The National Association of Sports Officials Features Study from the Center for Sport Policy and Research.

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Making an incorrect call leads to high levels of stress during games for sports officials, according to a recently-completed study at Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Sport Policy and Research (CSPR). Bryon Martin, a high school and college sports official, and Dr. Colby Jubenville, CSPR director, conducted the study that identified the significant sources of acute game-related stress in 1,365 registered interscholastic football, basketball and baseball officials. The study also examined the officials’ strategies and styles when coping with stress, which sports officials encounter every game.

“Learning more about those coping styles will help better prepare officials to manage those stressors,” says Jubenville.

A total of 347 baseball umpires, 618 basketball officials and 400 football officials revealed the acute stressors among them to be very similar. The highest rated sources of acute game-related stressors included:

• Making an incorrect call.
• Being out of position.
• Problem with officiating partner(s).
• Verbal abuse from coaches.

Most officials who responded to the survey revealed that they deal with stress during games by concentrating on the contest and focusing on the next task. “I felt helpless and wanted to quit” was the least used strategy to cope with stress, according to the study.

By using the avoidance strategy, many officials also indicated that “I felt I had learned something from the situation” and “I ignored/tolerated the situation and quickly continued officiating.” Thus, avoidance coping may prove beneficial for improved coping effectiveness.

Officials in the study also said that their approach strategies in dealing with the source of stress, such as a coach or player, is to analyze the situation, issue a warning, technical foul or unsporting penalty and then listen to/confront the source of stress.

The study shows that coping style depends on the type of sport. Baseball umpires do not have a “warning” system such as penalty flags or technical fouls. Baseball umpires generally have one avenue of penalty enforcement — ejection.

Todd Korth is a Referee associate editor. ■