Officiating Experience - Outcome D (10-30)-9

Allow students to learn and experience officiating skills, communication and leadership skills, and officiating duties. Inform them that during the specified time period each student must demonstrate their ability to officiate in class, and must also volunteer ___ hours of community service in this area. Officiating at some level, scorekeeping, or participating as a lines person can fulfill this. Volleyball is used here as a sample activity but participation in another officiated school sport is encouraged. For example, students could officiate as a lines person in soccer, or a timer in basketball. Junior high schools are always looking for volunteer help. Volunteers are also needed in community-based programs for younger children and in school tournaments.

Provide the students with some general tips such as how hard to blow a whistle, and timing of the whistle. Also include tips for communicating with the athletes, audience, and coaches. Provide the students with a hard copy of the official hand signals for the game. Instruct students to become very familiar with these, as well as with the rules.

Each day the students will be playing and will have the opportunity to practice officiating. Set up a volleyball class tournament. Make sure there is one more team than available courts, so the team that is on a "bye" that round can take the various officiating duties such as lines persons, referee, umpire and even scorekeeper if numbers allow. As students officiate, give feedback orally or videotape them so they can evaluate themselves. Encourage students to try different duties each time their team officiates.

Scorekeeping should include a classroom lesson on how to score a game on an official score sheet. Instruct students on how to fill out a proper score sheet and have them fill out the score sheet for a mock game. You could then assign the students to attend a home game within a certain amount of time, and keep score as a part of the audience. They should then hand in their score sheet. Or you could give the students a written account of a sample game to read, and have them fill in the score sheet according to the sample game for homework.

Allow students to officiate a sport they are most familiar with. During the semester each student will officiate at least one game while their peers play.

Obtain a score sheet from a home game that was played and have the students write out what happened during that game. They can hand this in for marks.

These are clues that you have reached the outcomes ...

Students demonstrate appropriate decision-making skills each time they officiate.

Students fulfill the score sheet ability quiz.

Students fulfill the required volunteer hours within the community.

During class discussion students can reflect on how the decision-making skills of officiating can be incorporated in the community.

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