Officiating questions

[meatyo]

I am in a Sports officiating class in college...and I had to get the answers to some of these questions, and i cant find them anywhere...so could anyone help me with a few of the answers
1.What are official responsibilities?
2.What is the flowing blood rule?
3.What is the "you can always hide behind the rules" and live and let live" style of officiating?
4.which of those two is the best for a young official to follow?
5.What are personal characteristics of officiating?
6.Why parents jump onto officials?
7.How high school players view officials?
8.How critisms of coaches, players, and media are handled by officials?
9.What to do during a conflict?
10.Are school employed officials responsible for injuries during a contest?
11.Responsibilities during bad weather?
12.The rules on officials getting workman's comp and insurance claims?

[waltjp]

I am in a Sports officiating class in college...and I had to get the answers to some of these questions, and i cant find them anywhere...so could anyone help me with a few of the answers

This is quite a list of questions and I’m sure you’ll get different answers depending on who you ask.

1.What are official responsibilities?

The specific responsibilities vary by sport and skill level of the participants. In general, the responsibilities of an official are to assure that the contest is played fairly. The official will rule on the legalities of plays and will cite infractions as they occur. Foremost in the mind of the official, especially at the lower levels, is the safety of the participants. To achieve this the official will survey the playing field and the equipment involved. If the official rules that the field or equipment is unsafe the conditions will be corrected before the game will commence.

2.What is the flowing blood rule?

In general terms, if a participant is bleeding they will be sent to the bench to have medical personnel treat the wound. This rule was put in place to help prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

3.What is the "you can always hide behind the rules" and live and let live" style of officiating?

There’s a saying will officials – We’ll teach you the rules, then we’ll show you how to officiate. It means that simply knowing the rules is not enough. There’s a lot that happens during a sporting contest that may technically be a violation of the rules but has no bearing on the game itself. An example is holding by an offensive lineman in football when the play is a run to the opposite side of the field. Sure, by rule a hold is a hold, but officials are taught to ignore this as it has no affect on the outcome of the play. If you called every infraction of the rules the game would lose any sense of flow. Younger officials tend to call the game by the rules (Hiding behind the rules.) As they gain experience they learn to determine if the infraction is affecting the game. The latter may be called “Live and let live,” although I’ve heard the term “No harm/no foul” used more often.

4.which of those two is the best for a young official to follow?

A young official has to know the rules. He doesn’t have the benefit of experience to fall back on yet. This isn’t to say that an experience official shouldn’t know the rules either, but experience AND knowledge go a lot further than knowledge alone.

5.What are personal characteristics of officiating?

To name a few –

Integrity – The ability to be fair and not let outside influences affect the manner in which you call a game.
Honesty – Closely related to integrity but goes a step further. Be truthful to yourself and all others involved in a game. Don’t alter the facts to justify your decisions.
Pride – Be the best you can for yourself, your fellow officials, and the game itself. Continually strive to improve. Always present yourself as a professional. An official’s appearance and demeanor go a long way toward shaping the opinions that others have toward that official.
Humility – The majority of officials are involved because they love the game. We all should keep that in mind. It’s all about the game. We are not bigger than the game.

6.Why parents jump onto officials?

You could write a book and still not answer this question. In its most basic form, parents, like all fans, are biased. They perceive any call that goes against their team as a personal attack against them. The officials are easy targets.

7.How high school players view officials?

This would probably be better answered by a player, but I would hope ‘with respect.’

8.How critisms of coaches, players, and media are handled by officials?

“Ignored” is the easy answer but that’s not totally true. It depends on the setting and how the criticism is presented. Shouting from the bench following an unfavorable ruling is mostly ignored to the point where it becomes unsportsmanlike in behavior. Depending on the sport, this may result in ejections, disqualifications, penalties, etc. My experience is that most officials will evaluate the play at a later time to determine if they need to make changes to improve for the future. I know I’ve made the correct call but have been questioned because a coach, player or spectator may not have thought that I was in the correct position to make the call. Some self evaluation is called for. How can I get into better position to make that call in the future? Did I miss any keys to tell me what was going to happen next? Did I do everything I could to get it right? The answers to these questions can help me be a better official next time I take the field.

9.What to do during a conflict?

If conflict means argument, my first goal is to calm the person down and have a discussion. Taking baseball as an example, I’ll let the coach vent some steam, especially after a close play. I find they’re easier to deal with through the rest of the game if they’re not still harboring frustration from an earlier call. After they’ve had a chance to say what’s on their mind, and providing they haven’t said any of the ‘magic’ words, I’ll explain what I saw or why I made the ruling I did. I’ll then ask if they can return to their bench so the game can continue.

10.Are school employed officials responsible for injuries during a contest?

Assuming you’re talking about the sports officials working a contest, yes, we can be held liable if a player or other participant is injured if it’s proven that negligence was a contributing factor to the injury. Such a case may be a dangerous playing field or faulty equipment.

11.Responsibilities during bad weather?

Keep everyone safe. If weather conditions will have an effect on the safety of the participants the game will be stopped. There are guidelines that dictate what procedures should be followed depending on the sport. Generally speaking, if there’s a chance of lightning the field will be cleared. No game is more important than a player’s safety.

12.The rules on officials getting workman's comp and insurance claims?

It varies. Some officials have a strong association that will cover them. Some do not. Many officials are considered private contractors.

[meatyo]

thanks alot...that helped out so much.