How to - Officials - LIVING SPORT

How to

Officiating covers a host of important people from scorers, table officials to umpires and referees. An official has to keep up to date with the changing laws/rules of the game introduced to make the game safer, faster or more skillful. It is the role of the umpire to ensure these are adhered to in order to have a safe and fair contest.

The role of the official is changing. In more and more sports, technology is being introduced to assist the officials, Hawkeye in tennis, Third Umpire in cricket and the use of microphone contact from the field to the side lines in rugby and football – all designed to eliminate human error.

However, sport still needs people willing to take responsibility and stand up and be strong in front of the players, adhere to the rules and ensure the activity is undertaken within the laws of the game.

If you are interested in being an official and are already in a club you could start by talking to your club officials to get a better idea of what they do and what officiating is all about. If you want to know the best way to become an official for your particular sport, the best place to start is your National Governing Body.

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