Becoming a Prepared Football Official

For this third and final equipment post, I will be helping you know what clothes you need for your uniform to officiate football. I saved this for last since many times, people have the most questions on this part. However, before I get going, I wanted to tell everyone that earlier I strongly recommended you join your area officials association, you can read that post here . If you do, many times people have extra clothes or equipment they are giving away for free! Take advantage of that as just another reason to go to an association meeting. To start, you need some shoes. There are many out there and all different brands. Try to find a store in your area that sells them and try some on to see which are most comfortable to you. Also talk to other officials to see what their favorites are. With your shoes, make sure you have black socks. You will also need officiating pants. These are black with a white stripe down the side. College and High school officials where the same pant...

No matter if you are starting to officiate high school or college football, almost everyone has questions about what equipment they need. I will try to give you the basics and point you in the right direction of where to get it. Like always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know here . To start, you need a bag to put all of your equipment. Many officials I have worked with use suitcases but that isn’t a requirement. Some officials use over the shoulder gym bags as well that work just fine. Whatever the bag, try to find one that has separate compartments to keep clothes and then accessories such as whistles and bean bags. Here is an example of one possibility, but any suitcase would work. Next, assuming you are not the referee, you will need a black hat with white stripes. Some of the white stripes are bigger than others. Most officials where hats that have thinner white lines, but for most high school and DIII college, it doesn’t make a huge difference. ...

If you are a new reader to Prepared Football Official’s blog, first welcome! I am glad you are here. Please take some time to read the About Me which can be found here and the Purpose page found here . You have also missed some early blog posts I posted. One of my favorite early blog posts was, “Why You Should Make the Leap and Start Officiating Football.” This post talks about many of the benefits that can come from you deciding to become an official. Some of the benefits range from communication and composure skills to test taking and teamwork. All things that can help you in all aspects of life. Take a look at this blog here . Another important early post was about one of the most important steps when becoming a football official, joining an area association. Being around other officials will not only help you learn the rules faster and better, but it will also help you get to know fellow officials so you can get some game assignments. Crews are eager to get some new blood out o...

Hey everyone. Thank you for reading my blog! I really hope that you have learned something about football officiating that has helped you decide to become an official or has helped you become a better official. From my blog, I really want to share the news with people about why officiating is a great idea besides just for some extra money. And in case you have not read my about me blog, there a ton of opportunities all over the country for you to get involved with officiating football! We desperately need more to make sure schools can find an adequate number of officials. If you want to read more about the benefits of football officiating, read my earlier post  here . I have already written one post about how to be better prepared for the season which you can read here . However, I really look forward to doing more posts like these. I want to share my knowledge and experiences with all of you to help you become a better prepared football official, like this blog is so wonderfully...

1. Make sure your registration is current - whether it is for a state high school association or a college conference, make sure you have the proper registration or license to officiate that season. 2. Watch necessary videos - some levels and divisions of football will require you to watch a video that highlights new rule changes and points of emphasis for the year. Make sure to watch this early and often. (if it is actually an informative video, if not, go find a good one online. I recommend looking at the NFHS site for high school and CFO site for college.) 3. Take the test - you will almost always have at least 1 test you must take in order for you to be able to officiate that season. Open it early and print it out. Then you can slowly go through it writing things out to help you. If you have questions, don’t be afraid to ask, working through the test with the rule book and a fellow official can teach you a lot. 4. Review the rules - make sure you leave enough time before...