1. Groundwork
You’ve got to have some people who are willing to put in some time. A core group of three people – one to head things up, one to keep track of business details and one to schedule games – can run an association of moderate size. But you also need people who can fill the less-demanding administrative positions. Start with your own crew or people you regularly officiate with. Once the core group dedicates itself to the organization, it can easily pull in more members with a recruiting blitz. You need enough people to cover the games you expect to schedule for your upcoming season. So, start talking to high school seniors and college students. Spread the word that you’re recruiting, and interested people will often come to you. Also approach friends and co-workers, run ads online and in newspapers and recruited officials from other sports.
2. Paperwork
“Each state has its own mechanism for organizing officials,” says Bruce Howard of the National Federation of State High School Associations. The best way to find out how to join your state’s high school association is to contact them directly. Your association will also want to register with your state’s Department of Revenue as a non-profit corporation, with education as your main goal. Write up a document detailing your intentions and the state will walk you through the process. If you register with the state as a not for profit (corporation), you have less liability exposure if someone in your association is sued. You’ll also be able to avoid taxation on dues and clinic charges.
3. Framework
Write bylaws for the association to give it shape and direction. The bylaws should include articles describing the name, purpose and officers of the association. It’s a good idea to appoint a Board of Directors to set dues, schedule meeting dates and provide disciplinary review. Your bylaws might also include a general meeting schedule and spell out what percentage of meeting attendance will be required. Be lenient here. People have conflicts throughout the season. Ideally, members will attend every meeting, but you should excuse absences if there are legitimate reasons for being gone. Make sure you state who keeps financial records and who reviews them. Present a financial report at every meeting. The officers aren’t paid, of course, but the association still needs money for their logo, website, paper, postage and photocopying charges. Some associations have banquets or gatherings. The dues should cover these types of expenses as well.
4. Legwork
Here’s where your organization’s stated purpose comes into play. An association’s purpose should include these five components: “to promote officiating, to further knowledge and understanding of officiating rules and mechanics, to recruit and assist in developing of novice referees, to promote referee advancement and to provide scheduling assistance for referee crews and athletic directors.” Your purposes may vary slightly according to your state’s guidelines and your group’s priorities. But one of the most important things you can do is recruit. Your state will support that because they always need more officials. The association benefits from new blood, too. Gain enough members, and suddenly you’re strong enough to tell an uncooperative school you won’t schedule officials for their sports unless they protect your members from aggressive fans and abusive coaches.
5. Network
Six or seven months before your season begins, contact every athletic director within an hour’s drive of your center of operations. Proudly introduce your association, mention your purpose, stress your experience, offer a telephone number and email address and tell them they can fill their varsity schedules with one call. Athletic directors love the convenience. Ask schools within a 30-mile radius for their underclass schedules as well. In exchange, offer them a guarantee. Something like: “We will provide a full crew with varsity experience. Not every one of them will be a varsity official, but there’s going to be at least one varsity official on the crew.” Adding a promise that the crew would arrive early and work as hard as if it were a playoff game can help. If you live up to those promises, contacting schools every year may no longer necessary. The calls will come to you.
6. Footwork
You can never underestimate the importance of training. Putting untested officials in games can cause problems that diminish the credibility of your association. Holding a yearly clinic is a great way to help alleviate this issue. Get real area players to scrimmage while your new or inexperienced officials practice their mechanics and implementation of rules knowledge.
Even when the season is in full swing, your members should continue training. Monthly association meetings include quizzes and discussions; unusual situations members dealt with or errors they made are often the subjects of both. Crews are also encouraged to run pregame meetings, during which each member reviews his responsibilities. Then there are the after game telephone calls or emails. When people have questions, helping them figure out if they did something right or wrong can be a gratifying part of running an officials association.
7. Teamwork
Sure, rookies can learn plenty officiating an intense varsity match their first time out – the main lesson being how much they have to learn. Bringing in the new officials before the training season begins and going over the rulebook with them is vital. Then if you have a clinic, you can have instructors watching their performance and offering feedback as the games are going on. You’ll be providing moral support and giving the new official much needed confidence.
Another key aspect of training new officials to get them in with a crew of more experienced people when they first start officiating. They’re not just going to be out there facing the wolves alone, veterans will be there to help them out. That practice helps to attract officials who wouldn’t dream of being licensed otherwise. You’ll find it’s vital to the health of your association.
8. Bookwork
The importance of a scheduling secretary/assigner can’t be understated. You need somebody who can stay on top of a schedule that’s as fluid as oil and just as slippery. Games can cancel due to many issues. The same games might reschedule the following week. People are even less predictable. Funerals, business trips, illnesses all knock officials out of games they originally expected to work. While it’s the crew leader’s job to find a replacement, the scheduling secretary may lend a hand. If you can’t find an organizational wizard to fill the position, there are many software programs out there that can assist.
9. Yardwork
Manicured lawns and well-tended gardens turn heads. People admire the work that went into the task almost as much as the beauty resulting from it. In the same way, athletic directors and coaches make important inferences based on appearance. Simply showing up for the game, for instance, can gain an athletic director’s loyalty. But if you want that loyalty to last, your officials need to make the extra effort. Arriving early. Wearing matching shirts with the association logo. Shaving beards, trimming mustaches, cutting longer hair or females wearing hair up. Simple stuff really, and yet it does make a difference. Without your reputation of being to the game on time, looking professional, acting professional, knowing the rules and the mechanics of the game, you may not get those games.
10. Craftwork
Make it a goal for every official in your association to work a playoff game, or the equivalent, in the sport you represent. State mandates vary, of course.
Some people are content to work junior league and underclass games. So be it. In all other cases, let your association’s purpose be your guide. When your new people gain the experience they need to advance, nudge them in that direction. It’s the best way to make sure members of the association get the most from their officiating experience.
Loading ...
