The Ref Must Be Blind! Identifying Pre- and Post-game Stresses of Australian Sports Referees and Match Officials

This study is looking specifically at the pre- and post-game stresses placed on referees and match officials. The initial research has indicated that although people are aware that referees suffer from stress during matches, many of the causes of these stresses can have an ongoing affect leading into pre- and post-game stresses. Identified causes of pre- and post-game stress have included players/coaches, spectators, other referees, commentators, previous results, weather, reputation of the team(s), and the crowd. Preliminary results of the study have shown that referees suffering from stress are more inclined to “drop out” of refereeing as well as make mistakes when they are refereeing, including misinterpreting rules, missing incidents in matches which could result in players injuries. There is also the concern of the lack of numbers of new referees as well as the cost/investment in referees who drop out because of the stress and abuse.

Anderson, M. and J. Williams. 1999. “Athletic Injury, Psychological Factors and Perceptual Changes During Stress.” Journal of Sports Sciences 17:735-741.

Anshel, M. and R. Weinberg. 1996. “Coping With Acute Stress Among American and Australian Basketball Referees.” Journal of Sport Behaviour 19(3):180-203.

Anshel, M., L. R. T. Williams, and S. Williams. 2000. “Examining Evidence of Coping Style Following Acute Stress in Competitive Sport.” Journal of Social Psychology 140:751-773.

Australian Sports Commission. 2003. Year of the Sports Official. Retrieved September 10, 2006 (http://www.ausport. gov.au/official/yoto2003.asp).

Balmer, N., A. Nevill, and A. Lane. 2005. “Do Judges Enhance Home Advantage in European Championship Boxing?” Journal of Sports Sciences 23(4):409-416.

Balmer, N., A. Nevil, A. Lane, P. Ward, A. Williams, and S. Fairclough. 2003. “Influence of Crowd Noise on Soccer Refereeing Consistency in Soccer.” Journal of Sport Behaviour 30(2):130-145.

Burke, K., A. Joyner, A. Pim, and D. Czech. 2000. “An Exploratory Investigation of the Perceptions of Anxiety Among Basketball Officials Before, During, and After the Contest.” Journal of Sport Behaviour 23(1):11-19.

D’Ottavio, S. and C. Castagna. 2001. “Physiological Load Imposed on Elite Soccer Referees During Actual Match Play.” Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 41(1):27-32.

De Lisser, E. 1994. “Legal Beat: Abusive Fans Lead Amateur Umpires to Ask Courts, Legislators for Protection.” The Wall Street Journal 8(1):1-2.

Department of Sport and Recreation. 2004. Case Studies: Sport Rage Prevention Pilot. Retrieved August 21, 2007 (http://www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/sportsrage/sr_casestudies_bt.htm).

Eubank, M. and D. Collins. 2000. “The Influence of Anxiety Direction on Processing Bias.” Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology 22:292-306.

Evans, R. and M. Rowe. 2002. “The Most Difficult Part of Refereeing.” Officiating Australia 1(1):1-2.

Fletcher, D. and M. Scott. 2009. “Psychological Stress in Sports Coaches: A Review of Concepts, Research, and Practice.” Journal of Sports Sciences 28(2):127-137.

Hanton, S., D. Fletcher, and G. Coughlan. 2005. “Stress in Elite Sport Performers: A Comparative Study of Competitive and Organizational Stressors.” Journal of Sports Sciences 23(10):1129-1141.

Haynes, M. and A. Panazzo. 2005. “Strategies to Deal With Abuse of Officials.” Officiating Australia 5(1):4.

Helsen, W. and J. Bultynck. 2004. “Physical and Perceptual- Cognitive Demands of Top-Class Refereeing in Association Football.” Journal of Sports Sciences 22:179-189.

High, C. J. 2002. “Refereeing the Tackle.” Presented at the Rugby Football Union Performance Department: Inaugural Elite Referee Unit Conference, Huddersfield.

Martin, J., C. Nickolas, K. Smith, and A. Jones. 2001. “Activity Analysis of English Premiership Rugby Football Union Refereeing.” Journal of Ergonomics 44(12):1069-1075.

Mascarenhas, D., D. Collins, and P. Mortimer. 2003. “The Accuracy, Agreement and Coherence of Decision-Making in Rugby Union Officials.” Journal of Sports Behaviour 28(3):253-271.

Mascarenhas, D., D. Collins, P. Mortimer, and B. Morris. 2005. “Training Accurate and Coherent Decision Making in Rugby Union Referees.” The Sport Psychologist 19:131-147.

Mockford, N. 2005. Umpires Hold Grudges? Of Course They Do. Retrieved (http://sportaustralia.com/articles/may05/ artid30/11.html).

Nacey, R. 1994. “Stress in Rugby Referees.” Australian Rugby Union Level 3 Papers.

Olusoga, P., J. Butt, I. Maynard, and K. Hays. 2010. “Stress and Coping: A Study of World Class Coaches.” Journal of Applied Sport Psychology 22(3):274-293.

Pearce, N. 2003. “The Effect of Physical Stress on Decision Making Accuracy.” Australian Rugby Union Level 3 Papers.

Rainey, D. and L. Hardy. 1999. “Sources of Stress, Burnout and Intention to Terminate Among Rugby Union Referees.” Journal of Sports Sciences 17:797-806.

Reilly, T. and W. Gregson. 2006. “Special Populations: The Referee and Assistant Referee.” Journal of Sports Sciences 24(7):795-801.

Rodafinos, A. and M. Anshel. 2000. “Psychological Predictors of Coping Responses Among Greek Basketball Referees.” Journal of Social Psychology 140(3):329-344.

Rodafinos, A., M. Anshel, and A. Porter. 1997. “Personal and Situational Factors That Predict Coping Strategies for Acute Stress Among Basketball Referees.” Journal of Sports Sciences 15:427-436.

Rodafinos, A., M. Anshel, and G. Sideridis. 1998. “Sources, Intensity, and Responses to Stress in Greek and Australian Basketball Referees.” International Journal of Sport Psychology 29:303-323.

Scott, S. 2002. “Importance of Officials.” Officiating Australia 1(1):2-3.

Seneviratne, C. 2003. “The Two Referee Solution.” Australian Rugby Union Level 3 Papers.

Stewart, M. J. and P. J. Ellery. 1998. “Amount of Psychological Stress Reported by High School Volleyball Officials.” Perceptual and Motor Skills 83:337-338.

Thelwell, R., N. J. V. Weston, and I. Greenlees. 2010. “Coping With Stressors in Elite Sport: A Coach Perspective.” European Journal of Sport Science 10(4):243-253.

Weinstein, M. 2003. Making the Call. Retrieved June 17, 2006 (http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au:2048/pqdweb?did=424531951&sid=3&cliFmt=3&clientId=20901&RQT=309&VName=PQD).

Weston, M., W. Helsen, C. MacMahon, and D. Kirkendall. 2004. “The Impact of Specific High-Intensity Training Sessions on Football Referees’ Fitness Levels.” The American Journal of Sports Medicine 32(1):54-61.