But those also are the people who must be watched the most carefully in your association. Those are the folks who handle the money, deal with discipline and give final word on much of your association’s operation. As such, your bylaws — which must be created as a state-law-required prerequisite to state incorporation of your non-profit and which may be amended by the association membership — should state specifically the particulars surrounding your association’s board of directors.

As with for-profit corporations, a non-profit’s board of directors generally includes the officers of the company as well as a number of other individuals. There is the president, who serves as the chief executive officer and is responsible for all management functions within the association. There also is a vice president, secretary and treasurer. After that, an officials association is pretty much on its own in deciding who to include on its board of directors: The chairperson of the association’s disciplinary committee, the immediate past-president, a member-at-large and the chief assignor are among the most popular choices for additional board members.

Along with the fancy titles and the board of director status comes a great deal of responsibility — and not just the responsibility of being the one to bring the chocolate-glazed donuts to the meetings. Foremost among a board’s responsibility is its legal and fiduciary duty to assure that the association meets any legal requirements, that it operates in accordance with its mission and that financial issues are handled in the association’s best interests. That “duty of care” requires directors to do such things as attend meetings, keep up-to-date on any pending association matters and carry out their duties in responsible and reasonable manners. If the local park wants to guarantee that six officials work every game, if a high school wants to require all basketball officials to wear suits upon entering the gym or if a baseball league wants to make the officials provide the bases and other equipment, the board of directors had better be ready with information on those issues and be prepared to handle them quickly and efficiently.

As part of their fiduciary responsibility, board members also are responsible for making sure that the organization has the money it needs to operate effectively. Getting actively involved in fundraising may be the fiduciary duty of every board member.

Selecting a certified public accountant to check the books, review the organization’s fiscal picture and otherwise conduct a complete financial audit — including an audit of the board’s handling of association matters — is another responsibility. In that way, the board can demonstrate to the membership that it indeed is doing its job properly and that all money is right where it should be.

Finally, a board of directors is required to balance, keeping in mind the needs and desires of the membership with the need to act with the non-profit’s best interests in mind — even if that goes against the wishes of the majority of the members.

One of the toughest things that a board of directors deals with is handling conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interest arise when the personal or professional interests of a board member are — at least potentially — at odds with the best interests of the non-profit association. It happens a lot more frequently than you might think. The vice president of your officials association proposes that her lawyer-brother handle the association’s legal affairs, or the secretary of the association suggests that the association buy its members’ uniforms from his cousin, a sporting goods store owner. Those transactions are often perfectly acceptable (check your state’s specific laws, of course) if they benefit the organization and the board makes the decisions in an objective and informed manner. However, keep in mind that even the mere appearance of a conflict is vulnerable to legal challenges and plenty of bad press. Consider adding a line or two in your new association’s bylaws prohibiting or limiting business transactions with board members and requiring board members to disclose any potential conflicts as soon as they arise. And make sure to check with your association attorney if you are ever faced with one of those potential conflicts.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

The post Board Must Lead From The Front appeared first on Referee.com.

Unfortunately, the associations that hold this innocent view of officiating are occasionally surprised by various disruptions. Those disruptions could be an injured official, an official upset over game assignments, an official who wasn’t paid, a sportsmanship problem, officials raising discrimination claims and any of a host of other problems.

Problems can be avoided through preventive measures

Associations may be good at responding to a crisis when it happens, turning to the person in their association who might be able to bring in expertise from their outside work. The success of this approach to officiating correlates to the ability of the troubleshooter. Unfortunately, this approach is not always reliable and can be avoided if preventive measures are in place.

There are many associations that take preventive measures that put more concrete solutions in place. They can require their members to carry liability insurance, make sure that their association is insured and join the NASO MICP program. This gives these associations protection and the ability to consult with someone should things go south.

Ultimately, crisis response — intervention on behalf of the official or the association — has to be a part of a coordinated strategy of education, training, communication and feedback within the association and with the association’s clients. Association leadership has to start with education on association bylaws, policies and other association practices. This education has to be followed by training, actual implementation of the practices (they can’t just be written down on paper and forgotten on a shelf) and feedback from members on how things work.

Associations have to use this same approach with fine policies, penalties and due-process systems. Then, associations need ongoing feedback and have to be willing to consider the feedback and make changes where appropriate.

This process has to occur on other matters, too. Members need a review of basic business practices. Associations will have to call on the attorneys, CPAs and insurance people within their ranks (and outside if that expertise isn’t available) to make sure that there is an educated membership.

Associations also need to continue this process with their clients. Clients need to know what to do — and have someone to tell them to do it  — on matters ranging from pay and hosting officials to sportsmanship and game security.

Intervention should not seem like an ad hoc solution to an emergency.

In a modern officials association, intervention should become a continuation of ongoing education, training, discussion and feedback. Intervention should become a routine practice that flows from ongoing conversations on a wide array of topics that the association has identified as core issues.

The post When Associations Need to Weigh In appeared first on Referee.com.

If it’s not tackling the things on the following list, it’s probably falling short in serving you and the other members, and the schools and leagues to which it directly or indirectly provides officials.

Whether your association has less than 50 members or more than 500, there are certain things every association should be doing to protect the organization and its members from liability, ensure an environment in which members can better themselves and help guarantee the future of the organization.

Take a look at your group. Is it doing the things listed below? If not, perhaps it’s time to get more involved and help steer matters in the right direction.

Carry Proper Insurance

Ask your board what type of insurance the board is carrying and whether they continue to assess whether it’s adequate.

As an organization, your association should make sure it is protected. Your board members should have insurance, and if you’re leasing space, running training or otherwise meeting, your organization should make sure it’s carrying proper liability insurance. If any of the events the organization hosts involves serving alcohol, there are additional risks that need to be covered by insurance. Additional liquor liability insurance may be a wise idea for certain situations.

Educate Members

To help avoid liability, an association should ensure members are being properly trained. Do they know the rules regarding safe equipment? Concussion mechanics? The best associations also make sure their members have opportunities to expand their knowledge of the rules, mechanics and philosophy of the sport(s) they officiate. That can include training sessions, outside speakers and other educational offerings.

Follow Bylaws

Have them and follow them. Well written bylaws should serve as the basis for any actions the organization takes. If there is ever a lawsuit about the board’s activities, having followed your bylaws will help protect the organization. Besides outlining how the group will operate and how any discipline will be handled, bylaws should provide for adequate testing, training and evaluation of officials. They should link an officials’ testing, training, evaluations and overall ratings in a manner designed to place officials in situations that they can presumably control.

Recruit

Eventually old members are going to retire. Most of us would like to stay in officiating until we’re old and gray. But rare is the official who can keep up and keep going deep into his or her retirement years. When the time comes for members to step off the field, court or pitch, there needs to be new people to fill the ranks and fill the games. If your association isn’t taking steps to draw in new members, it will eventually wither and die.

Retain

Far too often, there’s a focus on recruiting new officials. But equally important is making sure there are adequate efforts for retaining existing members. Recognitions, award banquets and other events make sure your members get a positive boost. Another part of retaining is grooming people for leadership positions within the organization — giving them a new reason to stay involved. Keep training opportunities interesting. Occasionally bring in an outside speaker — the NASO Speaker’s Bureau could be a place to turn. On the retention front, it’s also important that for any assigning, that the “good old boys” network gives way to merit-based assignments. Nothing is worse for an association’s morale and long-term future than when a small core in power consistently takes all the plum assignments. Transparency and openness in the assigning process can help.

Mentor

This fits under the retention category. A good mentoring system goes incredibly far in helping officials overcome those early months and years where the challenges are often the greatest — and the risk of losing new officials is highest. The mentoring program should be well-specified and outlined, with the responsibilities of the mentor put in writing and the duties of the mentee outlined as well.

Respond

Silence just doesn’t cut it anymore. If a member is under attack in the media, the association should have a mechanism to evaluate the situation and formulate a proper response. “No comment” used to be the way to go in all cases; today, a lack of a response often looks worse. Also, encourage your association to have a report officer, someone who reviews all significant game reports to ensure officials are saying what needs to be said about an incident, but not straying into territory the report should not be going.

Incorporate

In a rare situation of a lawsuit judgment where insurance doesn’t suffice, the association could be liable, but generally individual board members’ assets can’t be touched when it incorporates.

Audit

The board — and an association’s members — should insist on an annual audit. It’s not because there’s no trust in the treasurer. Good treasurers will insist on an audit for their own protection. It should be standard operating procedure.

Use Technology

The future is now. Why not make full use of the tools available to better run the association? Video is a great tool for training purposes. A website can help promote your organization and facilitate communication with members. Social media can help in that area, too — and really shines in promoting the organization and boosting recruiting efforts. With social media, make sure the association has a policy of what’s appropriate and what’s not for posting.

Plan

A good officials association isn’t just concerned with the board and officer’s activities today, it’s thinking about the future. Giving thought to the time when key members step aside is wise. Many groups descend into chaos — or even collapse — when key leaders step aside and there hasn’t been advance thought on filling those ranks. Having some type of succession planning, and grooming people for future leadership roles, helps ensure the organization doesn’t fall apart the moment a few key members depart.

Stay active in your association, ask questions, get involved and help bring about the changes that will move the group to a better state of existence — one which will help the officials within the association and help the association serve the organizations for which its members serve.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

The post 11 Things Your Officials Association Should Be Doing Right Now appeared first on Referee.com.

Of course, most associations work hard to make sure their officials are not employees, but independent contractors. Consequently, associations are not automatically liable for the negligent acts of their officials. However, that doesn’t mean the enterprising plaintiff’s lawyer is totally out of luck. It just means he has to allege that the association itself was negligent in training or assigning its officials. While it’s possible to imagine a complaint alleging that an association’s negligent assignment of an official to a game resulted in some sort of injury or damage, of all the activities an association takes on, training clearly presents the greatest potential for legal risk.

A great example of how important training can be is the emphasis the NFHS and state associations have placed on training officials to properly handle possible concussions. Naturally, their primary concern is for the safety of the student-athletes, but once they decided to address the issue of head injuries at all in the context of the rules, they had to make sure for legal reasons that they have a sound training program in place.

Almost all local associations have no choice but to take on the job of training their officials in one way or another. It’s one of the main reasons local associations exist. As a result, they have a legal obligation to conduct their training in a reasonable fashion, doing what they can to make sure their members know and properly apply and enforce the rules. Take, for instance, these five areas of training where failures could be more likely to lead to legal liability.

Know the rules regarding safe equipment

In a freshman game, the catcher makes the third out and a sub runs out to warm up the pitcher while he gets his gear back on. If the sub is hit by a bouncing fast ball and gets hurt because he doesn’t have the required protective gear on, the association needs to show it gives training on required equipment to all of its officials, especially the newer ones likely to do sub-varsity games.      

Know and enforce the rules regarding safe equipment

It’s the long anticipated match between two powerhouse soccer programs in the state final. The all-state star for one team had her arm dinged up and is wearing a cast or split that may or may not have been properly covered. No matter, because the referee elects not to check, as he doesn’t want to insult the coach by implying that she would send a player out with an illegal or dangerous piece of equipment. Besides, he isn’t anxious to start the biggest match of the season and delay the telecast by telling the coach her star can’t play. Unfortunately, the referee’s attempt to finesse the issue runs into trouble when the star collides with the opposing team’s MVP and breaks her arm. The MVP misses her traveling team season and loses a probable scholarship. Mom and dad want to know what the association did to make sure its officials understand their obligation to enforce the rules at every game.

Inspect and monitor the playing court or field for safety and rules compliance

With time running out in the half, the marching band is crowding the sideline, waiting for its chance to take the field. They are 30 yards from the line of scrimmage, so no one thinks much about it until a defensive back and receiver fight over a long pass outside the hash marks and go sprawling into the clarinet section, leaving some severely wounded woodwinds. The band boosters, along with a number of other folks, are going to want to know if the association told its officials to keep the sidelines clear at all times.

Know and stay in your lane

Instead of going to game management for help, an official directly confronts an obnoxious fan and orders him to be quiet or leave. The confrontation gets physical and in the process a bystanding fan gets injured. His lawyer wants to know why the association didn’t train its officials to let event staff or security deal with the unruly fan.

Be in the right place,  looking for and at the right thing

You might not think mechanics is a high legal risk area for training, but it can be. Consider a trail official who focuses his attention narrowly on the basketball as it is dribbled in back court nearing the division line and allows two players that were lagging behind to drift out of his field of vision. A shoving match goes unnoticed and suddenly explodes into a sucker punch, which none of the officials see. With proper mechanics, one of the officials would have seen the shoving and could have broken up the brewing storm. Because proper mechanics were not used, a player is undergoing surgery for a fractured skull. The insurance company’s lawyer is going to want to know what the association did to train that crew to make sure they had all 10 players covered.

To be fair, it’s very unusual for an association to be sued for the acts of one of its officials. But if it happens, it’s not likely to be over a failure to adequately train its officials in the complexity of the jump stop or batting out of order rules. It’s going to be over something related to player safety in terms of equipment, the playing environment, or controlling the game. Except for game control, it’s the stuff we often gloss over in meetings, because it rarely comes up in a game. That doesn’t mean it’s not important, and associations need to make sure their members know safety always comes first and ignoring rules about safety puts both the official and association at legal risk.   

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

The post Educate Your Members to Avoid Liability appeared first on Referee.com.

Social media policies are part conduct regulation and part regulation of a specific forum of communication. Most associations know that they expose themselves to liability when their rules and procedures are unclear.

Social media forces associations to grapple with the fact that conduct regulations aren’t enough.  Associations now have to regulate specific forums for communication.  Regulating a forum of communication means that conduct that may be perfectly fine in other forums becomes a breach of a bylaw or conduct code simply because it takes place on social media.

Associations need to have social media policies in place in their bylaws

From a legal perspective, an absolute ban seems attractive at first glance, but it would probably be an impractical mistake for high school and lower level associations. An absolute ban can expose entities to lawsuits predicated upon selective enforcement. Those lawsuits can run the gamut from contract disputes to claims that the banning entity discriminates in determining who gets penalized under the ban.

At high school and lower levels, associations regulate social media by placing conduct restrictions on things written on social media. Often, the regulations simply capture conduct that would violate a code of ethics under any circumstances. However, there are times where otherwise acceptable communication can become unacceptable simply because it took place on social media.

Associations are darned if they do and darned if they don’t when it comes to regulating social media. A lack of a policy will create business problems when a school, league or official complains about an abusive official. However, an association that regulates social media runs the risk of drafting over-broad regulations that can incorporate anything. It could be anything from a newspaper op-ed column that runs online and generates a slew of profane comments, to a member using a poorly disguised handle on a football forum to explain the strengths and weaknesses of a rule change, to a group of officials breaking down mechanics on one of the officials’ Facebook page.

Associations have to start by recognizing that the main problem with social media is that it induces members to assume they’re making private comments when they’re actually in a forum that the general public can see. Social media is the electronic equivalent of the official who sits in the stands and criticizes coaches or officials, forgetting that nearby fans can hear the criticism.

A good social media policy regulates private speech that could be harmful or seen as unprofessional if it’s made public. Next, a good social media policy will bar officials from making comments that the public could see that links to a real official, coach, player or situation.

Associations need to take action to regulate social media because they’re going to eventually confront the issue. The key is to think very carefully before regulating, and to educate one’s members about social media and other types of private discussions that could be overheard by members of the public

The post Take Association Action on Social Media Policies appeared first on Referee.com.

Officials who are skilled in enforcing the rules of the game while officiating often don’t feel bound by any of the internal rules of their own association, otherwise known as constitutions or bylaws. That can lead to severe legal consequences. Officers of associations need to follow the bylaws at all times, especially when dealing in matters involving discipline or expulsion of members. Any association officer who fails to follow the bylaws in that area increases not only his or her association’s exposure to liability, but also will risk, in many cases, personal liability.

2. Don’t Keep Your Policies a Secret

Officials have a right to know what their association expects of them – and what will happen should those expectations not be met. Meeting and financial requirements, restrictions on members’ activities and policies and mechanics must be made available to all members.

3. Don’t Make Officials Employees of the Association

If you want to decrease your association’s exposure to liability, don’t hire members! Communicate to leagues, conferences and schools that officials will be supplied for game fees. Members must know that the association is not liable should anyone be injured.

4. Don’t Suspend a Member Automatically

Anytime an officials association officer uses the word “automatically” within five miles of the word “suspend” or “expel,” watch out! A member who you think may have violated your bylaws must be given notice of the violation and a chance to defend the charge. Some state laws have specific requirements for suspension or expulsion of association members. Wherever you live, your association should coordinate any disciplinary action with local counsel to make sure appropriate guidelines are observed.

5. Don’t Assume Incorporating Will Avoid Personal Liability

The commonly held belief that the officers and members of an organization need not be concerned with personal liability if the organization incorporates is a fallacy. Incorporation is often seen as an absolute shield against liability – which it is not.

6. Deal with Potential Claims By Seeking Professional Advice

An attempt to “do it yourself” in defending a claim (or potential claim) could have a number of serious legal consequences. Officers and directors of officials associations have a fiduciary responsibility to their associations and the members. Since they are entrusted with dues and other funds, officers are required to conserve assets by applying good business judgment. Consequently, officers must seek legal or accounting advice when a legal or accounting issue presents itself.

7. Keep Good Meeting Minutes

Without minutes, there is no official record of the action of the board or executive committee. As memories fade, the course an association decides to take may vary from meeting to meeting, with devastating legal results. And minutes should be taken correctly – include the action taken, rather than a replay of all discussion at the meeting.

8. Review Your Insurance Policies to Match the Risks Inherent in the Operation of Your Association

Officials associations conduct meetings and clinics, assign games, supervise officials, establish rating systems, engage personnel, develop mechanics and codes and hold tournaments. Any one of those activities can lead to a lawsuit. Only your insurance expert can tell you if your coverage matches what your association does.

9. Pretend That You Are Running a Business

Ever hear an association member say, “All we want to do is referee?” For most associations, the truth is, it’s not all you want to do – not by a long shot. You want to recruit; be officers, commissioners and assigners; discipline officials; establish ratings; set policies, regulations, and in some cases, officiating mechanics. In short, you want to determine your own fate. As in any business, each of those activities carries legal responsibilities that cannot be overlooked.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice.

The post Nine Tips to Decrease Your Association’s Exposure to Liability appeared first on Referee.com.

After you graduated, you finally had time for other interests, like officiating — and here they come with the @$#$ tests again.

But this time it’s different; tests in school were about objectively ranking a student among peers and the same went for the institutions administering them. We all know someone who got into a professional school or not because of a few marks here or there. We’ve probably all heard the debate about a 3.8 GPA meaning the same coming from School A, B or C, too: Grades meant everything in academia.

In sports, meanwhile, A, B or C are three esoteric choices on a rules quiz and most jurisdictions require passing one as a condition of registration or advancement. The norm these days is for the test to be of the “open book” variety. It can be taken multiple times, if necessary, and often as a group activity with others. To top it off, the candidate only needs a minimum score before being released into the wild; getting a higher score often doesn’t change anything.

So, our psyches burn with indignation and confusion. We know what it took to pass some college exams. Then we look at the test we take for basketball officiating every year and proclaim some sort of comedown: “They can’t be serious,” you might sniff. “Some guy who made 76 on his second try is just as qualified as moi?

“My rulebook and I spent our summer vacation together and I had a 98 to show for it. If it hadn’t been for that one dumb question, I would have been perfect!”

Or would I?

Virtually every state office is unique in its approach to testing. Most agree on the motivation for testing, but then they often diverge in the method. They view the annual rules exam as an audit, accomplishing two important things: First, it demonstrates that an individual official is continuing to put effort into learning the rules. Second, the pattern of incorrect answers turned in by all the candidates tells them about the rules themselves — which ones need improvement and which ones need more attention from officials; just as much as a right answer shows whether an official knows what targeting is, enough wrong answers show whether officials get what targeting is, too. That can be a critical distinction, and the states weave what they see in test responses into their training. What follows is a sampling of how various states prepare officials to work high school sports. We’ll talk about testing requirements but include the other arrows in their quivers, too, like training programs and performance assessments.

Mark Dreibelbis is an associate commissioner of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA), responsible for officials. The NFHS, through its rules committees, drafts two 100-question tests each year that states may use for testing in a given sport. The Part I test is more straightforward, while the Part II test is designed to be a stiffer evaluation of overall rules knowledge. Dreibelbis’ officials take the Part I test and must pass it with a 75 percent score on the first try to be regular-season eligible for football, as an example. In itself, that doesn’t seem like much of an achievement. The test is open book, an approach that is a departure from the proctored format that North Carolina used about 10 years ago. Dreibelbis says the change was made because studies have shown the open-book format promotes better learning. “(It’s) better than me just going in blind (on a closed-book test) and having a question that I don’t know the answer to and just taking a guess,” he explains. “What I’m going to do is answer the 70 or 80 or so questions (on the Part I test) I know and then … I’m going to go stick my nose in the rulebook and look up the rest.”

Concerns with the open book test…..

The concern often heard is that open-book tests lead to … collusion in achieving passing grades. Dreibelbis has a good answer to this: Cheating on the test won’t get you very far in North Carolina because of the other requirements. “You have to go to a minimum six preseason clinics where they work on rules and mechanics,” Dreibelbis says. “You have a local association meeting. You have a mandatory state rules clinic where we go over all the rules changes, and interpreters now use video review. You have to work three scrimmages and then we add the NFHS concussion test.

“But you have to do all of those every year to be eligible. So, it’s much more than just a 100-question test.”

Some of us can feel the treads shallowing on our tires at the thought of crisscrossing the state to find “a minimum” of six clinics, let alone putting in the other work. The North Carolina system of local officiating chapters provides broad access to available clinics and, with some direction, Dreibelbis gives his selected clinicians healthy leeway to present selected subjects in relatable formats. The proof in the pudding is that NCHSAA officiating numbers have declined only about 5 percent in recent years, against the trend in many areas. The officiating pool is also getting older, however, and the qualification requirements may be a deterrent to younger officials who might balk at the needed time and financial commitment, Dreibelbis admits. He says NCHSAA has taken advantage of the new NFHS program to recruit new officials and it also waives registration fees for first-year officials; on the one hand that leaves about $25,000 in potential fees on the table annually, but it pays for itself in getting more newbies over the hump by evading the initial sticker shock and giving it a try.

Matt Bennett is the instructional chair of the California Basketball Officials Association (CBOA), representing about 3,500 officials in California. He says the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) controls high school sports in the state but is not involved in officiating development in any way. Bennett says the CBOA is the dominant entity in Southern California that trains, evaluates and assigns basketball officials to work in the state. Rather than using NFHS materials, CBOA has written and developed its own program for officials. The focal point is the CBOA Study Guide, something akin to a workbook combining rule discussions with questions like those in Referee’s “Test Yourself” features. The guide becomes a tour of NFHS rules and mechanics with 215 multiple-choice questions to develop the user’s comprehension of the concepts presented (see sidebar for an example).

The first task for an official each year is to submit online answers to the questions in the guide, with numerous opportunities to achieve an 80 percent score. After that comes a classification test for assignment to games; it requires another 80 percent on a selection of 100 of the same questions, this time administered by individual chapters in their own way. This is where officials get more facetime with mentors at the unit level and, if they fail that test, they get one more try at a makeup test after some individual coaching. If they don’t pass the makeup test, they don’t work basketball that season.

“The testing is a guideline to get the knowledge base for our folks,” Bennett says. “But just because you pass the quiz you still have to have confidence. … You probably run into people that are really book smart, but they don’t apply it very well.

“So, you’ve got a guy who could run off rule references by the number and letter all day long, but he can’t apply it. He doesn’t have judgment or is not physically able to move up and down the floor or he’s just got a real irritating personality.” This is where interaction with mentors comes in.

Face-to-face emphasized

Bennett emphasizes the face-to-face element of developing officials. He says one important thing the CBOA requires officials to do as they get into their third and fourth years is go and observe other officials. “We have them basically fill out a card, make a few notes, get a signature from both officials that they were there. … Just the exposure of getting out to the games is so valuable; there’s really no substitute for that.

“You can look at video, you can take quizzes, you can read books, but to get out to see games and watch people do it — it’s just the basic things you’re looking at in terms of … appearance, physical fitness, judgment, mechanics, rule knowledge.”

The same approach is used in evaluating officials themselves. Bennett thinks the methodology is helping keep CBOA’s numbers steady, but he feels like they can always use more officials. Most high school ball in California is worked by two-person crews, so somewhere out there is room for considerable growth, if or when California embraces three-person mechanics.

So far, we’ve looked at two examples of existing structures evolving into concerted training approaches validated by training. Now let’s see what happens when a system is built from the ground up. Jeff Cluff is an assistant director for the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA), responsible for officials and baseball. Cluff says that when he took over the job five years ago, basketball officials had two chances to make 90 percent on the NFHS Part II exam to qualify, but there was a problem. “I could have a guy who scored 99 percent on the Part II, which is supposed to be harder than the Part I test,” Cluff explains. “Then he’ll walk in and he’ll mess up the rules on the floor.”

That changed. UHSAA now requires returning officials to “only” make an 85 percent on the more basic Part I exam during a window early in each season. New officials must pass the test before they can officiate, but that’s only where the story begins, for Cluff. For him, online, open-book testing wasn’t producing valid results. “I believe that’s one of the problems with the testing mechanism,” he says, “which is why I reduced its importance and we’ve tried to refocus in Utah in other areas to try to gauge their level of competency.

“In Utah, we did not have a preseason clinic or require training meetings during the season that were at a high enough standard. We were requiring 50 percent participation.”

The new requirement is that officials attend a six-hour preseason clinic every year to be eligible for postseason. The clinic staff includes many professional and college officials. Officials can apply for a waiver if they happen to have a college game on the clinic date but that’s a one-year-only deal: Miss two years in a row and you can watch the playoffs from the bleachers.

“It’s been overwhelmingly successful,” says Cluff. He says they offer a five-hour makeup clinic that’s actually more difficult than the original and the net result has been buy-in at the rate of about 70 percent for a deal that costs about $20 a head to facilitate. Cluff then follows up the training by going out and observing prospective playoff officials personally before they can work later rounds. It also helps that the policy in Utah, as in some other western states, is that officials can’t work a state final in successive years. That creates more incentive to improve.

The result is that officiating numbers are holding their own in Utah. Cluff also takes advantage of the NFHS recruitment program and makes a point of personally calling every prospective official who inquires through the program. Of them, he says about 80 percent of those who came in through the program at its inception last year have stuck with it this season. That’s a lot of phone calls for a busy man, but the Welcome Wagon approach seems to have worked.

These administrators understand that the success of their officials and their training programs correlate to the level of effort they put in.

The people we’ve quoted here will tell you they assign little or no importance to an official’s test score once the minimum qualification is achieved. For them, it’s performance on the field or court and active participation in learning the theory of officiating that matters most. Demonstrating that you’ve had your nose in the rulebook is simply a box to be checked and not a means of advancement in itself. If you work in a state that seems to imply differently, you might notice there are more problems with retention and the quality of officiating.

The takeaway from all this is to heed your state office’s advice: Don’t kill yourself to make a 100 percent on the test if they say that “X” percent is plenty. There’s enough subjectivity in testing that pursuit of the perfect score is Quixotic anyway. However, if you only read the rulebook long enough to stumble through the test, your lack of commitment will show in the other elements of training and evaluation noted here. There’s the story of a football crew that once, collectively, ruled a field goal attempt “too high”; the rules, they explained on Monday morning, said the ball had to go between the uprights and this attempt went clearly above them. They proved that reading the rules is different from comprehending them and a test score alone can’t always differentiate the two — only performance does.

Study the rules, but not just as a way of getting by. Learn the rules and how they apply as a complement to your mechanics and game management skills. The test will look after itself.

The post What is the Best Way to Test Sports Officials? appeared first on Referee.com.

We’ve categorized our ultimate list of items into 12 sections: structure/management, governing documents, communication, outreach, finances, leadership, training, programs, board administration, membership, organization and future outlook. Are you ready to see how your local association or chapter stacks up? Click each box that applies and see how you graded your local association in the end.

The post Grade Your Local Association appeared first on Referee.com.

A recent state workers compensation appeals board decision has joined other judicial and administrative rulings that illustrate the rather draconian consequences of adherence to mythical concepts as a substitute for legal and risk management advice and counsel.

State labor laws in many states identify some, but not all sports officials, as independent contractors under certain circumstances — and then only for certain purposes.

Associations sometimes compound their difficulties by handling the defense of claims against the organization as a “do-it-yourself” project rather than getting legal assistance. Such was the case when a multi-sport assigning agency was faced with a workers’ compensation claim from a staff official who was injured while working a high school football game.

Manage risk by consulting counsel

The association maintained the official was an independent contractor and not an employee. The judge disagreed, in part because the state law, as it turns out, only makes officials “independent contractors” for workers compensation purposes when they are officiating either for an entity sponsoring an intercollegiate or interscholastic sports event; or for a government agency, or a nonprofit organization that sponsors an amateur sports event.

The officiating organization, for which the official worked, was a proprietary business that paid officials to officiate several high school sports — at schools within a conference. Each school was charged a set-up fee and officials were paid game fees and mileage reimbursement by the assigning organization. Payroll processing was the contractual obligation of the organization, as was the training of and assigning of officials. To cement the relationship with its officials, the group even had its officials sign an “independent contractor agreement.”

And because the association was not a business for which the official would be excluded as an employee under the law, other factors were evaluated by the court. This determination resulted in a finding that the official was an employee of the association — primarily because the association’s business was principally to officiate sports — and because the association paid the official and, said the court, had the right to control the manner and means of the work. These and certain other factors weigh on such determinations in the state involved.

Arguments that would have militated against a finding that the official was an employee could have been pointed to factors, such as: (1) that officiating is a distinct occupational business where the official was free to and, in fact, did contract with other schools and organizations to officiate; (2) the officials do not work under the supervision of the organization; and (3) the personal skill and specialized knowledge of an official indicates a “special skill” characteristic of independent contractors.

Whether your officiating association is a nonprofit membership association or a proprietary enterprise, manage risk by consulting counsel before legal complications arise.

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To determine the historic trends, they examine factors such as interest rates, corporate profits and labor costs.

Well, there appears to be another indicator — the number of employed sports officials.

As odd as that may seem, a rise in the number of registered officials correlates to when the country is in a recession. Anecdotally, that is something many state association officials have long suspected.

A downturn in the economy means more unemployed workers who are looking for full- or part-time work.

Referee magazine analyzed sports official registration data provided by four states: Alabama, Michigan, Ohio and Washington. Data was provided by each of these states regarding registration for all officials over the past 10 years.

The states were selected as a representative sample for the United States, and the 10-year time period reflected the economic bottoming out of the U.S. economy following the 2008 crash, and the ensuing steady economic recovery the past 4-5 years. In discussing the analysis of the data with experts, it was felt that this 10-year time frame would reflect an accurate trend to draw conclusions.

Economic Indicator

When it comes to economic indicators, there are two types that economists use to make their forecasts.

The first is leading indicators. These often change just prior to large economic adjustments and are used to predict future trends.

An example would be the price of copper. If orders for copper are rising, it indicates that industrial jobs are increasing and the economy will remain healthy.

The second is lagging indicators. These numbers reflect the economy’s historical performance and changes to these can only be recognized after an economic pattern or trend has already been established.

An example would be the unemployment ranks. If unemployment numbers rise, it means more and more people are searching for a way to feed their family or supplement their income. This is often when the number of registered sports officials begins to increase.

The chart below details the plotting of registration data juxtaposed against economic indicators. The lower the number, the better the economy. The number reflects the unemployment rate minus the gross domestic product (GDP).

For example, in 2010 the unemployment rate at 9.3 percent combined with a GDP of 2.6 percent makes the final number 6.7. In 2018, the unemployment rate was 3.9 percent and GDP was 4.2, reflecting a (-.3) final number (with a negative final number showing a stronger positive economy).

The graphed data shows a close continuous correlation between economic indicators and registration — as the economy bottoms out, officiating registration goes up; as the economy improves, registration declines.

Motivation to Officiate

Robert Doan, an associate professor and director of graduate studies at Charleston Southern University in North Charleston, S.C., who has presented on sports officiating data topics at NASO Summits, said for some the motivation to become a sports official is strictly extrinsic.

“They need the extra money and find this as a way they can have a second job,” said Doan, who is also an assigner for volleyball officials as well as a veteran college volleyball referee and baseball umpire. “In times of economic need, sports officiating is an enticing option.

“When the economy was bad I had new people coming up to me at church asking how to get involved (in volleyball officiating). They’re coming to me in need of extra money. And other officials I knew were coming to me to add another sport to earn a little extra cash.

“However, when the economy is well, recruiting (officials) is a lot more difficult,” he added.

Statistics bear out his statement. A cross section of data collected from four states — Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota and Washington — illustrates that when the nation is suffering economically there’s an influx of new people seeking to become sports officials.

“We can go back to 60 years of data that shows when the economy is down the number of officials is up,” said Mark Uyl, the executive director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA). “Ten years ago we had an all-time high (12,772) in the number of officials. A decade later we’re down nearly 3,000 (9,816).”

In Alabama, the raw numbers are in line with the ups and downs of the economy. The state had 7,293 registered sports officials in the 2008-09 season. However, that figure fell to 6,369 in 2017-18 — a drop of 924.

“Our folks study data all the time. If you look at our data from 2007-10, we do attribute our spikes in the number of officials to the economy. It’s a trend throughout all our sports,” said Steve Savarese, executive director of the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA).

Starting in 2008-09, Minnesota began an uptick in its numbers that saw its registered officials climb from 8,189 to more than 8,800 from 2010-12. It has slowly decreased since then. In 2017-18 that total was down to 8,334.

It’s no different out west.

“There’s no doubt our highest numbers for officials have been during the recession and probably a little longer after that,” said Todd Stordahl, executive director of the Washington Officials Association (WOA).

The high point in Washington came in 2009-10 when 7,583 sports officials were registered with the WOA. At that point the numbers started to erode each year down to 6,154 in the 2017-18 sports season, a drop of 1,429 over that nine-year period. The difference means the state had an average loss of 159 officials per season.

“For some sports during that time, the numbers jumped up pretty good. However, once the economy got good again we’re back down to where we were before (the recession),” Stordahl said.

So, the problem has been identified. Now comes the hard part. How can state associations, colleges, high schools and youth leagues reverse this trend?

A Growing Problem

Recruiting and retaining officials is a growing challenge all across the nation.

“Back in the day there were maybe eight to 12 sports, now there’s like 30 different high school sports … like water polo, boys’ volleyball and lacrosse,” said Ted Robbins, longtime athletic director at Lincoln-Way West High School in New Lenox, Ill. “Everything keeps growing and adding on. That’s great for the kids but it puts a demand on getting people to officiate them.”

The scarcity of officials has caused athletic directors to occasionally adjust their teams’ schedules during the season. Robbins said it’s particularly bad in the spring when the weather can cause havoc with outdoor events.

As Rich Piatchek, a retired high school AD and currently an Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state finals coordinator, noted, “It would be nice if we could get back to the days when there were more officials than there were contests.”

Which begs the question: Is there a way to entice more people to become sports officials?

The handful of states surveyed took some innovative steps to try to reverse this economic trend and keep their supply of officials on the rise.

Here’s a closer look at what these organizations are doing:

Officiating Classes

Of all the data the AHSAA scours, there is one number that sticks out.

“The most important number is the mean age of our officials, which is about 50 years old,” Savarese said.

To lower that age and get a new generation involved, the AHSAA has gotten together with the State Department of Education to approve an accredited high school class in sports officiating.

“We have hundreds of students who take a year-long class on sports officiating,” Savarese said. “It’s been very successful in our state.”

He noted that there is also a program that gets returning military involved in officiating.

Mark Jones, AHSAA director of officials, added, “We have several junior colleges and universities who have sports officiating classes as well. It’s one of the biggest factors in recruiting officials. This is where we get a lot of our young, good officials.”

Social Media Push

Uyl said the MHSAA is trying to promote officiating on social media, like Instagram.

“We’re trying to get officials when they’re out working to take some photos and post them. I know when I’m at a game I try to take some photos of the officials and post them to help promote officiating,” Uyl said. “We’re trying to create a public awareness of the benefits of officiating. We’re trying to change the culture and getting younger people involved.”

It’s similar in Minnesota.

“There are a lot more things for young people to do now and officiating is not top on their lists. So we have to go where they are. They’re spending their time in the social media sphere … Twitter, Instagram,” said Jason Nickleby, Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) coordinator of officials. “The approach is to promote the positives of officiating to the next generation on social media platforms.”

Money & Expectations

Nickleby said the MSHSL started a program in the 2016-17 sports season to stimulate its number of registered officials. It was a simple but effective approach.

“We dropped the registration fee from $50 to $15 for first-year officials and $30 for second-year officials,” Nickleby said. “We lowered the (financial) barrier. Since then, we have a record number of new officials in almost every program.”

Illinois is also leaning on finances as a way to entice the young to join the sports officials fraternity.

Piatchek said the IHSA has gone to free registration for those just graduating high school.

The WOA serves as an organization that oversees and provides guidelines for local officiating organizations throughout the state of Washington. It tries to provide help in recruiting and retaining officials.

One change Stordahl is implementing in the WOA to help reverse the trend of declining numbers is quite simple — setting up new officials with realistic expectations and goals.

“We have to change the way some view the officiating ‘game,’” he said. “It’s not all about how fast you can move up to officiate a high school state tournament or move up to the college level.”

Stordahl said new officials need to focus on other aspects of the job like relationships with the other officials and the respect of the schools and community.

“The majority of our officials are doing it for their passion of the sport and for their community,” he said, adding, “it’s about becoming something bigger than yourself.”

Once officials have been recruited it becomes important to show them they’re appreciated. Minnesota initiated its “Thank A Ref” program in 2017.

“We have the schools take photos of the officials during events and put them on Twitter,” Nickleby said. “We also ask them to make an announcement during the event to say thank you.”

Alabama just began a recognition program. At the state high school football championships in December, the AHSAA showed a video on the huge scoreboards at both the University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium and Auburn University’s Jordan-Hare Stadium honoring the officials in that particular game as well as other Alabama officials. By doing so “we hope to create a positive conversation about sports officials,” Savarese said.

Opening Floodgates

If there’s one thing we know about the U.S. economy, it’s like the wind — it can blow in any direction. All the organizations that rely on a solid pool of sports officials — state associations, colleges, high schools, youth leagues — should not let their guard down if the country’s economy begins to take a nosedive.

While the trend of an uptick in the number of registered officials is likely to continue when the economy worsens, those organizations can’t afford to be sedentary. They need to remain active in finding new and innovative ways to spread the news about the benefits and strengths of sports officiating.

This is especially true when you consider two additional factors outside the rise and fall of the national economy — the increase of the number of sports on the high school level and the growing average age of sports officials.

In Michigan, the average age of its officials 10 years ago was 44.87. Over the last decade that figure rose to 48.57 in the 2017-18 sports season. That number is very much the norm in other states across the country.

“We don’t see a lot of longevity in a lot of aspects of sports nowadays; coaches don’t coach as long and officials don’t officiate as long,” said Piatchek, a longtime high school athletic director. “Over the last 25 years we’ve seen a lot of veteran officials aging out and there are limited replacements to take their spots.”

Organizations will need to remain active in order to ensure there are enough officials for all the games.

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