Keeping fit while earning some cash and being a part of the sport you love. Sounds like a pretty good deal! Picking up some useful life skills like learning to negotiate with people and staying calm under pressure. You’re on a winner!

People love becoming refs, umpires, officials. Some make it their life’s work officiating at the big leagues or in community comps. They don’t just do it, they actually love it and despite facing challenges at times, they keep coming back week after week to ensure competitions can go ahead.

The position of authority, the ultimate decision-maker of every decision in the game, attracts a variety of responses from players, coaches and fans. These range from respecting the complexity of the role to outright abuse and sometimes even violent contempt.

It’s not true to say match officials are always subjected to violence and it’s not telling the whole story to suggest every decision is respected.

National and state sporting bodies and Leagues might increase recruitment of new officials with feel-good stories, but they’ll suffer the consequence of poor retention as officials leave their roles when their expectations don’t match reality.

Painting the whole picture for officials is as important as ever and goes hand-in-hand with supporting clubs to respect and honour their role as community leaders.

Here to chat with us about the whole picture is Brooke Kneebush, a former leader and executive in Gymnastics for over 20 years and now with the Australian Sports Commission advising on all things Officiating.

Resources:

• Community Officiating Essential Skills Course
• A line in the sand for match officials: Q&A with Cameron Tradell - Part 1 | Part 2
• PlayWell strategy
• Australian Sports Commission’s podcast
• Powerful video: Officially Human
• Journal series by Patrick Skene: Sport at the crossroads

Chapters:

0:00 Introduction
2:14 The Importance of Officiating
3:36 Australian Sports Commission's Role
8:14 Community Officiating Essential Skills Course
12:27 Are officiating standards dropping?
16:06 Reframing the role of Match Officials
18:21 What does change look like?
21:44 Bigger picture and resourcing
24:19 Final thoughts - benefits of Officiating
26:59 Credits

> Club Respect helps sports clubs build and maintain a deep culture of respect.

> Club Respect is a national harm-prevention initiative by the Dugdale Trust for Women & Girls, of which the Victorian Women’s Trust is Trustee.