Chances are you've watched a lot of football games, either in person or on the tube. Now that you're officiating games, your watching of football probably takes on a slightly different meaning. In other words, you now have a better understanding of what the officials are doing, and hence, you are more aware of their presence on the field. So this year, in addition to your other officiating goals, why not take in a game each week just to watch.

Choose your game

If you have a choice of games, opt for one where you have little or no personal interest in the teams playing. The object is to observe and learn from the officials; but if you're really interested in a star player(s) or a particular team's performance, you can easily get distracted. 

A really close, competitive game may offer up the opportunity to watch the crew in pressure-packed situations with the game on the line, but blowout games, for example, will offer up a bunch of trys and free kicks, and all the associated dead ball mechanics by the crew. Bottom line: You can gain valuable insight regardless of the type of game. Pay attention and get the most out of it!

Continued...