With the rising numbers of sports participants, recruiting and retaining sports officials has become significantly important in the execution of sporting events. Working as a sports official can be very rewarding, but it can also be a source of stress and anxiety at any level. This is one of the main reasons that mental fitness, as well as physical fitness, is so important.
Officials constantly face intense pressure and challenges. We are asked to make split second decisions, judgments and evaluate actions in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment, with high expectations of both our mental and physical performance. Officials are tasked to manage multiple aspects of games including, making judgments, dealing with controversy, keeping order and resolving disputes, all while being evaluated by players, coaches, assessors, fans and a jury of their peers. Being a sports official requires a high level of focus, concentration, vigilance, confidence, motivation, communication, and the tools to manage stress in a high pressure and extremely demanding profession.
Some officials decide early on that this profession is not for them. But for others, it is a very gratifying and rewarding experience. Officials who enjoy longevity in the field, are those who have learned to recognize the challenges and have the tools and skills necessary to deal with the adversity they may face during a game.
This website takes an in-depth look at the mental side of an official’s game, focusing on things like stress, motivation, confidence, communication and the mind-body connection. The ‘Article’ section provides insight from academic researchers, sports psychologists, coaches, trainers, athletes’ and other officials. The following highlights some of the areas that will be discussed in more depth in the upcoming months.
STRESS
When looking at how stress impacts a sporting event, consider the following. Sports have many human components, which all serve unique and necessary roles in the execution of a game. There are players, coaches, athletic administrators, fans and officials, who are key the ingredients in every sporting event. Each feels some sort of stress, as a result of their specific role in the contest and the expectations placed on them. And each one of these human components, have necessary interactions, all while experiencing some sort of stress. Stress is essentially our body’s response to any demand made on it. It is the physical and mental arousal to circumstances we perceive as threatening or challenging. How we deal with that arousal will affect the outcome of our performance.
MOTIVATION
Motivation is a complex set of internal and external forces that induce one to behave in a certain way and the fuel that ignites behavior. For official’s, behavior becomes about the choices you make, the effort you put into your performance and how you persist through adversity. Motivation is a key factor in referee retention. Some officials start their careers very motivated, stay motivated and continue to enhance their performance and experience considerable satisfaction being part of the profession. Without the proper tools however, other officials become demotivated and quit. Recognizing what motivates you as an official can be key. Are you intrinsically or extrinsically motivated? Stay tuned to find out!
CONFIDENCE
In the world of academic research, confidence is referred to as self-efficacy. With respect to officials, self-efficacy can be defined as their belief in their capability to organize and execute the actions required to manage a game. It is one of the core factors that determines the challenges an official undertakes, the effort they will expend in the activity and the perseverance they will have when facing adversity. Self-efficacy influences cognitive processes, including decision making, as well as physical performance. As more research is done in this area, there is a new term which has be coined specifically for officials, Refficacy.
THE MIND-BODY CONNECTION
When looking at mental fitness, we must understand that mental fitness and physical fitness go hand in hand. There is no real division between the mind and body because of the networks of communication that exist between the brain, immune, neurological and endocrine systems. The key to performance for officials is to be able to maintain that mind-body connection in the heat of competition. This is done through mind-body triggers that facilitate adaptive capacity. Successfully maintaining this connection is something that training can help all officials do. Look for our classes and segments on this subject as we continue to update our website each month.
‘The Official’s Mind’ will be taking in-depth looks at these four areas and more. Our goal is to provide a resource for referees to address their needs when it comes to the mental side of their game. Whether it be through research and feature articles, videos, integrative surveys or on-line classes, ‘The Official’s Mind’ is your one stop source to help you ‘stay in the game’.