“The officials at your school’s games are serving your community.” Coach Mackey
Coach,
We can’t play the game without officials. Whether your sport calls them referees, umpires, or something else, game officials fill a critical role in athletics. Too often, these important figures are chased away from this role due to the disrespectful behavior of fans, athletes, or coaches.
The Texas Way is our attempt to make game day a better experience for everyone involved, and that includes officials. They may not get every call right, but without them, there won’t be any calls at all—or any games, either.
This week, we’ll take a look at three ways that you can work on building strong relationships with game officials.
But, first, we have three video resources to share with you:
Two versions of a video (What Do You Play For?) that can be played at games or shared through social media posts. The football version will air as a commercial on Victory+ during the THSCA Game of the Week (Longview vs. South Oak Cliff). The links are available on the Texas Way Assets and Resources page or right here:
The first RefReps video where You Make the Call is available through the video resources or right here: RefReps Video #1
If you want to share the RefReps video with fans, (which we highly encourage!) it is also available at PlayTheTexasWay.com/RefReps. The linked page includes a special video message to fans, which further explains why we are making these collaboration videos.
Three Ways to Build Strong Relationships with Officials
1) Coach up younger coaches
We don’t assume that athletes know the bench protocol before we’ve taught it to them. We also can’t assume that young coaches know how they are expected to behave toward officials without being told. Coach them up on how to interact with officials before, during, and after the game.
2) Thank your game officials
The THSCA website has free resources and guidance in their Officials Appreciation Toolkit to help your school thank the game officials in a positive and respectful way. As a couple of examples: You could send an email to officials to thank them for their service (like Blanco ISD) or create handwritten notes to give officials on game night (like Temple ISD, pictured below).
3) Ask officials about their experiences
McNair JH in Alvin ISD has a survey for officials to take post-game. They ask how the official felt about the behavior of coaches, athletes, and spectators, and they ask how the officials’ interactions went with coaches. There’s also space for the officials to share any other comments or concerns. You can find an example Google Form here:Game Day Sportsmanship Evaluation for Officials.
Final Thoughts
Officials work hard to serve our schools and communities. Let’s show them the respect that their service deserves. After all, that is The Texas Way!
Next week, you can look forward to the Monthly Drop, when we’ll reveal the Texas Way emphasis for October.
Thank you for being a part of this. Thank you for your work. If I can help you or your district in any way, or you want to tell your story, email me at Mackey@2words.tv.