Click Newsletter Category

By Lawrence Tomei Here’s a simple question: Who’s in charge? In some officials associations or chapters, important decisions are made by the board of directors. In others, the officers (centered on the president) are responsible for all key outcomes. In still others, confusion reigns, leaving the membership uncertain who has the last word. If you had to pick, which scenario describes your association and which situation would you prefer? Look to your bylaws for the answer. Bylaws define how an organization is managed and how it will conduct business. TheyRead More

One of the first — if not the very first — training meetings before a new season should be a review of rule changes. It’s part of keeping your members up-to-date and on the same page. Here are some ways you can help the process. 1. Use visual aids If you can get your hands on video that depicts situations in which the new rule would come into play, showing those clips is the best way to explain the change. If video isn’t available, use PowerPoint presentations or any materialRead More

By Donald C. Collins Officials associations are often involved in dispensing game assignments. Those associations literally play a role in deciding who makes money, who doesn’t make money and who gets to officiate a relatively limited number of prestigious games. Officials associations also take things away from officials by fining, penalizing and disciplining them. When you’re involved in giving and taking away resources, you are always vulnerable to a lawsuit. The first thing an association needs to do is protect itself from employment-related lawsuits. That sounds simple, as most officialsRead More

Many new officials leave officiating after the first or second year. Why? While there are a variety of reasons, sometimes it comes down to the fact that officiating isn’t what the individuals expected. Maybe the rules are too difficult, the parents are too harsh or new officials just didn’t feel comfortable turning toward fellow officials when they needed help. Often retention comes down to preparation. If new officials are prepared and have solid resources around them, they just might stay when the going gets tough. 1. Spell out the challenges.Read More

Officiating careers (not to mention everyday lives) are often altered by a move. If one of your members is leaving your chapter and moving to what they hope are greener pastures, you can make part of the experience easier for them by following a few simple steps. 1. Send them off Don’t let any member — particularly a loyal longtime colleague — ride off into the sunset without recognition. Whether it’s just having them stand up at a meeting to share their thoughts and say farewell or a formal goodbyeRead More

By Patrick Rosenow Any group of people working together toward a common goal has a structure and rules by which it operates. Even a group of friends who have a weekly pick-up basketball game share a basic understanding of the who, what, where, when and even why of their Sunday afternoons at the YMCA. There is nothing in writing, but over time they have all come to develop a common expectation of how everything works. Since the group and rules are informal, there may be an occasional misunderstanding, but theRead More

By Lawrence Tomei Communication seems to be a lost art. Yet, as any good leader will affirm, successful organizations are built around good communications. We live in an age in which communication takes many forms, but it remains a two-way street. Early in my officiating career, I assumed coaches, players and my fellow officials knew how to send and receive communications. On or off the field, inside and outside the training meetings, I believed that my efforts to communicate were getting through. It didn’t take me long to realize thatRead More

There’s an old saying in the publishing business: Never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel. There’s a parallel in running an officiating organization: Never tick off the people who administer sports in your state. Staying in the good graces of your state association is a matter of common courtesy and common sense. Here are some tips to follow: 1. Stay connected. Whether your board or point of contact changes or is the same from one year to the next, let the state association know whoRead More

Around bigger cities, there are often several officials associations. Area associations can be competitive when it comes to assignments and contracts. However, there are often plenty of games to go around. For the good of members in the various associations and the officiating industry, area associations should strive to get along and even consider working together at times. 1. Keep your focus on officiating. There is probably a reason you joined one area association over the others years ago. Maybe you didn’t like the way other groups ran things orRead More

By Bob Masucci Perhaps the biggest factor in determining how strong your association will be is the strength of your board of directors and its capacity for getting things done. Recruiting new board members is only step one. Once on board, they need to be integrated into the fold and begin to become productive as quickly as possible. Since your association doesn’t stop operations when a new regime comes on board, new members must hit the ground running. If you were asked whether or not your board members were engaged,Read More