It’s a beautiful fall Friday evening, and another high school football game is just about to get underway. The captains gather at midfield with the referee and umpire. The referee invites the visiting captain to call the toss, and the captain says, “Tails.” The tossed coin flips through the air before landing with the head facing up. The referee announces that it is “heads” and that the home team captain has the choice. The captain quickly and loudly announces, “We want to face the scoreboard.” At this point, the referee follows with the question, “You really want to receive the ball, right?”

Has the referee just used his experience to employ a little preventative officiating in order to help the captain avoid being yelled at by his coach? Perhaps the referee has just inserted himself into the game in a way not appreciated by some because he is now coaching a player toward an action or decision.

Walking that fine line is a challenge. Debating how to deal with that situation can bring out passion from officials falling on both sides. While we can attempt to settle the issue once and for all here, it is important to remind officials that there is not always a clear-cut answer with respect to an official and whether or not some of his or her actions might be considered coaching.

Many veteran officials who have worked state championship games and who believe that the fewer questions they ask the captains in football, the better the game goes. They talk to both coaches before the coin toss and then rarely allow the captain from either team to speak. They believe this is helpful because the players are teenage boys, or because they are nervous and have other things on their minds. Still other officials respond with the thought that if the captain has not visited with his coach before the game in order to discuss what each option is, perhaps he should not be the captain.

Some of these veteran officials will not even allow the captains a choice on a penalty. They will simply look at the offended team and say, “You are taking the penalty, right?” Again, they think they are doing a service to the game. On the other hand, the coach or captain may have a reason for making a different choice. Should he not be allowed that option?

Perhaps the problem is that officials need to be better communicators when outlining the situation and the options. Maybe some officials are just remiss in their efforts to provide information to the captain for a decision. Even in lower-level games, the official should work to accurately describe the penalty and the options and make it easy for the captain to choose. If officials helped train players early in their playing careers, they would be better prepared to make decisions at the high school varsity level.

While football offers more opportunities to coach or practice preventative officiating, other sports have situations that may create a conflict. The basketball official who tells a player to keep moving when he or she is in the lane, the volleyball official who reminds a back-row player not to “creep up” before the ball is contacted, the baseball umpire who tells the first baseman to keep his foot on the base longer ‑ each is a play situation that could be discussion fodder from an officiating standpoint.

Even if officials could agree that telling the player to move out of the lane in basketball is preventative, what is the limit? Should an official tell the player two or four times? When should an official blow his or her whistle instead of calling out a warning? What about the opponent? What if the official warned the blue team player three times? Must he or she give the white team player three warnings as well? Does the score or time remaining in the game matter? 

Officials talking with players and coaches during a game can certainly help a game move along smoothly. Preventative officiating has a place in every sport. Understanding when an official might cross a line into coaching is a challenge. While officials should strive for consistency, this is one of those areas that might require an individual approach to each game, as well as each individual in a game. A knowing comment from an authority figure such as an official can be heard differently by each athlete. It could be heard as a threat just as much as a help. Some players can become so distracted by comments from the officials that they do not have the necessary focus in the contest.

Some officials tell a coach about a situation and have him or her discuss it with the player. Not a bad idea, unless the coach cannot get to the player immediately, and the necessary comment is forgotten. Or worse, maybe the coach does not agree with the official and does not want the player to change what he or she is doing. In either of these two cases, the attempt at preventative officiating has failed.

In fact, some coaches will question if the official is doing his or her job if the official is focused on talking to players about how they are doing. How much is too much talk?

What is an official to do? There is no page in the mechanics manual of any sport that outlines an exact answer to this question. This is where younger officials should talk to veterans about how they do it and watch them closely when they work. This is also where the veterans need to review what they do, what they say, and how consistent they are with respect to their actions or reactions. Talking to players should not be as comfortable as your favorite officiating shoes, but it should not be as painful as a pebble in your shoes either. This is one of those gray areas in game management. Try to fit your officiating style into those of the coaches and players in this issue. Trust the playing captain to know his or her job, and believe that he or she has been selected as captain because of his or her intelligence and reasoning until he or she proves you wrong. Use the speaking captain as your ally and encourage him or her to ask you for more details if he or she doesn’t understand. One of the most oft-used mantras in sports is “Let the players decide the game.” What officials say and when they say it can be perceived as inserting themselves into the game further than they should.

Thus, if you are a football referee, the next time you conduct the coin toss and the winning captain says, “We want the ball,” perhaps your response should be, “Do you want to kick it or receive it?”