Be the Referee: Preparation for Officials
September 29, 2016
This week, MHSAA assistant director Mark Uyl explains how officials also prepare to be at their best for Friday night's big game.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment – Preparation for Officials - Listen
Football is a game of preparation. During the week, the teams involved, the cheerleading squads and members of the marching band put in a great deal of work to be ready for Friday night. Officials are no different.
All across the state on Monday nights, referees attend local association meetings where they review film from the previous week’s game, talk about rules, coverages and mechanics, so that our team of officials are just as prepared and ready to go as the teams playing each and every Friday night.
In addition to Friday nights, many officials also work freshman and junior varsity games on Thursday, and will often work games on the
weekend – whether it be small college all the way down to youth games – to give those young people on the field the best officiating possible.
Past editions
Sept 22: You Make the Call: Returning Kickoffs - Listen
Sept. 15: Concussions - Listen
Sept 8: Equipment Covering the Knees - Listen
Sept. 1: Play Clock Experiment - Listen
Aug. 25: Clipping in the Free Blocking Zone - Listen
Fruit Belt 'Interacts' to Recruit Officials
August 27, 2014
By Rob Kaminski
MHSAA benchmarks editor
The MHSAA always is seeking creative ideas for recruiting some of the most important people in high school athletics – officials to preside over the games.
The Fruit Belt Officials Association once again hosted an interactive recruitment booth at the Berrien County Youth Fair, staffed by volunteers from the membership.
Freddy Krieger, who coordinated the project for the FBOA, says the outreach effort enabled the group to connect with people outside the athletic community who otherwise likely wouldn’t have known the organization existed.
“There are a lot of people in our area who said, ‘I always wanted to (officiate), but I didn’t know how to start,’” he said. “I heard it from people when I manned the booth myself.”
A longtime basketball official, Krieger, who has also worked soccer and baseball, believes it’s vital that officials associations actively search for new members, rather than waiting for prospects to come to them.
“The average age of officials in the state of Michigan is 48,” he says. “There are a number of us in the association who say, ‘We’ve got to replace ourselves.’”
The display includes flat screen TV monitors with video loop of games in a variety of sports, “Ask the Official” opportunities for the public to find answers to their rules questions, FBOA and MHSAA logos, and an “interest box” where prospective officials can leave contact information.
The booth attracted 43 individuals who totaled 71 officiating preferences in six sports. Krieger reported that a year ago the booth cultivated 108 prospective officials – 23 interested for basketball, 22 baseball, 17 softball, 16 football, 13 volleyball, seven wrestling and 10 soccer prospects.
All prospects are invited to the FBOA general meeting in September, and contact information is forwarded to sport-specific trainers and contact people who diligently follow up to involve them in orientation, training, and integration as officials in various sports.
Individuals from previous years also are re-invited.
“Sometimes it takes a year or two – or even three – to get someone to make the kind of commitment it takes to become integrated into our avocation and submit to the required training,” Krieger said.