Some of you may know in addition to my love for football officiating, I have recently become a high school basketball official. I’m in my rookie season as a JV official with the Kentuckiana Basketball Officials Association. I’m having a lot of fun and this experience reminds me of my rookie football season 7 years ago.

So I’ve been thinking about how to apply what I’ve learned from football to basketball, and there are definitely parallels. Let’s take mentoring for example. I want to move up to varsity in the quickest amount of time. There are some officials that are working JV for the 7 and 8th year.  While that may  be okay for some, its not how I’m built. I want to improve and advance. Just my nature.

So let’s quickly revisit Larry Synder’s list of “What It Take To Be A Great Football Official.”

Study Rules of the Game

• Rule Book
• Tests & Quizzes
• Ask Other Officials
• Quiz a Buddy
• Never Stop Learning

Study Mechanics of Game

• CCA Mechanics Manual
• Camps & Clinics
• Philosophy
• Attend area meetings/rules study groups (Do any of you do this now?)
• Surround yourself with better officials
• Its hard to soar with the eagles, when you are surrounded by turkeys.

Part Two

• Watch film – the single biggest factor to rapidly improving your learning and accelerating your advancement. Countless seasoned NCAA and NFL veterans have pointed out to me during their interviews that film review tremendously improved their abilities. In some ways you can consider watching film as a close substitute for snaps. Granted, nothing will take the place of live play, but watching film can definitely add a different perspective while adding to your experience level. Some have suggested that it can advance your learning by a factor of four! What this means is that you can shave three years off your experience level if you are trying to get promoted to a higher level. An aspiring motivated official with 4 years of experience (1 of which was heavy on film review) is similar to an official with 7 years experience (no film review). How do you think guys get into the NFL at age 34? You can bet they spent time in front of a TV reviewing film.

• Experience – How much is enough? Larry is very clear here. Get as much experience on the field as possible. This means youth league, spring and fall scrimmages, junior varsity games, varsity games at the high school level and then basically the same process at the college level. When making the transition to college, you will find conference supervisors are looking for those individuals that are willing to take the scrimmage and JV games. They want a prospect to have a few games under their belt before putting them on the field. There truly is no substitute for experience. I have personally stood on teh sidelines behind seasoned Division I officials just to ask questions, watch from that angle and get a feel for the speed and quickness of the game at the higher levels. Without a doubt, this helped me in my first scrimmage giving me a small comfort level (that is, until the whistle blew!).

• What You Have Control Over – This was the cornerstone of Larry’s list. I hear often, officials at all levels, complain that they can’t get the good games, they can’t get the supervisor’s attention, can’t get noticed and so on… You can probably name a few in your local associaiton or area too. So let’s look at that statement. What can we control? Well for one, I can control my ability to study and know the rules and mechanics of the game. I can use the rule book, study groups, practice or scrimmage activity to really and fully know the rules. I can stay in good physical conditioning. This will allow me to get into position, be quick and react in a timely manner. It will help me look athletic in my uniform. Let me be clear – The Division I conferences have a ZERO tolerance for officials out of shape or overweight. Coaches and players prepare year around for the season. The zebras are no exception. Just take a look at the NFL staff. The athleticism and physical fitness is at its highest level. Its that important.  Attend every learning opportunity you can. Clinics, camps, rules study groups, association meetings, scrimmages, film sessions. While not necessarily consistent across the board, learning opportunities still abound in various forms in every city, state or region. Whether you take advantage of them or not is another topic.

So that’s all for my comments on Larry’s philosophy. I personally know several officials that have been mentored by Larry and they are all performing at the highest levels today. They will all admit that the process wasn’t easy and often times the requirements were not what they wanted to hear. Yet the followed the path and Larry led them in the right direction.

This post is getting long so I’m going to save my next story for tomorrow. It’s about how I applied Larry’s philosophy to gain entrance into the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Be the Best on the Field!

Todd

I have some REALLY BIG NEWS. I mean in the world of Todd Skaggs – Aspiring High School and College Football Official – REALLY, REALLY BIG.

I’ve been invited to attend a few spring football scrimmages this year. Well, invited is probably not the right word… I mean I if you consider me begging, groveling, pleading for the opportunity to work some snaps then…”Allowed” might be a better description (smile).

So I will be taking some snaps at the University of Louisville’s scrimmage on March 28th as well as spring games in the Mid South Conference and West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. I’m also going to shadow one of my mentors as he attends an Ohio Valley Conference scrimmage at either Western Kentucky or Eastern Kentucky.

I think back to years past when I only heard about these spring activities and only after they were long since over. I used to ask my peers what they knew about the college scene, we talked about it before and after games, meetings and at the local watering hole following our Friday night games. But no one really knew. We just speculated. Looking ahead in your career is sometimes discouraged for newer officials. While I understand the senior officials want us to focus on being the best at our current level, I also see the newer officials get quickly discouraged by this stance. I mean everyone likes to dream a little right?

So I’m telling you this because I want you all to understand why this book is important to me. Whether you want to get your first varsity game or work in the SEC, there shouldn’t be any mysteries. You should be able to not just know the requirements to advance at all levels, but I believe you should not reinvent the wheel. We should examine the paths that successful officials blazed before us and learn from them. As I interview NCAA and NFL officials, numerous similarities arise as well as countless unique and insightful moments but one very important truth stands out. They all took their own path.

Its much like a Chinese buffet. You pick what you like and leave what you don’t. You are not required to eat a bit of everything. You actually don’t have to eat anything specific. You taste, sample, find something you like and add that to your plate. Some stuff is good, some is not. But if your family ate together, you might find that each plate is just a bit different. In the end everyone leaves full and satisfied but they all took different paths (or plates) to get there. (Maybe a poor analogy, but I think you get my point.)

So here is my definite major purpose: I want to closely examine the concept of advancement and continuous improvement as it relates to football officiating and share with anyone interested in improving their football officiating craft; every tip, technique and idea that I uncover. As we proceed down this path, if one football official gets to a Friday night game one week faster or gets that first college assignment one season earlier, then I will consider this a raving success.

In my next post, I will share with you why I think I actually get the chance to participate in the upcoming spring scrimmages. It all started with a very conscience decision I made in July of 2007 when I gave up chocolate. But more on that later.

Until next time,

Be the Best on the Field.

Todd

So What Was It?

Gerald Austin’s interview was very informative. Gerald is the consummate southern gentleman although he did describe himself as a boy from the mountains of Western North Carolina. Gerald is a former NFL referee and the current supervisor of football officiating for the Conference USA. Gerald’s officiating career began as a high school student where he worked his way from the high school ranks of football and basketball ultimately finding a spot in both sports in the ACC.

In 1982 Gerald got the call from the NFL and retired from the field in 2008. Gerald officiating in three Super Bowls – one as a side judge and two as the white hat. He has also won the Art McNalley award given to individuals who exhibit exemplary professionalism, leadership and commitment to sportsmanship on and off the field.

So back to the original thought…7 seconds and 175 times per game. Gerald said this was one of the most important responsibilities of a football official.

CONCENTRATE

Yep. Concentrate. We went on to discuss Gerald’s philosophy of officiating. He mentioned that it had changed some over the years based on his mentors and their influences. I think we can all agree that our mentors have largely shaped the way we approach the game.

On very interesting note I’d like to share: Gerald said he often encounters officials that live for the big game or for the big call. They wanted to be the person on the goal line watching to see if the catch was inbounds and would decide the game. I guess if we are honest about it, we’ve all had those same thoughts at some point in our career.

But Gerald said he only wanted to manage the game, not be a factor. “The game is for the players, coaches and fans,” said Mr. Austin, a retired educator and school superintendent. “If we let the game be about ourselves we are not aligned with the spirit of the game.” I thought long and hard about those words. About managing the game. About not affecting the outcome. The philosophy behind why we are out on the field to begin with.

I’ve always said I loved officiating football because you get one of the best views in the stadium and you don’t care who wins. But what Gerald brought to my attention is a larger responsibility than personal gratification. Sure we like the lights, the band, the screaming fans, hard hitting players and the athleticism of football. But what is missed  on more than one occasion is the spirit of the game. The intent. The purpose of the game. Football isn’t about the guys in the stripes. Gerald said it best: Players, Coaches and Fans.

What do you think? Please shoot me an email at todd@profootballreferee.com and let me hear your thoughts.

Also be sure to reserve a copy of the upcoming book “Ready For Play” at www.profootballreferee.com/training

Until next time,

Be the Best on the Field

Todd Skaggs

PS: I’m working on a few posts about  spring scrimmages for college teams. If you have any questions or ideas on that topic, send them my way at todd@profootballreferee.com