Thoughts and Perspectives on Officiating

Get two wrestling officials talking about the finer points of refereeing and most likely you'll get two differing philosophies. Add a third and even more viewpoints emerge.  Add coaches, mix in a few parents, bring on some ardent fans, include current and former wrestlers and solving the world's hunger problems would be a piece of cake compared to finding common ground on the intricacies of refereeing scholastic wrestling.

Most any "senior" wrestling official will readily admit to having had, at some point in their career, a mentor who helped lead them through the maze of rules and interpretations. Coached them on mechanics and guided them through the vast network of schools, athletic directors, league assignors, association secretaries, tournament directors, and state rule interpreters, not to mention who or what the Ohio High School Athletic Association is all about.

What you'll find here are thoughts and opinions offered by various contributors, generally other referees, on a range of topics gleaned from their personal experiences and/or observations. You may not agree with everything written. That's not the point. It's to get you to think, to sort through their thoughts and pick and choose what makes sense to you, what could enhance your officiating style and philosophy.

It has been said that an official is never too old or practiced to learn something to enhance their officiating repertoire. That being the case, then you've come to the right place.

Have an article you've written you think would benefit other officials? Please send it to articles, along with a short biographic sketch of yourself, i.e. years experience, memberships,  tournament assignments. Also, please attach a "head shot" of yourself, preferably in GIF format, to enhance credit to the author.

There's no assurance that articles submitted will be published.

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