing additional layers, we often don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what we are going to do if the weather turns inclement.
Often, we simply just play it by ear and we don’t think about all the different scenarios that could potentially arise when we take the field — or even before it becomes our jurisdiction. And if we aren’t thinking ahead and planning on what we might do when bad weather occurs, we are doing ourselves — as well as the participants — a disservice. We should have an action plan and discuss with our crew what might happen and how we are going to handle the weather. We should also be in contact with the onsite administrator, tournament director, etc., so everyone is on the same page.
Our Jurisdiction
The first thing we need to concern ourselves with is when the field becomes under our jurisdiction, and this varies by code. In NFHS, the home coach decides whether the grounds and other conditions are suitable for starting the game (4-11). Once the game starts, the plate umpire assumes the authority for deciding when conditions become
Inclement weather is always a possibility. Umpires must understand their role and responsibility when it comes to decision making, especially since they vary at the various levels of play. At the end of the day, umpires should always err on the side of caution when it comes to inclement weather.
unsafe (10-2-3e). In NCAA play, the coaches of both teams and/ or the site administrator shall determine the suitability of the field prior to the start, except before the start of the second game of a doubleheader. Once the game begins, the plate umpire for the first game has the sole responsibility for determining unfit conditions, including whether or not to start the second game of a doubleheader. It is also the responsibility of the onsite administrator to inform the umpiring crew of any potential weather conditions since umpires do not have phones on the field (5.3.1-5.3.3). In USA Softball, the plate umpire shall determine the fitness of the grounds before and during the game (5-2). In USSSA, the umpiring crew shall decide the fitness before and during the game (4-1).
While the rulebooks signify who has the final say in terms of starting or stopping a game, in reality, it generally is a meeting of the minds when it comes to this decision.
A coach or onsite administrator often will ask for input from the umpires before starting a game at the collegiate level. This is a lot easier to accomplish as at that level, as umpires are generally onsite at least an hour before first pitch and more often than not are onsite 90-120 minutes prior. While umpires are not generally consulted prior to arrival, they often are once onsite.
At the high school level, both coaches may come together to assess the field and then ask the umpires their opinions once they arrive, which is often 30 minutes before or even less, depending on the situation.
In USA Softball and USSSA, if it is a tournament, the tournament director will usually decide when to start a game and often the umpire-inchief (UIC) will oversee the stoppage of games during tournaments.
One word of caution, if a tournament director or UIC says they will be the decision maker when it comes to starting or halting games, remember it does not release you from liability. If you feel the conditions are unsafe, it is best to err on the side of caution as
the rulebooks, not to mention the courtroom, are in your favor.
Halt Right There
Deciding when to start a game or postpone it is often a much easier decision than deciding when to halt a game that has already started. We often try to push through rain and maybe a little mud in order to finish a game. But when should we halt a game? The easy answer is anytime we feel conditions are unsafe for the participants. It is generally easy to convince players and coaches why we are stopping the game if there is lightning or thunder.
Most of us have had situations when we saw lightning or heard thunder and halted a game and a coach, player or parent has decided to interject themselves to tell us that we can finish the inning or the game, or the lightning is still really far away and it is safe to play. The best advice I can give is if you see lightning or you hear thunder, clear the field, no matter how close to finishing the inning or game you might be. No game is more important than someone’s life.
Make sure you document when the last lightning strike or sound of thunder occurred. Remember, you must wait 30 minutes to start from the last lightning strike or sound of thunder. That 30 minutes resets each time one of those occurs. Some levels of play may use lightning detection monitors to assist with making these decisions. Again, err on the side of caution.
There doesn’t have to be lightning or thunder present in order to halt a game. We also need to be wary of field conditions. If you work in the northern part of the country, rarely are there perfect field conditions in the spring. Between the winter thaw and April showers, fields seem to always be wet to some degree, unless you are fortunate to work on all-turf fields. The pitching circle and the plate area are the two most important things to look at when determining the safety of the field. If pitchers are slipping, the batter’s boxes have standing water or mud and batters can’t safely hit, or the bases or plate
BY THE NUMBERS
13,207
The number of people in attendance for the April 19 game between Stanford and Cal at Stanford Stadium. It set an NCAA softball single-game attendance record, surpassing the 12,566 mark set May 30, 2024, at the WCWS in Oklahoma City between Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. Stanford is playing its home games in its football stadium while the softball field is under renovation. The umpires for the record-setting game were Sean Wells, Scott Tomlinson and Bobby Martinez.
QUICKTIP
A pregame time-saving strategy is to examine the playing field before you actually take it and assume jurisdiction for the game. Walking the field will allow you to take note of any unusual dimensions or features that might create extended discussion during the plate meeting and therefore add unnecessary time to that job responsibility. It will also allow you to fix any unsafe or unplayable conditions before the game begins, instead of delaying the game to take care of those after the exchange of lineups.
SURVEY SAYS …
When working the plate do you use one ball bag or two?
42% - One ball bag
58% - Two ball bags
SOURCE: SOCIAL MEDIA SURVEY OF 63 FOLLOWERS
TEST YOURSELF
Each of the following includes a situation and possible answer(s). Decide which are correct for USA, NFHS, NCAA or USSSA rules and which might vary. Solutions: p. 87
1. In the first inning of the game, how many warmup pitches maximum is the pitcher allowed to throw?
a. Three.
b. Five.
c. As many as she needs to be properly warmed up.
d. Unlimited, as long as they are completed within the time allowed.
2. If a pitcher is injured and forced to be replaced, what is the maximum number of warmup pitches allotted to the relief pitcher?
a. Three.
b. Five.
c. As many as she needs to be properly warmed up.
3. With R2 on second and R1 on first, B3 walks. R2 runs to and rounds third and remains a few feet off third base. The ball is returned to the pitcher in the circle and B3 touches first base. R2 continues to stand off the base conversing with the third-base coach for a couple of seconds and the pitcher remains in the circle with the ball and does not make any play on any runners.
a. Legal play and the ball remains live. R2 still has an opportunity to make a decision about which direction to run.
b. Legal play, the ball remains live and R2 must return to third base.
c. Look-back-rule violation, the ball is dead and R2 is declared out.
d. Look-back-rule violation, the ball remains live, but R2 is ruled out.
4. R1 attempts to steal second. The catcher, trying to make a play on R1, jumps up from her crouch, steps in front of home plate and catches the pitch before it reaches the plate. The batter begins to swing but stops just short of hitting the catcher. The catcher throws the ball to second base, where the shortstop catches the ball and tags out R1.
a. Legal play, the pitch is ruled a ball and R1 is out at second.
b. Legal play, the pitch is ruled a ball or strike depending on umpire judgment and R1 is out at second.
c. Catcher’s obstruction is called. The ball is dead immediately, R1 is awarded second and B2 awarded first.
d. Catcher’s obstruction is called. The ball is delayed dead and after playing action the offensive coach can take the result of the play or elect to enforce the penalty by putting B2 at first and advancing R1 to second.
become slippery and you can’t keep them dry, stop the game and try to get the grounds crew (if there is one) to work on those areas. Also, if you can’t keep the game balls dry or pitchers are struggling to grip pitches, it is time to halt the game as well.
In these situations, make sure you write down all pertinent information on the back of the lineup card so you can make sure you pick up where you left off when you resume. In some situations, you may not even be the umpire resuming the game if it is a halted game and finished at a later date (per conference or association policy).
Remember, every decision we make as umpires is not going to please everyone. This is true when it comes to halting or postponing games. Especially when teams have “paid a lot of money to be there.” However, it will be much more costly to you to continue to play in poor conditions and have a participant get seriously injured, or even worse. Safety of the athletes, as well as ourselves, should always be our top priority.
Brad Tittrington is an associate editor for Referee. He umpires D-I softball and officiates high school basketball, college and high school volleyball and high school football. *
Agree to Disagree
By Michael A. Schiro
Overthe course of a game, not every coach is going to agree with every call we make. It is the nature of the business. Remember, nobody is perfect. While we strive for perfection, there are times we may miss something.
And when we do, we expect a coach may say something. And on occasion, a coach may even request
Atime to come out and talk with us about that call, as shown in PlayPic A. And that is OK. Too often, we get immediately defensive and our body language says we are unapproachable. Instead, we should be OK having those conversations with coaches, provided they are respectful.
When coaches come out to respectfully ask about a call, there are ways we should approach those
See “Agree” p.68
Get Out the Way Hey, Hey,
On passed balls or wild pitches with a runner at third base, a lot of bad things can happen at the plate. It is incumbent on plate umpires to keep a wide view when ruling on these plays to ensure they see the whole play, but also they stay out of the way of a potential play.
Steve Anderson, Snohomish, Wash., steps to the outside of the left-handed batter’s box (1) and gets good depth to see the throw from the catcher (2) and makes sure he is not involved in the play. (3) He correctly keeps his mask in his left
at the plate unfold. (4) He keeps his
runner sliding (5) to make sure there is no obstruction at the plate and then can quickly make a ruling on whether the runner beats a potential tag. Thankfully, on this play, the batter moves well away from the plate to avoid interfering on the play and
costing her team a potential run.
Too often on these types of plays, umpires don’t clear the path of the
throw or move into the runner’s path and accidentally get involved in this play. Remember, there is no umpire interference on this type of play so if you “interfere” with the play, the ball remains live and there is no way to “fix” it. Prepitch preparation is a great way to remind yourself to get out of the way on a passed ball and avoid being part of the play.
SOFTBALL
CASEPLAYS
Runner Hit By Ball
Play: With no outs and R1 on first base, B2 hits a line drive down the first-base line. F3 is playing in front of first base, expecting a bunt. The ball hits R1 in her leg as she is standing on first base and continues out into right field in fair territory. Ruling: In all codes, the runner is not out provided she didn’t intentionally get hit by the ball. Since the fielder is in front of the bag, the ball remains live and all runners may advance with liability to be put out (NFHS 8-1-2a Eff. 3; NCAA 12.17.2.6.9 Eff.; USA Softball 8-8M; USSSA 8-18N Exc.).
Base Coach Draws Throw
Play: In the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied, one out and R3 on third and R1 on first, B4 hits a ground ball to third base. R3, not wanting to try to advance, retreats to third base. The third-base coach, thinking her team could win, starts racing down the third-base line toward home plate. The third baseman sees the base coach running toward home and mistakes her for the runner and throws the ball to the plate. Ruling: In all codes, this is interference by the base coach. A base coach near third base may not run on or near the baseline and draw a throw from the defense. The ball is dead, the runner closest to home is ruled out and all other runners must return to the base last occupied at the time of interference. In this instance, R3 is ruled out, R1 is placed on second and B4 is placed on first (NFHS 8-6-16a Pen.; NCAA 12.17.4.2 Eff.; USA Softball 8-7M Eff.; USSSA 8-18AB).
Intentionally Dropped Ball
Play: With R3 on third base and R1 on first with no outs, B3 hits a routine fly ball to F4. F4 camps under the ball and momentarily catches the ball and then intentionally drops the ball to the ground. She then throws it to F6 at second base ahead of R1, and then F6 throws to F3 ahead of B3. Ruling: In all codes, the ball is dead, the batter-runner is out and all runners are returned to the base legally occupied at the time of the pitch. In this situation, B3 is out and R3 and R1 are returned to third and first, respectively (NFHS 8-2-10 and Pen.; NCAA 11.17.1, 11.17.2 and Eff.; USA Softball 8-2K and Eff.; USSSA 8-17C).
Agree continued from p.66
conversations. There are several things we should do to make sure these conversations are respectful, to the point and get us back to playing ball in an effective manner.
Remove sunglasses. Look the coach in the eyes and listen to what that coach is saying. It may not seem like a big deal to remove your sunglasses, but it does show a sign of respect. It is much more personable to be able to look into the eyes of the person you are talking to opposed to that person not even being able to tell if your eyes are open.
Remain calm. When a coach comes out to discuss a call, it can elevate our heart rate and increase our breathing. Remember, it is just a conversation. We can normally tell the intensity of the situation by how the coach walks — or sprints — out toward us. However, we should always keep a good body posture that shows we are relaxed and try our best to defuse the situation instead of throw fire on it. We should not meet
their intensity level and we should remain level-headed throughout.
While the coach is talking, plan what you are going to say. Remember it takes two to have an argument. This doesn’t mean to not listen to the coach’s concerns. It simply means that while the coach is talking, it gives us an opportunity to formulate our thoughts and allows us to put together our response so we sound confident in our answer.
Also, don’t preplan a response. The coach may ask about something completely different than what we think might be questioned. If we have an automatic response, we might be barking up the wrong tree. Allow the coach to speak first so there is no confusion.
Let the coach talk. Often, coaches just want to have their say. A coach may simply be frustrated with the way the team is playing. A coach may also come out just to fire the team up. That coach may not even be upset with you but he or she may need to show the team he or she has the team’s back. The coach may also need
Over the course of a game, coaches aren’t going to agree with every call the umpires make. There are going to be disagreements, and that is OK. It is how umpires handle those situations that separate the great umpires from the good umpires. Talking with coaches and explaining calls, like Sean Wells, Renton, Wash., does here, is part of the responsibility.
to do that to show an administrator or the parents that he or she cares. Don’t take it personally.
Make coaches ask you a question about the play that brought them out to you. There is a statute of limitations when it comes to arguing or questioning calls. Coaches only get to ask about the last call. Do not allow them to question or argue something that happened last inning or three innings ago. Those types of discussions are no-nos and end up in ejections. If coaches bring up something from earlier in the game, we should tell them we are not discussing those situations. If they continue to do so, they should be ejected. We should only entertain discussions on the play or call at hand.
Try to stand next to coaches rather than facing them. Standing face to face is often viewed as confrontational. Try to stand to the side of the coach, rather than face to face, to help defuse any volatility (as shown in PlayPic B). It is no different than taking a lineup change. We should stand shoulder to shoulder to help “soften” the look.
Explain your call. Repeat yourself once if the coach needs it. This is not a time to have a seminar on the rules. After that, the discussion is over. Tell the coach it’s time to play ball. Move to your next position or do something to get away from the coach if that coach is trying to continue the discussion. If you are working the bases, move to your next starting position. If you are working the plate, mark your lineup card, clean off the plate or retrieve game balls from the dugout. It does not matter, it should be something that lets everyone know the conversation from your vantage point is over. This should be a signal to your
partner(s) that you are done and any further discussion from the coach could warrant an ejection and your partner(s) may need to step in to remove the coach.
You do not have to have the last word. If the coach is grumbling while walking away, let that coach grumble. Coaches in that situation are just trying to save face. That is OK. Your goal is to get the game going again. If you chase after them, you will be seen as the aggressor and that will just delay getting the game going again. Coaches will sometimes even offer a parting shot as they
walk away. Remember the aesthetics of ejecting a coach who is walking away from an umpire do not always look good, especially on film. Try to ignore the comment. If it crosses the line, that coach has earned an ejection and which way he or she is facing is irrelevant.
Michael A. Schiro, Bloomfield, N.J., is the former co-owner of Eastern Collegiate Softball Umpires and served as its rules interpreter and lead clinician. He is a former NCAA and USA Softball umpire with nearly 30 years of experience and is a member of the USA Softball National Indicator Fraternity. *
PROFILES
Mitchlers Making Officiating Memories
By Wade Turner
Anortheastern Wisconsin family is helping to bridge three generations of officiating while strengthening its family bond — one game at a time.
Tyler Mitchler, 36, recently coaxed his father back into the basketball officiating ranks while also encouraging his stepson to don the stripes.
The pair of father-son duos, who all live in the Appleton, Wis., area, could often be seen working together at local gymnasiums during this past basketball season.
Randy, 65, teamed with his son to officiate an ambitious sub-varsity basketball schedule. Tyler then shifted gears and worked weekend youth basketball tournaments with his stepson, Ben, 17. The trio also umpires baseball and softball.
Returning to officiating basketball himself about three years ago, Tyler remembers asking his dad after games for advice about specific plays and situations.
“Then I started saying to him it would be nice to have a dedicated
partner,” he said. “I finally leaned on him enough for him to come back this year.”
Tyler recalls the reaction of many basketball coaches when they find out they’re getting a father-son officiating duo.
“During the pregame with coaches, I usually introduce us and then say he is my father,” Tyler said. “It usually has the coaches perk up and tell us how awesome it is that we get to work together.”
Randy, a mainstay on the softball fields, also returned to baseball this year after a hiatus.
Being the patriarch for three generations of officiating, the elder Mitchler couldn’t be prouder of his family.
“It makes me feel old,” Randy said with a laugh. “But it’s really incredible. Nothing is better than spending time with the best people in your life. It is easy to give up a Friday night to referee basketball when you get to be with your son, and you know that afterward you are going to meet your family out for a nice fish dinner.”
In addition, Randy is making sure Ben is experiencing early success.
While Tyler and Ben could be seen working together on the hardwood, Randy was also there, shadowing Ben to offer advice.
“They were the biggest reason I started to referee, and they taught me everything that I know about officiating,” Ben said. “It’s nice being able to lean on each other and always having them to help.”
Tyler said officiating with his family is a true blessing for him.
“Most of my games I work tend to either be with my father or my son,” he said. “It is a shared experience that we all now have, and it really does bring us together. And I think it makes us all better officials, too.” Wade Turner is a high school football and basketball official from New London, Wis. *
Praise for Pesotski
It’s been an illustrious career in sports for eastern Pennsylvania native Linda Pesotski. While working an indoor field hockey tournament March 30 at Lakeside Elementary in Honesdale, Pa., Pesotski was surprised with a celebration honoring her for 50 years as a field hockey official.
“It was just a goal of mine to do this because I love the sport,” Pesotski said. “I love the kids.”
Pesotski has officiated middle school, high school and college field hockey during her career, including working five state championships at the high school level. She has also coached softball and soccer, and played amateur field hockey, softball and volleyball. Pesotski was inducted into the Luzerne County (Pa.) Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.
SOURCE: WNEP (SCRANTON, PA.)
Officiating U.P. North
Joe Reddinger
Kingsford, Mich.
A longtime sports official in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is just about ready to call it a career. Joe Reddinger started umpiring baseball in the U.P. when he was a teenager. After high school, one of his coaches convinced him to become a basketball referee, and 55 years later, Reddinger is in his final season.
“For me personally, there’s kind of a way to stay in the game and it makes you feel almost like you’re competing,” Reddinger said.
At the end of this past basketball season, Reddinger hung up his whistle and prepared to umpire one last season of girls’ softball.
SOURCE: WLUC (MARQUETTE, MICH.)
Do you know a person or group who should be profiled? Send info to us at profiles@referee.com
Linda Pesotski Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
From left, Tyler, Ben and Randy Mitchler officiate a variety of sports together, including high school basketball.
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LIMITS The
Understand when behavior crosses the line in sports.
of
Sports officials encounter differing degrees of behavior while on the job. A zero-tolerance policy is unrealistic, but there are limits to what we should tolerate during a contest — and those limits aren’t the same for everyone. For example, a comment shouted from the 10th row of the bleachers is evaluated differently than one coming from a team captain. Something said by a professional athlete is typically treated differently than a coach in a youth tournament. Though every official has boundaries of acceptance, this “limit of tolerance” identifies different segments of the sports contest equation and how we should evaluate their behavior, generally. Unsporting behavior by anyone on the basis of race, religion, gender or national origin must be addressed. Otherwise, the following groups are listed in descending order, starting with whom officials should be most tolerant.
Fans
Be more tolerant of fans than any other group. From top to bottom, fans are usually the least educated in the rules, mechanics and philosophies of officiating and, therefore, more likely to verbalize frustration with a judgment or outcome. In the collective mind of the crowd, they have paid their money for the right to boo the officials. Develop thick skin for commentary hurled from the stands. Work to ignore the noise unless it becomes threatening or racist, or the environment starts to become unsafe for you or the participants.
Never respond to fans. Doing so only encourages their interest in harassing officials. At higher levels of play or in venues with larger crowd sizes, increase your tolerance from fans compared to lower levels. Profanity hurled from the stands at a professional football game, for example, is treated differently than the same behavior at a youth soccer match.
Marques Pettigrew, Grand Prairie, Texas, addresses Valparaiso men’s basketball head coach Roger Powell Jr. during a conference tournament game in March.
tolerance
BY THE REFEREE EDITORS
If behavior rises to the level that someone needs to be removed from the premises, stop the contest and involve game management or site administrators. Don’t think you can take matters into your own hands; it only creates a potentially dangerous situation for yourself and your partners. If the behavior is not extreme, consider a warning from administrators to fans before elevating to ejection.
At professional and major college levels of play, many instances over the years have presented situations where fans throw small objects onto the playing surface. If a wayward object makes its way onto the playing floor, have game management issue a warning to the crowd. If an object is directed at an opponent or official, remove the offender immediately. If the offender cannot be identified, or if the behavior triggers a chain reaction of throwing objects, consider having management remove all fans from the area where the behavior was observed. Delay the resumption of the contest until the situation is handled to your satisfaction and the participants can resume without issue. Record all necessary information for postgame reports without worrying about delaying the game. Pay special attention to the time of the game, parties involved and direct quotes of harassing language or abusive actions.
HeadCoaches
By quantity, this is usually the smallest group involved in any sporting event. Head coaches are often under intense pressure to have their teams perform and are, therefore, naturally going to create conflict for officials. Most often, conflict arises from a biased viewpoint and is usually explained with, “I’m just fighting for my team.” Use preventive officiating whenever possible and tolerate a bit more from head coaches than you would from
other participants. Work with them to improve behavior unless it becomes a distraction or is personal in nature. At that point, they leave you with no choice but to penalize.
StartingPlayers
The fact of the matter is that fans come to sporting events to watch the players. Officials should use preventive officiating to keep players in the game, not to mention the quality of the play is usually better and our job is easier when the starting players are involved. If preventive officiating fails, then penalize.
AssistantCoaches
This group gets a little bit of leeway when complaining about a given officiating decision, but not much. They certainly should be held to a different level of tolerance than head coaches because inviting interaction with every assistant could make for a chaotic situation. If an assistant coach approaches respectfully with a question or concern, work to answer or rectify the situation. If they participate in “ganging up on the officials,” the behavior must be penalized. Assistant coaches can be utilized to help control players and head coaches who might start to get out of line.
BenchPersonnel
Other individuals on a team bench or in a team bench area get little to no leeway for behavior issues. Reserve players, team managers and trainers have jobs to do that do not involve officiating. If you sense someone might become an issue, go directly to the head coach and allow him or her to fix the behavior before it gets out of line. Most often, the head coach appreciates the information and the opportunity to rectify the problem because the last thing he or
she wants is to be penalized for the actions of bench personnel. If verbal disagreement is boisterous or profane from this group, consider penalizing without warning to keep control of the contest environment.
Scoring & Timing personnel
Most often, scorers and timers are from the host school or team. Some of them, especially at lower levels, can get caught up in rooting interests. Before the game, get ahead of any potential issues and remind them they are an important part of the officiating crew and need to be neutral.
When a person at the scorer’s table, or elsewhere in the venue with scoring or timing duties, makes comments or gestures that question the judgment or integrity of the officials, it must be dealt with immediately. Based on the nature and degree of the behavior, consider reminding the individual about being an impartial member of the officiating team. If the actions are unsporting, have that person removed by the administration. Your job as an official is difficult enough; don’t put up with misbehavior from administrative personnel.
Cheerleaders/Mascots
This group of game entertainment individuals gets as close to zero tolerance as any. Cheerleaders and mascots are present to fire up a crowd, not to be involved in officiating matters. Don’t let proximity to the playing surface be abused by these individuals. If a direct warning takes care of minor issues, great. However, for any words or actions that rise above minor issues, make sure to direct the administration to remove the individual. *
MUTE BUTTON Limiting Your Speech Heads Off Potential Issues
By the Referee editors
W
hen it comes to staying out of trouble with players and coaches, the best motto to remember is, “Silence can’t be misquoted.” Resisting the urge to yell back when fired upon is one of the hardest things for newer officials to learn. This isn’t to say that veterans aren’t guilty from time to time, either.
There have been instances when an official has gotten into
hot water over something they’ve said, whether on or off the field or court. At a time when scrutiny is at its greatest, officials must be more careful than ever about their behavior, including their spoken words.
Away From the Games
Some officials have gotten in trouble at restaurants, bars and similar places because they aren’t aware of who might be nearby.
Consider the case of an official who expressed frustration at breakfast about being stuck with a game involving two last-place teams. Unfortunately, the wife of one of the athletic directors was at the next table. The complaint found its way to the assigner, who was none too happy about it.
Just recently, a Premier League soccer referee was fired after a leaked video showed him ranting to a fan about one of the league’s
Just because the coach is talking to him, John Lee, Kaneohe, Hawaii, isn’t required to answer. A question asked in a reasonable manner deserves a response, but that conversation should be brief and to the point.
teams and its former manager.
Officials are instructed not to speak to reporters for good reason. Your words can be inadvertently (or, sadly, intentionally) twisted in such a way to make you look bad. Better to let your supervisor or assigner answer instead.
Gossip among officials is all too common. You’ll often hear officials talk about other officials or the plays they or someone else encountered. Sometimes, that other official isn’t portrayed in the best light. Contrary to what some officials seem to assume, it doesn’t benefit the cause to badmouth fellow officials when speaking with coaches in an effort to make yourself look better. Although coaches may politely agree with what you’re saying at the time, they’ll actually think it was a lowclass maneuver on your part.
The bottom line is this: Watch what you say and to whom you say it when you’re off the field. You never know how things will end up sounding or who might hear them.
Onfield Talk
Resist the impulse to get in the last, or sometimes even the first, word. When coaches argue or players complain, officials tend to want to immediately talk, when the best thing to do is to keep quiet and let them go on for a few seconds. Most coaches know they’re not going to get the call changed, but they want to be heard. It can be very effective to say to a coach, “Now, what I hear you saying is …,” or even, “Coach, if it happened the way you say, I probably missed it.”
If we talk first, however, we’ll end up just talking past each other, with neither of us hearing what the other is saying. We only prolong things when we give in to the temptation to get the last word in after an argument or conversation seemingly ends.
Baseball Hall of Fame umpire Doug Harvey once said that when a manager came out ranting and raving, he would let him go on without saying a word. After about 20 seconds, the guy would start sputtering, and then he
could jump in. Harvey said that worked beautifully because most managers weren’t smart enough to string together more than about 20 seconds’ worth of words.
Avoid Insults and Threats
Don’t tell players or coaches to shut up — those are two of the most provocative words in the English language. Telling them to “Knock it off” is a better statement. Never say, “One more word and I’ll do so-and-so,” because they may take the bait and you’ll end up in a war that could have been avoided. If there is chirping from the bench, put up your hand and say, “That’s enough.” If the rules at your level call for warnings, feel no qualms about issuing one, but keep the tone of your voice in check and leave out the unnecessary, provocative sidebar comments.
It’s often been said, and it’s true, that officials lose when they appear to be the aggressors. It’s a fact of life that players and coaches can say all manner of awful things, but as soon as officials come across as going after them, the officials become the bad guys. A couple of years ago, a college baseball umpire in a TV game looked at a dugout that was chirping about pitches, spread his arms and said, “Anyone want a piece of me?” It turns out someone did, and ejections followed. Unfortunately, a higherup happened to see the game, and that official is no longer working postseason tournaments. One unfortunate comment very likely cost him his career.
Talking with players may seem like a good idea, but it can backfire. If things in the game go sideways, the player is likely to complain to the coach that your constant yapping is making them lose concentration. You can be polite and friendly, but keep the idle chatter to a minimum.
There are many things about ourselves, such as our height, that we can’t control. We can, however, control our mouths. The less we say on and off the field, the better off we are. *
DID YOU KNOW?
Static stretching — stretching a muscle to a point of tension and holding it for 20-30 seconds — is the most familiar type of stretching. But according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, it is not always the best choice. Recent research has shown that static stretching performed before activity actually reduces muscular strength and performance levels. Dynamic stretching — using the muscles’ own force production and the body’s momentum to take a joint through its full range of motion — is more beneficial as movement preparation (pregame) or to enhance mobility and recovery on non-competition days.
SOURCE: NATIONAL
QUICKTIP
Officials often confirm assignments, dates and times with each other by emailing or texting. However, if a partner does not respond to an electronic form of communication, contact him or her by phone regarding the upcoming assignment and any other issues related to the game or match. While emailing and texting are convenient and easy, there is no guarantee that the person on the other end received the message, especially if you never get a reply.
THEY SAID IT
“I despise an official who touches me. Lots of times you’ll see officials come up and put their hands on the referee’s shoulder. That looks bad. I can’t imagine any reason why an official should walk up to the referee and put both arms on the referee’s shoulders. Maybe that’s just a quirk of my personality. To start with, it looks like he’s whispering to you and there’s nothing out there to whisper about.”
— Jimmy Harper, former Southeastern Conference football referee
How Video Has Changed Officiating
By Jeffrey Stern
One of my favorite books is Instant Replay. The author, Jerry Kramer, was a guard for the Green Bay Packers and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 1968, he kept a diary of what turned out to be a championship season. It was a breakthrough book for its time, full of behind-the-scenes information that let fans know what life as a pro football player was really like.
A recurring theme throughout the book involves the team’s use of film to review players’ performance and as scouting material for upcoming opponents. In fact, Kramer’s observation that Dallas defensive lineman Jethro Pugh could be moved off the line of scrimmage in a shortyardage situation was a key element in the Packers’ victory in the famed Ice Bowl game that propelled Green Bay to Super Bowl II.
Much of the anxiety surrounding watching film was centered on the players’ concerns about whether a mistake would be visible when coaches examined the tape after the game. “How’s that going to look on film?” was a common question. The modern official likely asks himself or herself that same question during a season. That’s because advances in technology have drastically altered the way we go about our jobs.
Although “Make it be there” is still a valid pregame admonition, it might be more correct to urge crewmates to “Make it so big it shows up on film.”
After the game, when Kramer saw his block on Pugh for the winning touchdown on television several times, his thought was, “Thank God for instant replay.” It propelled his already stellar reputation into the stratosphere (and undoubtedly boosted his book sales the next year).
By the same token, officials often feel a great sense of relief when one of their rulings is as obvious in the game film as it was on the court or field. I know I did.
At some point, Matthew Cohn, Seattle, can watch the video of this match and check his mechanics, positioning and the rulings he made. Watching with another official can be even more helpful, as another set of eyes may pick up things Cohn misses.
coach to send a copy of a game tape (including providing the tape or disc and a self-addressed stamped envelope), we are now able to view many of our games free online. In some cases, the video is posted before we return home. Talk about instant gratification.
I have long enjoyed video as a review and training tool. I’ll admit that my first look at the tape of my own game involved finding the fouls I called and any close or controversial plays in which I was involved, just to see if I was correct. Call it vanity if you wish; I preferred to think of it as selfevaluation. I would then go through it a second time in its entirety and look for things I may have missed during the game. It was rare that I didn’t look at a play multiple times to check my positioning and mechanics.
As a longtime educational chair for our local association, I used video extensively in our meetings. Feedback from members indicated that video was the officials’ favorite part of the meetings and certainly the portion from which they felt they got the most benefit.
One of the concerns pro supervisors and major college coordinators have regarding the use of instant replay as an officiating tool is that officials sometimes adopt the attitude, “It doesn’t matter what I call because replay will straighten it out either way.”
Another drawback to the explosion of technology is what is known as “Officiating to the video.” Contact or violations that would (or should) be called are not being called because officials fear the video won’t support them.
Whether or not that is a valid concern is debatable. It may vary from official to official, coordinator to coordinator and level to level. What is not in dispute is the glut of video available to us. When, once upon a time, we had to beg a
Video can also be used as a preparation tool. Find videos of other games involving the teams and watch them to get a flavor of their strategies and tendencies. Which players seem to garner the most attention from opponents? Do the teams do anything outside the norm (e.g., two passes and hoist up a three, hurry-up offense, etc.)? A little time on the front end can save you from being surprised on the back end.
I have no idea what the next big thing in officiating will be. I doubt we have reached the zenith of technological or other advances. But I do know this: Video made me better informed, better educated and a happier official overall. Jeffrey Stern is Referee’s senior editor. He formerly officiated high school and college football and high school baseball. *
Wise Watchfulness Wipes Warts Away
By Dr. Kevin Wolf, DPM
Aplantar wart is a viral skin infection in which the virus comes into contact with the skin and causes it to grow abnormally. It can be very painful, particularly when it occurs on a weight-bearing area of the foot.
The virus is very contagious, and it is transmitted through direct contact with the virus. Gyms, locker rooms, showers and dressing rooms are common areas where referees could come into direct contact with the virus.
Drying your referee shoes if they get wet and applying a sanitizer after working a game will decrease the chances you will come in contact with the virus and may prevent you from developing a plantar wart. Wearing shower shoes is also a good way to prevent you from coming into contact with the virus.
Unfortunately, warts can be difficult to treat and frequently recur. Topical treatments usually utilize an acid or chemical to soften the wart and get it to fall out. Other topical treatments include cryotherapy, which involves freezing the wart with liquid nitrogen or some other cold-producing chemical.
Surgical treatments involve directly removing the wart. Young children or people with large or multiple warts may require some sedation or general anesthesia, but most adults can be treated successfully with local anesthesia for small, single plantar warts. There is some evidence that utilizing a laser to remove warts can be very successful and may minimize scarring.
The post-operative care usually entails some local wound care consisting of daily bandage changes
with some antibiotic cream. Plantar warts may require some weightbearing limitation after removal.
A word of caution: There are some skin cancers that look like warts. Luckily, such instances are rare, but if you have been selftreating what you think is a plantar wart and it isn’t responding to the self-treatment, get it checked out by a podiatrist, dermatologist or your family physician. It is easy to biopsy the lesion to confirm that it is a wart or to discover that it is something more serious. Early detection and treatment are critical and make treatment much easier and more successful, with less long-term disability.
Kevin Wolf lives in Goldsboro, N.C., and is a practicing podiatrist. A retired NISOA referee, he is a referee instructor and U.S. Soccer referee assessor. He also officiates high school soccer. *
FOR THE RECORD
AWARDS, ROSTERS, NOTABLES
POSTSEASON ASSIGNMENTS
COLLEGE
•UConn defeated South Carolina, 82-59, to win the 2025 NCAA Division I women’s basketball championship. Officials were Felicia Grinter, Maj Forsberg and Gina Cross. Final Four officials were Brenda Pantoja, Kyle Bacon and Tiffany Bird (South Carolina 74, Texas 57) and Joe Vaszily, Brian Hall and In’Fini Robinson (UConn 85, UCLA 51). Other tournament assignments:
First Four — William & Mary 69, High Point 63: Cameron Inouye, Roy Jackson, Chastity Taylor. Southern 68, UC San Diego 56: Robinson, Felicity Willis, Demoya Pugh. Columbia 63, Washington 60: Richard Waters, Forsberg, David Troyan. Iowa St. 68, Princeton 63: Tom Danaher, Pantoja, Lee Mullen.
First round — UCLA 84, Southern 46: Doug Knight, Cheryll Blue, Robinson. Richmond 74, Georgia Tech 49: Vaszily, Jeffrey Smith, Ashlee Goode. Ole Miss 83, Ball St. 65: Bill Larance, Ify Seales, Jamie Broderick. Baylor 73, Grand Canyon 60: Melissa Barlow, Brad Schmidt, Timothy Greene. Florida St. 94, George Mason 59: Jules Gallien, Katie Lukanich, Sarah Williams. LSU 103, San Diego St. 48: Bacon, Brandon Enterline, Alecia Ann Murray. Michigan St. 64, Harvard 50: Mark Resch, Maggie Tieman, Kaz Beverley. N.C. St. 75, Vermont 55: Billy Smith, Kelsey Reynolds, Krystle Apellaniz. USC 71, UNC Greensboro 25: Michol Murray, Teresa Turner, Daniel Drake. Mississippi St. 59, California 46: Chuck Gonzalez, Saif Esho, Willis. Kansas St. 85, Fairfield 41: Michael Price, Scott Berkins, Nicole Leon. Kentucky 79, Liberty 78: Kevin Pethtel, Meadow Overstreet, Brian Woods. Iowa 92, Murray St. 57: Cross, Nick Marshall, Kristen Bell. Oklahoma 81, Fla. Gulf Coast 58: Jody Cantrell, Ashley Ellis, Natasha Camy. South Dakota St. 74, Oklahoma St. 68: Angie Enlund, Talisa
Green, Zac Brost. UConn 103, Arkansas St. 34: Eric Brewton, Gina Catanzariti, Ashley Olsen. South Carolina 108, Tennessee Tech 48: Pualani Spurlock, Tyler Trimble, Ryan Durham. Indiana 76, Utah 68: Scott Yarbrough, Hall, Marc Merritt. Alabama 81, Green Bay 67: Grinter, Darren Krzesnik, Josh Howell. Maryland 82, Norfolk St. 69: Tim Daley, Angelica Suffren, Deanna Jackson. West Virginia 78, Columbia 59: Bruce Morris, Julie Krommenhoek, Benny Luna. North Carolina 70, Oregon St. 49: Forsberg, Kenneth Nash, Scott Osborne. Oregon 77, Vanderbilt 73: Bird, Nykesha Thompson, Metta Christensen. Duke 86, Lehigh 25: Tiara Cruse, Ty Bills, Cara Seggie. Texas 105, William & Mary 61: Roy Gulbeyan, Nicholas Cappel, Adrienne GilmoreNichols. Illinois 66, Creighton 57: Inouye, Rod Creech, Ashley Gloss. Tennessee 101, South Florida 66: Pantoja, Travis Jones, Teresa Stuck. Ohio St. 71, Montana St. 51: Fatou Cissoko-Stephens, Sean Martin, Kelly Broomfield. Michigan 80, Iowa St. 74: Kevin Sparrock, Michael McConnell, Angel Kent. Notre Dame 106, Stephen F. Austin 54: Eric Koch, Karen Preato, Tim Bryant. Louisville 63, Nebraska 58: Dee Kantner, Ed Sidlasky, Natosha Harris. TCU 73, FDU 51: Brian Garland, John Capolino, Tashianna Smith.
Second round — UCLA 84, Richmond 67: Vaszily, Robinson, Goode. Ole Miss 69, Baylor 63: Barlow, Seales, Greene. LSU 101, Florida St. 71: Bacon, Enterline, Lukanich. N.C. St. 83, Michigan St. 49: Billy Smith, Resch, Tieman. USC 96, Mississippi St. 59: Gonzalez, Murray, Esho. Kansas St. 80, Kentucky 79: Price, Pethtel, Overstreet. Oklahoma 96, Iowa 62: Bell, Camy, Cross. UConn 91, South Dakota St. 57: Brewton, Enlund, Green. South Carolina 64, Indiana 53: Hall, Spurlock, Trimble. Maryland 111, Alabama 108: Grinter, Daley, Suffren. North Carolina 58, West Virginia 47: Forsberg, Krommenhoek, Nash. Duke 59, Oregon 53: Bird, Cruse, Thompson. Texas 65, Illinois 48: Inouye, Gulbeyan, Creech. Tennessee 82, Ohio St. 67: Pantoja,
•Florida defeated Houston, 65-63, to win the 2025 NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship. Officials were Ron Groover, Terry Oglesby and Doug Sirmons. Final Four officials were Tony Padilla, Roger Ayers and Courtney Green (Florida 79, Auburn 73) and Doug Shows, James Breeding and Keith Kimble (Houston 70, Duke 67). Other tournament assignments:
First Four — Alabama St. 70, St. Francis (Pa.) 68: Amy Bonner, Clarence Armstrong, Anthony Burris. Xavier 86, Texas 80: Breeding, Oglesby, Chris Merlo. Mount St. Mary’s 83, American 72: Larry Scirotto, D.G. Nelson, Kellen Miliner. North Carolina 95, San Diego St. 68: Padilla, Sirmons, Nathan Hall.
First round — Auburn 83, Alabama St. 63: Jeff Clark, Joe Lindsay, Isaac Barnett. Creighton 89, Louisville 75: Paul Szelc, Ted Valentine, Brooks Wells. Michigan 68, UC San Diego 65: Verne Harris, Lee Cassell, Justin Porterfield. Texas A&M 80, Yale 71: Chuck Jones, Mike Reed, Chance Moore. Ole Miss 71, North Carolina 64: Jeb Hartness, Brian Dorsey, Deldre Carr. Iowa St. 82, Lipscomb 55: Tim Clougherty, Mark Schnur, Bert Smith. New Mexico 75, Marquette 66: Rick Crawford,
Don Daily, Randy Richardson. Michigan St. 87, Bryant 62: Anthony Jordan, Brian McNutt, Ray Natili. Florida 95, Norfolk St. 69: Brian O’Connell, Vladimir Voyard-Tadal, Tim Smith. UConn 67, Oklahoma 59: Kipp Kissinger, Armstrong, Olandis Poole. Colorado St. 78, Memphis 70: Breeding, Alfred Smith, Wil Howard. Maryland 81, Grand Canyon 49: D.J. Carstensen, Matt Potter, Nelson. Drake 67, Missouri 57: Darron George, Pat Adams, Michael Palau. Texas Tech 82, UNC Wilmington 72: Gregory Nixon, Nathan Farrell, Edwin Young. Arkansas 79, Kansas 72: Bret Smith, Bart Lenox, Jeffrey Anderson. St. John’s 83, Omaha 53: Patrick Evans, A.J. Desai, Steve Divine. Duke 93, Mount St. Mary’s 49: Sean Hull, Green, Ed Corliss. Baylor 75, Mississippi St. 72: Groover, Jemel Spearman, Tommy Morrissey. Oregon 81, Liberty 52: Scirotto, Ayers, Rob Rorke. Arizona 93, Akron 65: Michael Greenstein, Bill Covington, Kelly Pfeifer. BYU 80, VCU 71: Pat Driscoll, Earl Walton, Eric Curry. Wisconsin 85, Montana 66: Mike Littlewood, Byron Jarrett, Chris Pacsi. Saint Mary’s 59, Vanderbilt 56: Oglesby, Tony Chiazza, Tommy Johnson. Alabama 90, Robert Morris 81: Michael Irving, Chad Barlow, Evon Burroughs. Houston 78, SIU Edwardsville 40: Shows, Jason Baker, Antinio Petty. Gonzaga 89, Georgia 68: Nate Harris, Marques Pettigrew, Lucas Santos. McNeese 69, Clemson 67: Padilla, Bonner, Tony Henderson. Purdue 75, High Point 63: Lamar Simpson, Tyler Kumpf, Andy O’Brien. Illinois 86, Xavier 73: Kimble, K.B. Burdett, Greg Evans. Kentucky 76, Troy 57: John Gaffney, Todd Austin, Bharat Ramnanan. UCLA 72, Utah St. 47: Kevin Brill, Steven Anderson, Sirmons. Tennessee 77, Wofford 62: Brent Hampton, Steve McJunkins, Owen Shortt. Second round — Auburn 82, Creighton 70: Hampton, Steven Anderson, Sirmons. Michigan 91, Texas A&M 79: Driscoll, Walton, Jarrett. Ole Miss 91, Iowa St. 78: Gaffney, Kimble, Burdett. Michigan St. 71, New Mexico 63: Irving, Oglesby, Chiazza. Florida 77,
•James “Pat” Chambless, 78, of Hattiesburg, Miss., died Feb. 6 after a battle with cancer. Chambless officiated for over 30 years — he umpired Dixie Youth and high school baseball and also refereed football.
•Raymond Kubani, 59, of Davison, Mich., died Feb. 10. A member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, Kubani refereed high school and college basketball. He also worked baseball and lacrosse.
•Pat Cronin, 78, of Racine, Wis., died Feb. 21. He refereed high school and youth football
Tatum Littleton
William Paschal
Larry Pettis
Dominic Romero
David Saball
Double-A EASTERN LEAGUE
Tim Barreras
Warren Eubanks
Jon Forster
Davion Frye
Stone Garver
Jaylen Goodman
Ethan Gorsak
Garret Griffin
Tre Jester
Brian Laws
Elliott Melton
Gerritt Nelson
Trevor Patience
Rafael Pineda
Alex Shears
Josiah Shepherd
Jack Wason
Tyler Witte
SOUTHERN LEAGUE
Jamal Allen
Joe Belangia
Daniel Bytheway
Jared Duerson
Chandler Durham
Tyler Hovick
Dylan Hulsey
Spencer Kim
for 25 years.
• Paul Eckert, 79, of Waukesha, Wis., died March 4.A WIAA official for over 55 years, Eckert worked football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer and volleyball. He officiated 34 state tournament events across those sports.
•Larry Flint, 78, of Newport, N.H., died March 20. Flint started officiating volleyball in 1982 and was an original member of the New Hampshire Volleyball Officials Association. He also umpired softball.
Do you have any rosters, assignments or awards that warrant mention?
Send info to us at ForTheRecord@referee.com
Paul Roemer
Shane Sullivan
Chad Westlake
Nobuoki Yasuta
TEXAS LEAGUE
Drew Boffeli
Travis Brewer
Cas Cousins
Nathan Diederich
Ian Durkin
Nelson Fraley
Robert Ginther
Nathan Hall
Justin Juska
Derek Pacheco
Chad Patterson
Jonathan Rector
Isabella Robb
Mickey Smith
Brandon Tipton
Triple-A
David Arrieta
Brock Ballou
Mark Bass
Matt Blackborow
Dylan Bradley
Denver Dangerfield
Trevor Dannegger
Tanner Dobson
Thomas Fornarola
Darius Ghani
Macon Hammond
Steven Hodgins
Casey James
Steven Jaschinski
James Jean
Evin Johnson
Austin Jones
Tyler Jones
Dexter Kelley
Ty Krauss
Louie Krupa
Kaleb Martin
Trevor Matthews
Joe McCarthy
Tanner Moore
Raul Moreno
Felix Neon
Thomas O’Neil
Jonathan Parra
Ray Patchen
Jen Pawol
Ben Phillips
Dane Poncsak
Charlie Ramos
Jeremy Riggs
Steven Rios
Austin Snow
Sean Sparling
Pete Talkington
Willie Traynor
Mitch Trzeciak
Ray Valero
Bryan Van Vranken
Kelvis Velez
Charlie Welling
Dillon Wilson
LAW ISSUES AFFECTING
Injury Timeout
By Scott Aronowitz
If you read this page regularly, you know a common theme here is limiting liability. You also know we exist in an overly litigious society where people seek relief from the courts for just about every perceived injustice they encounter. Look no further than the recent lawsuit threatened by West Virginia University against the NCAA in the wake of a perceived snub from the men’s basketball tournament, among other instances.
Thankfully, courts have generally stayed out of such disputes. However, when legitimate damages occur during a contest, rest assured the courts get involved. When a person suffers injuries, that potential plaintiff will often seek relief from any party that could have liability. A contest participant — anyone subject to the rules — is no exception.
Litigation can be both a financial burden and a mental strain on the official and his or her family.
Lawsuits can occur regardless of how we prepare, but their success depends on whether we adhere to our duties in limiting serious injuries and consequently limiting our liability. Before the contest, it is important to ensure the field or court is in a condition that is safe for the participants — for example, no sprinkler heads protrude from the ground. During the contest, act within the scope of your duties pursuant to your sport’s manual. I cannot stress enough the Midwest Casualty v. Harpole et al. case in which the court found in favor of the officials because one of the crew “was where he was supposed to be, doing exactly what his job required.” In that case, a football referee was sued by a coach after a sideline collision.
When a serious injury — and anything else that requires a medical
professional, ambulance, etc. — occurs during a contest, use that time to confirm with your partner(s) the details of how the injury occurred, if possible. Part of our job is to communicate with coaches, so if there is an inquiry about how a player ended up on the ground, you should articulate that, briefly and within the context of the play (for example, “late hit”). It is not necessary to make any further comment, especially when it could be used against you.
Write down any relevant and factual information — weather, field conditions, etc. — especially when there is no film to corroborate your observations. Also, preserve it in case the injured party takes legal action. The statute of limitations to file for injury cases typically begins on the date the injury occurs, and it differs in each state. Florida, for example, is two years, while North Carolina is three years. Finally, any time a major incident occurs in a contest, you should contact your assigner and file an incident report.
The filing of a lawsuit alone by an injured plaintiff does not require action. Rather, an official must be a named defendant whose actions or omissions are alleged to have caused the injury. If a lawsuit is filed and you are a named defendant in the lawsuit, do not panic!
If you are an NASO member, you may be protected against third-party claims for injuries under NASO’s general liability insurance protection. Incidentally, in the aforementioned Harpole case, the officials’ millions of dollars in legal fees were covered.
Litigation can be both a financial burden and a mental strain on officials and their families. Taking preventive measures, acting within the scope of your duties and documenting major injuries can ease those burdens when a lawsuit arises.
Scott Aronowitz is an educator and attorney and lives in Yulee, Fla. He is currently a football replay official in the Big Ten Conference and a director of the Gulf Atlantic Collegiate Football Officials Camp. This column is for informational purposes and is not intended as legal advice. *
Judge Denies Injunction in Protest Case
In April, a federal judge sided with a New Hampshire school district in a protest rights case that initially saw a high school soccer referee named among the defendants. Parents in the Bow School District were seeking a preliminary injunction that would allow them to wear wristbands on school grounds to protest transgender participation in girls’ sports.
The First Amendment lawsuit stemmed from a Sept. 17, 2024, game at which several parents were told to leave school grounds for wearing the wristbands.
The lawsuit alleged the referee stopped the game and threatened to cancel it if parents didn’t remove the wristbands. The referee was later released from the lawsuit after agreeing to apologize to the parents, but the suit continues against the school district.
SOURCE: WMUR.COM
SURVEY SAYS …
Have you ever used small claims court to secure payment of officiating services?
THEY SAID IT
“This slippery slope of solving athletic contests in court instead of on campus will inevitably usher in a new era of robed referees and meritless litigation due to disagreement with or disdain for decisions of gaming officials — and unintended consequences which hurts both the court system and the citizens it is designed to protect.”
— Oklahoma County Judge Bernard Jones in a 2014 ruling rejecting Douglass High School’s request to have a final minute of a game replayed due to the officiating crew’s misapplication of a rule that incorrectly removed a go-ahead touchdown
CLASSIFIEDS
CAMPS/CLINICS/ SCHOOLS
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LEADERSHIP RESOURCES
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management articles. Member associations also receive 12 issues of Referee magazine, monthly Advisor newsletters, e-newsletters, massive discounts on training materials and optional insurance coverage exclusive to membership. For additional membership information, contact Ken Koester at 262-632-5448 or visit the Association Advantage website at nasoadvantage.com.
EQUIPMENT/APPAREL
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QUIZ ANSWERS
BASEBALL
1 — NFHS – d (10-1-4a); NCAA, pro – a (NCAA 3-6f; pro 8.02c Cmt. 3)
2 — NFHS – c (8-4-2d Pen.); NCAA, pro – b (NCAA 8-5; pro 6.01a)
3 — NFHS – a (8-4-2e, 3-3-1m Pen.); NCAA – c (8-7c Note); pro – b (6.01i)
4 — All – a (NFHS 3-2-3, 7-4-1f; NCAA 5-3 Pen. 1; pro 6.01a4, 6.01a10)
BASKETBALL
1 — All – c (NFHS 4-20-3, 6-7-8; NCAAM/W 6-5.1.g, 8-1.4)
2 — All – a (NFHS 6-3-2, 6-3-5a; NCAAM/W 9-8.1)
3 — All – b (NFHS 10-1-2e; NCAAM 10-2.3.a; NCAAW 10-12.2.c.1)
5 — All – c (NFHS 10-4-6f; NCAAM 10-4.1.c; NCAAW 10-12.4.a.5)
FOOTBALL
1 — Both – d (NFHS 8-2-5; NCAA 10-2-5c)
2 — Both – a (NFHS 7-5-10 Pen.; NCAA 7-3-8 Pen.)
3 — NFHS – b, d (8-5-3, 9-4-5); NCAA – a, c (6-3-6a, 8-2-1d, 9-116 Pen., 10-2-5-a2)
SOFTBALL
1 — NFHS, USA Softball, USSSA – b (NFHS 6-2-5; USA Softball 6A-9; USSSA 6-1L); NCAA – d (10.19.2)
2 — All – c (NFHS 6-2-5 Note 2, 6.2.5B; NCAA 10.19.3.2; USA Softball 6A-9; USSSA 6-1L Exc.)
3 — All – c (NFHS 8-7-1, 8-7-2 and Pen.; NCAA 12.16.1, 12.16.2 and Eff.; USA Softball 8-7T-3A and Eff.; USSSA 8-2 Eff., 8-18L)
4 — NFHS, NCAA, USA Softball – c (NFHS 8-1-1d, e and Pen.; NCAA 9.5.3 Eff.; USA Softball 8-1D-3 Eff., R/S 36); USSSA – d (8-4E).
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TRAINING RESOURCES
* Referee Training Center — The largest library of officiating training materials in the world. Rules study, mechanics updates and materials on important topics can all be found in one location 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with sample chapters and video samples. Discover it all at store.referee.com.
JULY
FLASHBACK
40 YEARS AGO … 1985
•MLB umpire Bill Kunkel, 48, dies after battling multiple forms of cancer. An AL umpire since 1968, Kunkel worked the World Series twice (1974 and 1980) and umpired four Championship Series (1971, 1975, 1978 and 1982) as well as two All-Star Games (1972 and 1977). Kunkel was a relief pitcher in MLB from 1961-63 and officiated basketball. He refereed in the NBA from 1966-68 and worked in the ABA for the 1968-69 season.
SOCCER
1 — All – b (NFHS 10-1-3d; NCAA 15.2.4; IFAB 15)
2 — All – a (NFHS 12-5-1f9; NCAA 5.6.4; IFAB 12.3)
3 — NFHS, NCAA – b (NFHS 9-21c; NCAA 9.3.2); IFAB – c (9.2)
4 — NFHS, NCAA – a (NFHS 9-23; NCAA 9.3.2); IFAB – b (8.2)
5 — All – c (NFHS 11-1-5; NCAA 11.2.3.1; IFAB 11.2)
VOLLEYBALL
1 — All – c (NFHS 11-4-3, 11.4.3; NCAA 11.3.7.3; USAV 17.1.1, USAV Guidelines for Dealing with Blood)
2 — NFHS, NCAA – b (NFHS 10-3-6 Note, 10-4-3-a2, 10.3.6B; NCAA 11.3.6.1.3, 12.3.1.1.2); USAV – a (15.7, 19.4.2.2)
3 — NFHS, USAV – b (NFHS 7-1-2a; USAV 7.3.2); NCAA – a (10.1.1.1)
30 YEARS AGO … 1995
•The NFL hires 13 new officials for the upcoming season and expands from 15 to 16 officiating crews. The league hired more new officials than in an average year due to the addition of two expansion teams, the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars.
20 YEARS AGO … 2005
•Houston Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy is fined $100,000 after he implied an NBA referee tipped him off about an unfair officiating bias against Rockets center Yao Ming. The NBA later issued a press release stating Van Gundy had admitted no NBA referee spoke to him about unfair officiating bias. The $100,000 fine remains the largest ever levied against an NBA head coach.
MISSION
Referee is a magazine written from an officiating perspective, blending editorial credibility and business viability. It educates, challenges and inspires officials at the youth, recreational, high school, collegiate and professional levels in all sports, with an emphasis on baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball and volleyball. Referee is the journal of record for officiating and takes informed positions on selected issues. The magazine provides a forum for its readers, facilitates the flow of information, raises public consciousness about officials’ roles and serves as a catalyst for improved officiating worldwide.
10 YEARS AGO … 2015
•The NFL hires Sarah Thomas, its first full-time onfield female official. Thomas, who had previously officiated for eight years in Conference USA, was hired as a line judge. She switched to the down judge position in 2017 and received the NASO Inspire Award in 2024.
I Became a Pickleball Referee
On Jan. 11, about a year after beginning my referee journey, I received my Level 1 USA Pickleball referee credential (at age 59). I’m also a player, and often faced a question laced with a bit of skepticism from my friends and partners: “Why do you want to referee?”
I came to realize that refereeing was in many ways much more challenging than playing in a tournament.
There were several reasons. The first seed was planted in 2023 when I played in the Irish Open while on vacation. There was a referee contingent from the U.S. on site in Dublin to help train Irish officials, and I thought that seemed like a wonderful personal and professional opportunity for them. At the time, there was a lot of buzz surrounding the possibility of pickleball becoming an Olympic sport — with a requirement of referees from all countries represented. I thought, “Hmmm.”
I travel a lot to play in tournaments and often have a day or two between matches, so why not maximize my time by officiating on off days? I’m also getting older and when I stop playing, I can transition to full-time refereeing with
experience under my belt. And I’m the kind of person who likes to learn new skills — I’m a novice blacksmith and have dabbled in boxing. When I first reached out to USA Pickleball, I was connected with mid-Atlantic referee coordinator Gail Scavongelli. She was quick to share online resources, register me for referee training calls and invite me to join her and other referees at local tournaments. One of the first resources I read (and continue to review to this day) is the rulebook. Never as a player did I actually take the time to review the rules — of which there are many. I’m not familiar with other sports, but pickleball rule changes happen every year. Players and referees alike must get used to tweaks made to rules that govern play. Every time I step on the court, I learn something new, encounter a new scenario or enlighten a rec player about how a point should be scored. Without being judgmental, it’s amazing how many players don’t know the rules.
There are a handful of OGs in the pickleball refereeing world. Two of them, Nancy Kaplan and Bob Swisshelm, lead weekly calls on different nights to allow referees from all over the U.S. to talk through timely issues, the rulebook, challenging scenarios and share insights with each other. Even some of the most experienced referees on the Zoom calls have questions of their own and occasionally disagree — with professionalism — on how certain situations could or should be handled. One seasoned referee once told me everyone is still a referee in training because there is always something new to learn. Wise man. To add practicum to my mostly self-guided training, I ask recreational players if I can referee their games at my local courts. Sometimes, I just watch everyday games and referee “in my head” while observing. I rehearse scripts and watch for foot faults and, when they ask for help, make a ruling or answer a rules question.
Looking back on all I gained through my journey thus far, I realized a few unintended benefits of my training. First, as a player, I learned a lot about how to win by refereeing the matches of better players. I’ve met so many wonderful, caring people from across the U.S. who make a real effort to provide support and opportunities to others. Off court, I’m helping teach newbie tournament players what to expect in officiated play — something I think benefits everyone involved.
I came to realize refereeing was in many ways much more challenging than playing in a tournament. Referees are on their feet and, thus, “on their toes” the whole day, nonstop. Never underestimate the value of a good night’s sleep for mental sharpness and visual acuity, and the right shoes, because standing in place can be much harder on the feet and back than moving around while playing. Players have spent a decent amount of time and money to get to a tournament, so a lot is riding on their experience. Staying focused and making timely, accurate decisions in a fast-moving sport is critical.
In my professional life, I am a public relations specialist who works with professionals to help them communicate the value of what they do and how their industries benefit the nation and the world. I think if I were to do the same for the pickleball referee community, I would try and find ways to bridge the knowledge gap between what a player thinks referees do (keep score) versus what we actually do (officiate matches).
I let my friends know how much time, effort and care officials put into ensuring that play is fair, safe and rewarding for everyone — and how much hard work goes into both.
Dani Mackey, Reston, Va., is a firstyear pickleball referee. She has been a professional pickleball player since 2021, having played in the U.S. Open, Irish Open and the U.S. Nationals. *
Do you have a personal officiating story to tell?
Send your story or queries to lastcall@referee.com
IT’S OFFICIAL
Patrick Kepp to Receive 2025 Inspire Award
Few people have experienced such a tragedy as Sgt. Patrick Kepp. While on duty and attempting to deploy stop sticks, the college football official and Montgomery County (Md.) police sergeant was struck Oct. 18, 2023, by a teenage drunk driver going 110 mph on I-270 during a chase near Washington D.C.
The mere fact Kepp is alive is miraculous. But his story doesn’t end there. After 10 surgeries and the amputation of both legs before being fitted for prosthetics, roughly two months following the accident Kepp was walking again. And now, he is back to work in both his law enforcement and officiating duties.
“Patrick’s story is unlike any other in the officiating community,” said Bill Topp, NASO president. “Through such tragedy, he has persevered to exhibit the values cherished by the officiating industry. His work galvanizes people in officiating, law enforcement and beyond and we are honored to present him the Inspire Award.”
Rather than suppress the memories and the traumatic experiences, Kepp uses them to fuel his outlook. Following
july 2025
the accident, he was airlifted to the University of Maryland Medical Center’s shock trauma unit in Baltimore and remembers being prepped for surgery. He explains that he is glad he is able to think back on the experience because as a law enforcement officer he is often immune to the negative. He has accomplished incredible rehabilitation at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and knows the significance of tracking his recovery milestones.
“Officiating has been such an important part of my life since I was 13 years old,” Kepp said. “Being on a college football crew has shaped my recovery. My own family, my
law enforcement family and my officiating family has helped me realize a positive spin through this reality. I am thankful for the recognition through this award.”
Kepp fulfilled replay duties for the 2024 football season and worked his first onfield assignment April 5 during a scrimmage at James Madison University. He plans to be back on the field during the regular fall season in 2025.
The Inspire Award will be presented by NASO to Kepp in Montgomery, Ala., July 29 as part of the Celebrate Officiating Gala, sponsored by Fox 40 International. The Gala wraps up the annual Sports Officiating Summit.
NASO Board Meets in Chicago to Discuss Business
The state of association and its business affairs highlighted the agenda when the NASO Board of Directors gathered April 8-9 in Chicago. Key happenings from the 2024 calendar year and the outlook for the future of the association drove the conversation. The all-time high mark of NASO membership, more than 32,000 individuals, was a point of discussion for the meeting as well.
Chicago, especially considering the timing of an all-time membership high,” said Lisa Jones, NASO board chair.
“There’s something powerful about being in a room with people who care this much about officiating. As board chair of NASO, I’m proud of the important work we are doing to strengthen the support, training and respect that every sports official deserves.”
The next NASO board meeting will take place July 27 in conjunction with the 43rd annual NASO Sports Officiating Summit in Montgomery, Ala. The event will mark the first time a Summit has been held in the state of Alabama. NASO will tackle the challenges,
“Expansion
of
“It was so great to get together with the board in
Editor: Julie Sternberg
Sports Editor: Brent Killackey
Graphic Designer: Dustin Brown
Contributors: Don Collins, George Demetriou, Alan Goldberger, Joe Jarosz, Addie Martin, Patrick Rosenow, Tim Sloan, Brad Star, Je rey
Stern, Brad Ti rington, Sco Ti rington
NASO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lisa Jones, Salt Lake City, Chair
Ron Torbert, Hanover, Md., Vice Chair
Bill Topp, Racine, Wis., President
Dana Pappas, Lebanon, Ind., Secretary
Mark Uyl, DeWi , Mich., Treasurer Dean Blandino, Santa Monica, Calif.
Paul LaRosa, Hendersonville, N.C.
Jason Nickleby, Lake Elmo, Minn.
Sandra Serafini, Yachats, Ore.
Rob Wigod, Los Alamitos, Calif.
Gary Zielinski, South Jordan, Utah
*Ron Foxcro , Hamilton, Ontario, Special Adviser
*Barry Mano, Racine, Wis., Special Adviser
*Non-voting members
NASO MISSION STATEMENT
e mission of NASO is to:
• Serve members by providing benefits and services.
• Improve o ciating performance through educational programs.
• Advocate opportunities for o cials and engage in programs to recruit and retain o cials.
• Create alliances with organizations that benefit from healthy o ciating programs.
Some key topics covered at the meeting include an overview of the state of the association, an executive summary of the association’s membership and financials, and the annual audit report presented by NASO board treasurer Mark Uyl, who is the executive director for the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Membership growth plans, board member elections and the Sports Officiating Summit rounded out the main agenda items.
“The association is well positioned and delivering on its mission,” said Bill Topp, NASO president. “The organization is in good hands with this board of directors and we are excited about the work ahead coming off our recent meeting. Expansion of member benefits and services to individuals in niche sports has been a highlight of the last year and we are thrilled to partner with many groups who are new to us. We are glad to call them part of the NASO family and look forward to serving them alongside our existing membership.”
member benefits and services to individuals in niche sports has been a highlight of the last year and we are thrilled to partner with many groups who are new to us. We are glad to call them part of the NASO family and look forward to
serving them alongside our existing membership.”
–
NASO President Bill Topp
success stories and strategies associated with leadership in the officiating industry. The educational program will focus on developing, directing and defending sports officials with positive leadership. The NASO board of directors and important partner organizations look forward to the industry event of the year for educating officals and celebrating sports officiating.
Benjamin Franklin once famously said, “Nothing is certain except death and taxes.” You can thankfully add the Law and Liability session at the annual NASO Summit to the list of certainties as well. And this year’s edition of the NASO Summit, held July 27-29 in Montgomery, Ala., is no exception.
This year’s session “Critical issues in Officiating: MICP Live!” will take place Tuesday, July 29, in the main ballroom and features renowned sports officiating legal expert Alan Goldberger. With 50 years of experience, Goldberger is a nationally recognized authority on sports officiating and sports law.
“It’s always interesting to see how people do things and the scrapes they get into and the questions people have,” Goldberger said. “You can point them to an answer that may help them in a game; that is what you try to do.”
Joining Goldberger on the panel are Don Collins, Jina Doyle and Scott Aronowitz. Collins is the retired commissioner of athletics for the California Interscholastic Federation, San Francisco Section, who also serves as a sports consultant and has advised numerous high school leagues and amateur sports officials associations. Doyle is the executive vice president of client services for American Specialty Insurance & Risk Services Inc., which provides insurance for all NASO members. Aronowitz is an attorney and adjunct faculty member at Florida State College at Jacksonville and is the Gulf Atlantic
College Football Official Camp director. He is a Big Ten football replay official. The session will be moderated by Referee editor Brent Killackey, who oversees the monthly Law column in the magazine. He also moderated last year’s Law and Liability session.
“I’m thrilled to moderate this session and pose questions to this incredible panel of sports law and insurance experts,” Killackey said. “This is a group deeply plugged into legal and insurance trends in the sports officiating industry, and their insights on critical topics will be invaluable to working officials, leaders of associations and governing bodies and, frankly, anyone working within the sports officiating industry.”
The session focuses on hot topics within the officiating industry and gives advice to help officials and officiating leaders understand the dangers and pitfalls they may not even be aware of that exist in today’s litigious society. The audience has the opportunity to vote and decide which topics are discussed on stage. Topics are pulled from recent cases being discussed within the legal field. The goal of this session is to offer advice to association leaders on how to adequately train officials and prepare them for realworld experiences that could potentially lead to trouble. The panelists will focus on the myths and misunderstandings that often get both officials and their associations in trouble.
According to Goldberger, some recent hot topics likely to
Learn About the Law Live at the summit
be discussed include fighting situations, writing reports, dealing with player eligibility and disqualifications, illegal equipment and waivers, dealing with spectators, employees versus independent contractors, and due process, or the lack thereof, for officials who are punished by their associations.
“Officials are really being tasked with issues that fall outside their purview,” Goldberger said. “A lot of these things are not intuitive, they are counter-intuitive. Too many officials are not properly instructed on how to deal with these situations and we are often our own worst enemies.”
The Law and Liability session leads directly into The Legal Forum: Legal and Liability Q&A, a lunch workshop allowing attendees to ask more personal questions from the esteemed panel on all things pertaining to sports officiating law. This luncheon provides a more intimate setting for attendees to ask one-on-one questions and get more information about specific situations that may not get brought up during the main session in the ballroom. It also allows the panelists a chance to get more into the weeds on certain situations and flush out the answers to today’s hot-topic questions.
“We try to point out the trouble spots and situations officials get into to avoid the blind spots,” Goldberger said. “It’s always interesting to see what is on people’s minds and we have a chance to iron some things out and help somebody.”
Has your state passed laws related to assault and/or harassment of sports officials, officials’ liability and independent contractor status? State laws criminalizing attacks and harassment of officials serve as a deterrent and tell prosecutors, judges and juries that such acts are to be taken seriously. Limited liability laws are an added protection to exempt officials (sometimes only volunteer officials) from liability for injuries unless they are grossly negligent. Independent contractor laws classify officials as such — at least for the purposes of workers’ compensation.
While the scope of state legislation varies, sports officials should be able to perform their duties without threat of personal injury, administrative hearings or litigation because of game calls. State legislators can show support for officials by passing laws to protect them.
NASO has been bringing attention to assault/harassment, liability and independent contractor issues for years. The map, updated for 2025, displays the states that have passed laws dealing with those issues. There are 23 states that have officiating assault and/ or harassment laws (including 21 with criminal laws and two with civil statutes), 17 with limited liability legislation and 15 states with independent contractor laws. In addition, three states — Idaho, Washington and Missouri — have supportive resolutions for officials.
Pass Legislation in Your State
Since 1984, when NASO first submitted model legislation regarding assaults against officials, legislators have used such models to construct their own legislative bills. There is no fool-proof plan to get the job done. Each state handles legislation differently. Before you move forward, do some research. Request an NASO Assault Legislation Packet and visit naso.org.
Legislation Updates
Many states have pursued or are pursuing officiating legislation in 2025. NASO supported some of
Sports Officials Legislative
those efforts through contacting officials in the state to make them aware of the bills and providing written testimony. Here are recent legislation efforts:
Virginia Passes Law to Protect Officials — Senate Bill 986, which was signed into law March 21, makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for a person to commit a battery against a sports official before, during or after a game or contest (see page 6 for more details).
West Virginia Governor Vetoes Bill — SB 531, which called for minimum sentences for the state’s current assault and battery of sports officials code, was vetoed by the governor April 30. The bill had
previously passed both the House and Senate after several updates.
Connecticut — HB 6506, which was introduced in January, calls for the general statutes to be amended to provide enhanced criminal penalties and civil remedies for, and a public awareness campaign about, attacks on sports officials. The bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Judiciary Jan. 24 with no further action taken.
Iowa — SF 50 and HF 52, which called for sports officials to be among the category of “persons in certain occupations” within which assault penalties elevate to a felony, were introduced at the start of the legislative session in January and advanced through subcommittee
Legislative Scorecard
to the Senate Judiciary and House Public Safety Committees. However, the bills did not advance out of those committees.
Maryland — Cross-filed HB 462 and SB 112, introduced in January, prohibit a person from intentionally causing physical injury to an official and aim to protect officials by establishing that a person who violates the act is guilty of a misdemeanor of assault in the second degree and is subject to certain penalties. The bills died in committee.
Massachusetts — HB 1600, HB 1625, HB 1682 and HB 1969, were introduced and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary Feb. 27. The bills call for enhanced penalties
for assault and/or harassment of sports officials.
Minnesota — SF 190 and companion bill HF 354 were introduced Jan. 16 and Feb. 13 and referred to the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. The bills call for enhanced penalties establishment for those who assault sports officials.
Missouri — HB 379 was first introduced Jan. 8. The bill expands the definition of special victim to include sports officials at a sporting event. As of press time, no hearings were scheduled for the bill.
Nebraska — LB 657 was introduced Jan. 22 and referred to the Judiciary Committee on Jan. 24. The bill creates the offense of assault on a sports official and
provides a penalty under the Nebraska Criminal Code. Ater a hearing on Feb. 12, no further action was reported.
New Jersey — S2992 and A4176 were introduced in March and April 2024. The identical bills, which upgrade certain types of assault against sports officials to aggravated assault, were referred to the Judiciary Committees. A4176 was approved by the Judiciary Committee in December and reported and referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee. The fiscal estimate was reported in February and as of press time, no further action was taken.
New York — AB 3422 and SB 662 establish the crime of assault on sports officials and aggravated harassment of a sports official. The bills were referred to the Codes Committees in January.
Ohio — HB 79, which increases assault penalties if the victim is a sports official, was introduced Feb. 10 and is currently in the Judiciary Committee. Three committee hearings resulted in no further action as of press time.
Pennsylvania — HB 102 was introduced and referred to the Judiciary Committee in January. It is an act to amend Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in assault, providing for the offense of harassment of a sports official.
Utah — HB 140 was introduced in January to create the crime of assault or threat of violence against a referee. It passed the House on Feb. 11, but it later failed passage after returning from the Senate March 7.
Washington — HB 1085 and SB 5272 called for improving school safety by extending penalties for interference by, or intimidation by threat of, force or violence at schools and extracurricular activities and requiring schools to notify the public of such penalties. Both bills died in committee before reaching the House and Senate.
Go to naso.org for the latest legislation information and links to the proposed bills.
Virginia Protects Officials With New Legislation
Ever since NASO first submitted model legislation regarding assaults against officials in 1984, it has encouraged individual officials and officials associations to get involved in legislation efforts.
A sports official in Virginia did just that. Virginia Senator Angelia Williams Graves said the idea for Senate Bill 986 was brought to her by a referee in her district. She didn’t name the official, but said the individual had witnessed many incidents of poor behavior by parents and other spectators. Fast forward to March 21 and Virginia became the latest state to pass assault/battery legislation. The new law goes into effect July 1.
“This was one of my favorite pieces of legislation to champion this year, and I am glad my colleagues took the matter seriously,” Williams Graves said. “I consistently emphasized, ‘No referees means no games.’ If we don’t have
The new law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for a person to commit a battery against a sports official engaged in the performance of his or her duties or on the premises prior to engaging in his duties or upon conclusion of his duties.
games, our children are left with nothing to do but get into trouble.”
The new law makes it a Class 1 misdemeanor for a person to commit a battery against an official engaged in the performance of his or her duties or on the premises prior to engaging in his duties or upon conclusion of his duties.
The protection doesn’t stop there. The law also provides that an individual who is convicted of such an act may be prohibited from attending any such sports event operated by the entity or organization that employed such sports official for a period of not less than six months as a term and condition of the sentence.
“I’m glad that there will be consequences for this type of behavior instead of a ‘slap on the wrist’ or in most cases, no consequence at all,” said Ryan Buslovich, commissioner and supervisor of officials for the Fredericksburg (Va.) Volleyball Officials Association. He also assigns for the Rappahannock Women’s Lacrosse Officials Association and the
Metropolitan Field Hockey Association Inc. “I am hopeful that this new legislation will make a difference and that it is actually enforced.”
Rappahannock Valley Football Officials Association (RVFOA) leaders also see the value the new law could have in recruitment efforts.
“This is a step in the right direction,” said Chris Kennedy, RVFOA commissioner. “Most instances of assault against officials occur at the youth level. This is also where newer officials learn the craft. It is my hope that this new law will hopefully discourage some of the negative behaviors seen at youth events.
“Interestingly, in our last board meeting, we had a member address the board to discuss these concerns and how it can have a negative effect on recruitment. If I am an individual who wants to officiate sports, but I am worried about the behaviors of spectators, which I believe is a major deterrent to people joining officials associations, why do it? Now with this
legislation, we hope that those who are interested can look past this knowing there are some repercussions against spectators.”
Mark Priebe, RVFOA treasurer, said, “I believe this will allow associations to recruit more officials by sharing the fact that we now have some level of protection. People that harass or abuse
officials can be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor. I think parents, fans, coaches and others will think twice about insulting or berating sports officials. When we lose officials in our associations, we often ask why they are leaving, and I would say overwhelmingly the No. 1 answer is the behavior of parents and fans toward the officials.”
With the new legislation in Virginia, there are now 23 states with officiating assault and/ or harassment laws (including 21 with criminal laws and two with civil statutes). In addition, Idaho, Washington and Missouri have supportive resolutions. Can your efforts result in adding No. 24 or bolstering protection in a state that already has a law?
Stand Out From the Pack
In order to attract new members to your officials association, it’s a good idea to stand out from the pack. Here are some great ways for your group to get noticed.
Advertise Your Group’s Offerings
Help your group draw attention from the public by sharing what your group does, whether it’s through your website, newspaper notices or a booth at a job event. Advertise clinics or new official information meetings. Share with schools and businesses the benefits of officiating and how your association can lead the way to an officiating career.
Give Back to the Community
Sure, your group’s officiating on the field and court is a service to the community, but consider doing more. Maybe it’s organizing a fundraiser for a local charity or volunteering for a community charity event. Some groups have had their officials run a charity race in their striped shirts to
draw attention to officiating. Other associations encourage their officials to donate a game check to a worthy cause. Get creative.
Share Your Stories
Share your members’ officiating stories. If your local newspaper or news station wants to do a story on your association or a member of your group, don’t turn them away. Encourage members to share their stories, whether it is how they got into officiating or what it was like to work a
ASSOCIATION ADVANTAGE
Running a local officials association is demanding. You volunteer your time and effort to make it the best you can. But there’s no reason you have to do it alone. NASO Association Advantage exists to help you face any challenge and elevate your association in the process. Whatever challenges you have — training, insurance, legal issues, meeting help, bylaws and organization, membership issues and more — WE HAVE A SOLUTION TO MEET YOUR NEEDS.
PLATINUM & PLATINUM SHIELD
Association Advantage Platinum is the premier resource for maximizing the performance of your group, providing leadership and administrative resources to help you elevate your organization with a focus on training,
big game. They let the public see the positive side of the avocation. And they may even make them consider joining the avocation.
Educate Parents and Fans
Contact your local schools to offer to do a rules presentation. Show parents and students that you care about the sport and want participants to have a positive experience. Seeing officials away from the game in such a capacity can lead players and fans to see officiating in a new way.
assigning, legal issues and best practices specific to local officials association management.
TITANIUM & TITANIUM SHIELD
The Titanium solution is ideal for officials associations that want to maximize their organization’s performance while fully protecting both their organization and individual members.
DIAMOND
The most comprehensive solution for officials associations that want to fully protect both their organization and individual members, as well as provide full training and testing solutions with an emphasis on video. Association Advantage Diamond is the ultimate answer to every challenge your association faces.
To learn more, go to NASO.org/Advantage or call us at 262-632-5448
Great NASO benefits are nothing new to you, but what about your peers, the leaders of your association, or the fledgling officials you meet at camp? Don’t keep your NASO membership under wraps. Let fellow officials know what NASO provides and encourage them to join. The following are some individuals you may run into while officiating. Let them know how NASO can help.
Eager Eddie
Eddie is a rookie official who started officiating football last fall and now he’s hooked. He’s eager to continue and wants to add another sport. He’s looking for educational materials to get better and rise in the ranks.
NASO can help: Let him know that included in NASO benefits are Referee magazine, full of articles, caseplays and quizzes, and this membersonly It’s Official newsletter with extra officiating content and caseplays designed to help officials grow. The NASO discount for training materials at store.referee.com makes great resources even more accessible.
Recruitment Director Ralph
Just like groups across the country, officiating numbers are down in Ralph’s local officials association (in which you’re a member). It’s his job to lead the charge to do something about it and recruit new officials, but he doesn’t know where to start.
NASO can help: Share that NASO’s Say Yes to Officiating website at sayyestoofficiating. com offers many free resources to help with recruitment and retention needs. Groups can find strategies and accessible
PSAs to aid them in reaching out to their communities.
Info-Searching Isaac
Isaac is always asking deep questions. He’s all-in with officiating and wants to do things the right way, whether that’s postgame reports, taxes or bylaws for his local chapter. He’s always seeking resources and guidance for officiating matters beyond the field and court.
NASO can help: Sometimes it’s tough to know what to do when issues arise, but you can let Isaac know that NASO has officials covered. The Member Information & Consultation Program, included in NASO membership, provides free consultation three times a year. Info from NASO’s Legal Library is also available anytime.
Seeking Security Samatha
Samatha heard about an official from a nearby county who was sued. She’s wondering whether officiating is worth the risk. She knows she doesn’t have the money to defend herself in court if she was sued.
NASO can help: Share that membership includes general liability coverage of up to the $6 million per occurrence, with a policy aggregate of $14 million, for claims for bodily injury, property damage and personal injury (slander) while officiating. Errors and omissions coverage is also included.
Find It Online Fred
Fred is always on his phone before and after games. Sure, he wants to improve his game, but he prefers to get his officiating resources online. It’s a lot more convenient, according to Fred.
NASO Has Something for Everyone
NASO can help: Let Fred know that NASO members have exclusive access to a wide range of digital benefits through the NASO Members App, including the NASO version of Referee magazine. NASO and Referee also have great content on social media and their websites.
Association Leader Leah
Leah is a newly elected president in your association. She’s looking for ways to improve the group, so she sent a member survey asking for suggestions on how to elevate the association.
NASO can help: Share that NASO’s Association Advantage program provides guidance, materials and services to more than 1,000 member associations. Different levels of protection, management and training options allow groups to select what works best for them and their budget.
Networking Neil
Neil is a board member in your association. He is a big believer that networking with other leaders will help improve the association and ultimately improve officials in the group.
NASO can help: Share information about the NASO Sports Officiating Summit. The annual event brings nearly 500 of the brightest officiating administrators, supervisors, leaders and officials together to share ideas, network and explore solutions to the critical issues facing the industry.
Take time to spread the word about your great NASO benefits. Your officiating peers will thank you for it.
sports section Decide, Deliver, Endure: The Official’s Mental Game
By Addie Martin
Confidence. Decisiveness. Perseverance. These three traits are more than buzzwords — they’re the backbone of successful officiating, no matter the sport.
Whether you’re calling a blocking foul in basketball, handling a crucial offside call in soccer, or ruling a bang-bang play at first base in softball or baseball, the mental game matters just as much as your rules knowledge or mechanics. Developing and maintaining confidence, decisiveness and perseverance helps you navigate high-pressure moments, earn respect and keep improving through adversity.
Let’s break each one down, and more importantly, explore how they connect and build on each other.
Confidence: The Foundation Confidence is belief in yourself and your ability to get the call right, even under pressure. It’s not arrogance or perfectionism. It’s the trust that you’ve done the preparation, understand the game and you’re capable of handling the moment in front of you.
Confidence is built through:
• Preparation: Knowing
the rulebook inside and out, studying film and engaging in ongoing training.
• Experience: Every game adds to your mental toolbox. Take time to review situations after games — both the ones you handled well and those you’d approach differently.
• Self-awareness: Understand your strengths and weaknesses. Confidence doesn’t require
in football or signaling a backrow attack in volleyball, your body language and timing speak volumes. Hesitation invites criticism. Indecision erodes credibility.
But decisive doesn’t mean reckless. It means:
• Trusting your timing and instincts.
Confidence is belief in yourself and your ability to get the call right, even under pressure.
perfection; it requires honesty.
As sports psychologist and former basketball referee Dr. George Selleck noted, confidence is rooted in values. When you know your purpose as an official and trust your core, that confidence becomes unshakable, even when a coach is screaming in your face.
Decisiveness: The Action Confidence fuels decisiveness. And decisiveness, in officiating, is everything. Games move quickly.
Officials don’t have the luxury of hesitation. Whether you’re ruling on a close sideline catch
• Maintaining focus so you’re in a position to make the right call.
• Communicating clearly and firmly.
Officials are decisionmakers. Indecision in crunch time undermines the entire crew and impacts game flow. The best officials aren’t always perfect, but they make confident, timely decisions and stand by them with poise.
Perseverance: The FollowThrough
Even the most confident, decisive officials will get it wrong sometimes. You’ll miss a foul. You’ll get questioned, even if you were right. You’ll be
- july 2025
tired, maybe even discouraged at times.
This is where perseverance enters the picture. Perseverance is the mental stamina to keep showing up, game after game, with focus and determination. It’s:
• Working a triple-header even when your legs are shot.
• Resetting after a tough call in the first quarter and staying sharp through the fourth.
• Committing to grow through feedback, critique and adversity.
Officials who persevere have grit. They understand that excellence isn’t a straight line, it’s earned over time, often through setbacks.
The Cycle of Growth
These three traits are interconnected. Confidence fuels decisiveness. Decisiveness builds perseverance. And perseverance, through repetition and reflection, strengthens confidence.
For example, you confidently make a tough call. Your decisiveness stops potential chaos. Maybe it wasn’t popular, but you reviewed it later and confirmed it was correct. That moment becomes a brick in your wall of confidence.
Or you take a hit — maybe you missed something. But instead of letting it shake you, you own it, learn from it and step onto the court/field stronger for the next game. That’s perseverance, reinforcing your mental game.
Every official, from rookies to veterans, benefits from strengthening these traits. They’re not static; you’re constantly developing them.
Practical Steps for Officials
1. Self-assess regularly:
After games, reflect on your confidence levels, decisionmaking and composure. Where did you hesitate? Where did you thrive?
2. Practice pressure: Simulate scenarios in training that require split-second decisions. Role-play interactions with coaches. Get used to stress in a safe environment.
3. Seek feedback: Constructive criticism is gold. Don’t avoid it, ask for it from partners, evaluators and mentors.
4. Mentally reset: After making a mistake, take a breath, refocus and move forward. The next call deserves your full attention.
5. Invest in yourself: Read, attend camps and watch film. Confidence grows from preparation.
Every Game Is a Test
Officiating isn’t easy. But that’s what makes it rewarding. You’re expected to stay calm in chaos, make split-second calls with authority and stay focused for every moment of every game. That takes more than rules knowledge. It takes mental strength.
So, the next time you suit up, remember: Decide. Deliver. Endure.
It’s not a mantra. It’s the mindset that separates good officials from great ones. Addie Martin is an assistant editor for Referee and officiates high school volleyball and basketball.
BASEBALL
Too Many Rulebooks
By Patrick Faerber
In today’s amateur baseball world, it’s not uncommon for an
umpire to work a Little League game on Tuesday, a high school game on Thursday and a travel ball tournament all weekend — all under different rulebooks. That’s a problem.
The average fan may not know the difference between NFHS, OBR, NCAA, or even Little League rules. But for umpires, the burden of mastering these ever-shifting codes is real. It’s not just about knowing the rules — it’s about unlearning and re-learning subtle differences from one day to the next while still managing coaches, players and game flow.
“There are four major rule set baselines in this country,” says Jesse Fagan, a longtime umpire with a background in military training. “OBR, NCAA, NFHS and Little League. Every other rule set — Perfect Game, USSSA, you name it — modifies one or more of those.”
Many of these leagues claim to follow OBR “with modifications.” The issue? Those modifications are often vague, inconsistent or worse, undocumented. Some parks hand umpires 30-page “local rules” that cover everything from gate fees to jewelry policies but never clarify what happens if a batter-runner retreats toward home after overrunning first. That leaves umpires to make real-time decisions in the dark while everyone else assumes the call is obvious.
As Fagan puts it, “When you throw someone on the field who says, ‘I know baseball — I played 17 years ago,’ you’re setting your league up for failure.”
And the failures compound. When umpires receive no formal onboarding — or worse, get trained inconsistently — they not only struggle
to apply the rules but often pass on incorrect habits. “Bad officiating becomes generational,” Fagan explains. “A guy gets by doing it wrong, then trains someone else to do it wrong, and on and on.”
The result? A revolving door of new umpires, frustrated coaches and games that feel more chaotic than controlled.
So what’s the solution?
Start by picking one rulebook and sticking to it. For most amateur and youth baseball leagues, NFHS is the most logical choice. It’s already the standard at the high school level and is designed specifically for amateur competition. It prioritizes safety, accounts for field variability and is written in a way that supports game management — not just strict letter-of-the-law enforcement.
“If we just taught new umpires one rulebook, we could make the whole system more sustainable,” Fagan says.
This doesn’t mean younger divisions can’t have ageappropriate modifications. Of course, things like base distances, pitching limits and no-leadoff rules will vary. But those should be short, clearly written exceptions — one or two pages at most. The underlying structure of the game shouldn’t change from one weekend to the next.
“Two pages,” Fagan emphasizes. “That’s it. One double-sided sheet that fits in your ball bag. If it takes a whole binder to explain how your league works, it’s too much.”
Sticking to a single rulebook also prepares players, coaches and officials for the next level. High school ball uses NFHS rules. If youth leagues do too, they help everyone get ready. And the more consistent the rules are across leagues and
tournaments, the less conflict there will be during the game.
It also helps align expectations with what fans see on TV. “The less we differ from the game people see on TV, the easier our job becomes,” Fagan adds. “It doesn’t mean we’re using pro rules — it just means we’re not surprising everyone every other inning with some obscure house rule.”
At a time when officiating shortages are hitting every level of sport, the least we can do is make the job less complicated. Simplifying the rule environment is a concrete, immediate way to make baseball better for everyone involved — especially the umpires of amateur baseball.
Let’s start by speaking the same language. Let’s start with one rulebook.
Patrick Faerber, Alpharetta, Ga., is a former professional umpire who now works high school baseball and football. He is Referee’s baseball coordinator.
SOFTBALL
It’s Just a Warning
By Brad Tittrington
Game management and communicating with coaches are essential in our line of work. Failure to excel at both of these will lead to short careers and definitely stunt movement up the ladder to higher levels of play. Thankfully, our rulebooks and mechanic manuals give us tools and advice to help us succeed at both of these things. The problem, however, is sometimes we are our own worst enemies when it comes to utilizing these tools. We have the ability to use these tools, yet sometimes we are hesitant to use them for one reason or
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another. One of those tools is the use of warnings. And more specifically, warning coaches when they question judgment. Most often, the questioning of judgment comes when coaches feel wronged when it comes to the strike zone. While it would be great if we could work every plate game and never hear a peep from anyone about the strike zone, that is not reality. Even if we are perfect in our assessment of the strike zone, there will be occasional grumbling from one side or the other. Coaches are seeing the strike zone from the side, so they don’t always have a good look at it. They also see the game with their heart and not their eyes sometimes and they are fighting for their team. But going into a game, we know when we strap the gear on, there is potential for coaches to make comments about pitches.
general chirp from the dugout is often minor. Stepping outside of the dugout to chirp or walking out of the coach’s box toward the plate to chirp are more than minor and should be addressed immediately.
The best way to address this is give the coach a warning. Simply remove your mask, look at the coach and tell the coach, “That’s your warning.” Make sure your partner(s) is aware you warned the coach. It shouldn’t be a secret. That way, if a coach questions judgment again later on, we don’t accidentally give a coach a second warning. The second time, it elevates to an ejection. So, take the time to write the warning down on the back of one of the lineups or on a notesheet if you carry one of those.
something like, “I’ve been umpiring for 30 years and I’ve never tossed a coach. I prefer to talk to them.” The problem with a lot of that bravado is those umpires didn’t handle business and only made things harder for the next crew who has to deal with those coaches they talked to or simply ignored.
The one thing we have to remember is, that is part of the job. There will be some questioning about how we do things. It is the nature of the business. And questioning, in general, is fine. But when that questioning turns to arguing or if the questioning is nonstop, we need to put an end to it. Otherwise, it will be a very long day at the ballpark and you are doing a disservice to every other umpire who is going to have that coach later in the season.
The general rule of thumb is the first time a coach chirps about a call, provided it isn’t over the top, ignore it. Deposit it into your memory bank, but if it is something minor, let it go. The second time it happens (or if the first time is more than just a minor chirp), it needs to be addressed. At this point, the coach needs to understand they have reached their limit. A
The one thing to remember about a warning is it’s just that. It shouldn’t be given in anger and it shouldn’t be confrontational. It is just another call. We are letting a coach know the line has been crossed and continuing to argue will lead to an early exit. It should not be an emotional call.
Most veteran umpires know there are certain coaches who will see how far they can push an umpire and won’t stop until they get a warning, especially if seeing an umpire for the first time. And a lot of times, those coaches don’t say another word once they have been warned. Again, it is simply a warning and a tool to help us manage the game, keep coaches in line and help with ensuring our communications are professional.
The problem we run into is a lot of umpires are hesitant to give warnings. I am sure you’ve all heard umpires say
Our job as umpires is to ignore comments, answer questions and penalize stupidity. Our job is not to keep coaches in the game when they act a fool. In the same token, a warning is a privilege, not a right. If a coach is egregious, don’t give a warning. This would include times where a coach kicks dirt on a plate, swears at you, bumps you, etc. Those instances don’t get a warning, they get an automatic ejection. And usually the first words from a coach once ejected are, “Don’t I get a warning.” The short answer is no. Those types of behaviors should never be tolerated and those coaches should receive a more severe penalty.
Brad Tittrington is an associate editor for Referee. He umpires D-I softball and officiates high school basketball, college and high school volleyball and high school football.
VOLLEYBALL
The Mentorship Journey
By Brad Tittrington
As we get ready to start a new fall season shortly, we should all be setting our goals for how we want the upcoming journey to go. I use the word journey because that is what the season should be about. It should be about the journey and not just the final destination.
As officials, we all have egos. We all want that state championship final or conference title match. For some of us, it may be that we want to be selected to work our first state tournament, our first varsity match or our first collegiate match. Whatever your goal may be, there are certain things you should be doing along the way to help you get there. Remember, no one gets to the top of the mountain alone. And those who have reached the top of the mountain will tell you it took a lot of people to get them there.
be a sponge and listen to your mentor. Take in everything they tell you. You may not agree with everything they say but listen to their advice and add the things that make the most sense to you.
Here are some things we all can do to help in this process and make sure come the end of the season, we have grown as officials and hopefully achieved those goals we set for ourselves.
So, how do we get to that pinnacle? The simple answer is it takes us letting go of some of that ego and asking others for help. There is always something we can learn from others to help us along our journey.
The local association I belong to is very active in getting officials mentors. Those mentors find out what our goals are and take a vested interest in helping each official attain those goals for the season. And it doesn’t take an extraordinary amount of work from the mentor or the mentee to make this relationship meaningful. Let’s face it, we are all busy working games with the national shortage of officials. We are all working three, four, five and sometimes six nights a week, including tournaments on the weekends. There aren’t a lot of extra hours in the day. However, it behooves all of us to take a little bit of time to check in with other officials to see how we are doing.
The first thing to do is let your mentor know what your goals are, both long-term and short-term. Share with them your experience, weaknesses, strengths and your goals. Then,
• Keep a notebook in your officiating bag. It doesn’t have to be a large binder, just something that fits in your bag that allows you to take notes. After each match, write down any interesting plays or challenging plays you encountered. If you aren’t certain if you nailed a specific rule or call, write it down. Then when you get home, look it up. Then discuss it with your mentor. Your mentor may have some great advice on ways you can tweak your mechanics or your understanding of the rule to make sure you get it right the next time it happens.
• Always have a prematch and postmatch discussion with your crew. This will help get you in the right mindset before your match and it will also help you evaluate situations after the match. You can discuss what you’re doing well and the things you can improve on. If your crew gives you feedback, share that with your mentor.
• Watch your mentor or other higher-level officials work. If your goal is to work a state championship, watch officials who have done that and see what they do that you don’t currently do. Same goes if you want to work college. Watch college officials and see how crisp and sharp their mechanics are and how they work with coaches. Then
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incorporate those things you learn into your own mechanics and how you manage a match.
• Never take a night off. Remember, every match is the most important match to those participants. Every match is a chance to work on something. Sometimes if you have a lowerlevel match, it gives you the chance to work on a specific mechanic without worrying about the pace of the game. Try to learn something from every match you work and improve your skills each time you put on the uniform. Your mentor may give you two or three things to work on during your next match. It is much easier to work on those things in a lowpressure environment.
• Take advantage of the tools provided by NFHS, NCAA, PAVO, USAV, NASO and Referee. There are plenty of free resources available to help you with rules and rule differences and mechanics. The resources are available to you, you just have to take the time to research them. Your mentor may be able to guide you in the right direction as well and help you get the most out of these resources.
Having a mentor can be a great experience and help enhance not only your season but your career. And remember, once you have met your goals, pass on the information you have learned and be willing to mentor a new official. So find yourself a mentor now before the season starts and get a head start. And have a great upcoming season and may all your goals be accomplished. Brad Tittrington is an associate editor for Referee. He umpires D-I softball and officiates high school basketball, college and high school volleyball and high school football.
Play: A1 jumps and shoots the ball on a three-point field goal attempt. Defender B2 is moving quickly toward A1 to defend the three-point try. After A1 releases the ball on the try, B2 slips to the side of A1, and A1 sticks out their leg initiating contact with B2, which causes both A1 and B2 to fall to the floor. The contact by A1’s leg occurred (a) while A1 was still airborne, or (b) after A1 had returned to the floor. The ball then enters the basket for a successful try. What is the result? Ruling: When A1 stuck out their leg and initiated the contact with B2, who did nothing illegal, a foul shall be assessed to A1. In (a), since A1 was still airborne, A1 is an airborne shooter, and the result is a player-control foul (NFHS, NCAAM) or offensive foul (NCAAW) on A1. The goal shall be canceled since a foul was committed by an airborne shooter. Team B shall receive a throw-in due to A1’s foul. In (b), since A1 had returned to the floor prior to making contact with the defender, A1 is no longer an airborne shooter. The ball remains live since a try was in flight when the foul occurred, and the whistle was blown. A1’s try shall count. Since the foul occurred while there was no team control, if team B is in the bonus, B2 shall receive free throws. If team B is not in the bonus, team B shall receive a throw-in (NFHS 4-1, 4-12-3a, 4-19-1, 4-19-6, 5-1-2, 6-7-5 Exc. a, 10-7 Pen.; NCAAM 4-1, 4-9.4.c, 4-15.2a, 5-1.15, 6-5.1.d,
Play: Right-handed batter B1 bunts the ball in front of the plate. As he leaves the batter’s box, the ball bounces up and touches his front foot, which is on the ground outside the batter’s box. However, his back foot is still in contact with the ground inside the box. Ruling: In NFHS, this is a foul ball. The batter is still considered in the batter’s box as long as one foot remains in contact with the ground inside the box. In NCAA and pro, the ball is dead and the batter is out. Under those codes, the batter is no longer considered legally positioned in the box and is ruled out for being hit by a batted ball (NFHS 2-16-1f; NCAA 2-35e, 7-7e; pro 5.09a7, 6.03a1).
Plunk
Play: With R1 on first, R2 on second and one out, B3 hits a pop up in the area of first base. F3 moves into position to field the ball. The plate umpire signals, “Infield fly, if fair.” R1 crouches on the base to avoid interfering with the fielder. F3 fails to catch the fair ball and it strikes R1 on the helmet and deflects into the first-base dugout. Ruling: R1 is not out. B3 is out on the infield fly. The ball is dead and the runners remain on the bases occupied at the time of the pitch (NFHS 8-4-2k1; NCAA 8-5k Note 1; pro 5.09b7).
FOOTBALL
Injury Timeout
Play: An official’s timeout is taken when the umpire discovers A1 has twisted his
ankle and is not able to get up from the ground to his feet. The umpire signals to stop the game and play clock and motions for medical assistance from the sideline. Within 20 seconds A1 says he feels fine and wants to remain in the game. Team A requests and is granted a charged team timeout. Ruling: A1 must leave the game for one down because an official declared a timeout for an apparent injury. Team A’s timeout does not allow him to remain in the game (NFHS 3-510a; NCAA 3-3-6a-1).
(NCAA only) a delay penalty if all timeouts have been used. In NFHS, a timeout may not be granted for such a conference once any period has officially ended, or the ball becomes live following the play in question (3-5-2c, 3-5-7h, 3-5-11). In NCAA, a timeout may not be granted for such a conference once the second or fourth period has ended, or the ball is snapped or free kicked following the play in question (3-3-2e-10, 3-3-4e).
SOFTBALL
Deflected Scoring Kick
Play: K1 is attempting a field goal or try. His kick has a low trajectory and it strikes the back of K2, who is about a yard behind the neutral zone, but caroms forward and passes between the uprights and above the crossbar. Ruling: In NFHS, the kick is good. The ball is dead if touches a team K player beyond the neutral zone, but remains live if the struck player is behind the line (2-28-2, 6-2-6, 8-4-1b). In NCAA, the kick is no good. An attempted scoring kick is unsuccessful if the kick touches the ground or touches any player of the kicking team before the kick passes through the goal (8-4-1a).
Requested Conference
Play: Between downs, team A’s head coach asks the referee for a conference to discuss a possible misapplied rule that occurred on (a) the previous play, (b) a play two downs ago, or (c) the last play of the previous period. Ruling: Whether the game is played under NFHS or NCAA rules, the request is granted in (a), but denied in (b) and (c). If the ruling is not changed in (a), the team is charged a timeout or
situation, R1 is ruled out, no pitch is declared and B2 is returned to the plate with the same count (NFHS 8-6-18 Pen.; USA Softball 8-7S Eff.; USSSA 8-18K). In NCAA, leaving early on a pitch is a delayed dead ball and the defensive coach has the option of taking the result of the play or declaring no pitch, the runner is ruled out and the batter returns to home plate with the same count (12.14.2 Eff.).
Dead-Ball Overthrow
Play: With the bases loaded and no outs, B4 hits a foul ball down the left-field line. F7 picks up the ball and throws it to F6, who then tries to throw the ball to the pitcher but throws it over her head. The ball ends up against the dugout fence. Seeing the ball overthrown, all three runners advance and cross home plate. The umpires rule all three runs score. Ruling: Incorrect in all codes. On a foul ball, the ball remains dead until the umpire puts the ball back into play and makes it live. The advancement by the runners happened during a dead ball. The umpires should return all runners to the bases they occupied at the time of the pitch (NFHS 5-1-1d-3, 5-1-4, 5-2-2b; NCAA 6.9.2, 6.9.5, 11.5.1.6 Eff.; USA Softball 1 – Foul Ball, 8-6A and Eff.; USSSA 3 – Dead Ball, 8-16A Eff.).
Leaving Early
Play: R1 leaves early on a pitch that B2 hits to F4. F4 catches the ball in flight and throws to F3 before R1 can return to first base. Ruling: In NFHS, USA Softball and USSSA, the ball is immediately dead when a runner leaves early before the pitch. In this
SOCCER
Taking Advantage
Play: A1 is tripped just outside the attacking penalty area. A1 partially retains their balance and regains control of the ball. The referee signals advantage. A1 continues forward for a few steps and, as they begin to stumble, shoots at the goal and the ball misses wide. Ruling: The game is to be restarted with a goal kick. A1 retained the advantage by taking a shot on goal. Although the ball missed the goal, that does not negate the advantage call (NFHS 5-3-1d; NCAA 5.4.3; IFAB 5.3).
Imposter Goalkeeper
Play: During the course of play, B1 changes jerseys with goalkeeper B2 and B1 takes up a position in the goal. B2 becomes a defender and begins up the field. A3 has the ball and moves forward and takes a shot on goal. B1 jumps up and clears the ball over the crossbar and prevents a goal. Ruling: Both B1 and B2 are cautioned (warned in NFHS) since they changed places while the ball was in play and did not notify the referee of the change. The game is restarted with a corner kick (NFHS 3-5; NCAA 3.9; IFAB 3.4).
IT’S OFFICIAL - july 2025
Illegal Holding
Play: A1 passes the ball toward A2 who then tries to get to the ball by running around B3. B3 moves into A2’s path and unfairly blocks A2’s movement with their body outside the penalty area. B3 makes contact with A2 when attempting to impede their progress. Ruling: B3 was attempting to impede the progress of A2. However, when contact was made this became a holding foul (impeding with contact) and the restart is a direct free kick for team A (NFHS 12-2-4; NCAA 12.2.10; IFAB 12.1).
VOLLEYBALL
Divider Net
Play: A divider net extends from the ceiling to the floor and is located about 10 feet from the court. Team A’s errant pass
sends the ball directly toward the divider net. A1 runs to save the ball and just before A1 plays the ball, A2 pushes the divider net backward to allow A1 to play the ball. A1 directs the ball back toward the court. Ruling: At the moment A2 contacts the divider net to allow A1 to play the ball, the first referee should whistle to end the rally and signal the ball out of bounds. In NFHS, a player may not contact any floor obstacle to gain an advantage (2-4-1b). In NCAA and USAV, only the player making an attempt to play the ball may go into the partition to move it. When a teammate moves a divider net, the ball is ruled out of play (NCAA 4.2.2; USAV 9a).
Spontaneous Action
Play: After an exciting rally, team A’s bench players
jump up and run toward the sideline to celebrate the point and cheer for their team. They quickly return to their team bench (or warmup area/ NCAA, USAV) without delaying the start of the next rally. Ruling: Legal. Substitutes may spontaneously react to an exciting play, provided the reaction does not delay the next rally or the conduct isn’t deemed disruptive or unsporting. If those actions delay the next rally, a delay sanction/unnecessary delay may be assessed at the referees’ discretion. If those actions are unsporting or are intended to taunt the opponent, a conduct sanction may be assessed to the individual(s) at fault or to the coach (NFHS 12-2-7a, 12-2-8; NCAA 6.1.2.1, 6.1.3, 6.3.2.8; USAV 4.2.1, 21.1, 21.2).
The National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) is a nonprofit, educational association providing services and benefits for sports officials. It is run by officials, for officials. If you know a good candidate for membership, please send us his or her name and address. We will forward an invitation to join. For more information contact 262-632-5448 or www.naso.org/membership
