Football Officiating Crew Comradery

Just like many other things in life that include groups, an officiating crew must have communication and comradery to be effective. Football officiating crews need to work well together if they want the season to be successful. Here are some ways to help your crew be successful. If you have and comments or questions, please feel free to reach out to me here.

The first thing Football officiating crews need to do is get together before the season. Make sure everyone knows each other. Just spending some time together and learning things about everyone will make a huge difference when working together.

Talk mechanics and philosophies together. There are many different ways to do things in football officiating. There needs to be a time that the crew talks mechanics through. What hand signals are you going to use? How are you going to handle spots on long passes and runs? What communication do crew members want throughout the game? Make sure you know all of this before the first game so your crew can function like a well-oiled machine.

Try to do a fun crew activity together, whether it is a dinner or going to a sports event. It is a great way for crew members to get to know one another better and the crew to go more smoothly.

And finally, something each individual needs to do for the crew, have one another’s back out on the field. If your sideline partner is getting yelled at, go over and help him explain or just let him know he isn’t alone. If you see a foul that is in your partner’s area, try to help him out by throwing a flag. It may be the only one and your partner didn’t see it, or it may be the second or third flag on that foul which really sells it. And never throw a crewmate under the bus. That is the easiest way to make sure your crew doesn’t work well together.

Some crews naturally work better than others. However, try to make a good effort at making the best of the crew no matter the circumstances.