Officiating two sports concurrently

[jTheUmp]

2 sports in consecutive seasons, perhaps. (Football, then basketball, then baseball)...

Starting football & volleyball at the same time... that would be more difficult from a rules mastery standpoint.

A quick example of "knowing the rules as an official" vs "knowing the rules as a player": why does the kicker kick the ball into the ground in the vast majority of onside kick attempts? As a player, I had no idea why we did that... once I started reading the rulebook as an official, I read the free kick rules and had the lightbulb "A-ha, that's why it's done that way" moment.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by jTheUmp

2 sports in consecutive seasons, perhaps. (Football, then basketball, then baseball)...

Starting football & volleyball at the same time... that would be more difficult from a rules mastery standpoint.

Those sports you just mentioned are running basically at the same time in many ways. I worked JH basketball during my first football season. I worked basketball during the baseball season. And during the summer under the right situation you can work all 3 (especially now). Also volleyball here can run in the fall and spring based on gender or club and youth games.

Also mastery of the rules comes with time, not in one or two seasons. As a football official I am still learning to master the rules and this was will be the end of my 16th season. There are things I have yet to see or when I see them I have to think through the rules. Football has the most difficult rules as they change and each level is so different. You also have to know more than rules, you better know the mechanics or your rules knowledge will not be applied properly.

Peace