If you’re someone who has ever been to or watched a sporting event in your life, then you have most likely seen the person with the whistle and the clipboard. You may have even wondered what their job really entails, or why they have that job at all. The answer to both of those questions lies in the fact that the people wearing striped shirts and carrying whistles are sports officers, which are also commonly referred to as referees, umpires, or officials.
Sports officers are there for you
When you’re competing in an event, there’s a very good chance that you’ll encounter a sports officer at some point whether it be your events and meets coordinator the person who organizes meets and competitions for you, or one of your officiating judges. So why are sports officers so important? Well, if you’ve ever been to any sort of sporting event, then you know how crowded they can get and often how stressful.
Not only are all those people there to watch you compete which means all eyes are on you but sometimes when things aren’t going so well, those people can become quite distracting! That’s where sports officers come in.
They make your life easier
One of the coolest things about sports officers is that they make your life easier, or at least simpler. Sure, there’s plenty of work to be done when managing an interscholastic sport, but it’s not all busy work. And compared to your coach and teammates people you actually spend most of your time with officials are calm, reasonable, and well organized.
So when it comes time to ask for something from them say, an extension on a game schedule, they tend to give it to you without hesitation. In fact, I’d recommend keeping up some kind of official relationship with each one so that when you need something like tickets for friends, you have someone in whom you can confide and trust.
They keep track of records and stats
Each year, new sports records are set and old ones are broken there’s no reason to keep track of these numbers if they aren’t going to be recorded. Similarly, sports officers help teams compile statistics in order to measure how well they played as a team throughout each season.
These stats can also be used to determine how effective specific players were during games or matches so coaches can tweak their strategies accordingly.
They build community
One of the most fun and cool things about working as a sports officer is that you never know what’s going to happen each day. You could be facilitating an intramural soccer tournament or taking pictures at campus hall events; there are tons of different activities, events, and people to engage with. Each week brings something new and exciting.
This constant change in pace can be invigorating and help keeps you from getting bored or jaded, which is especially important for college students. When you work as a sports officer, you’re constantly meeting new people students & staff, solving problems, and making great memories with your friends in student affairs aka your coworkers. A job like that will certainly help keep you grounded and feeling young.
They advocate for students
Depending on your school’s policy, sports officers may be able to advocate for student-athletes in a way that others are not. These advocacy roles range from helping students feel more connected to their teams, to assisting them in registering for tournaments and camps outside of school. If you want someone who will go out of their way to help you get involved and succeed as an athlete, look no further than your sports officer.
Offices are required to have athletic experience in order to apply
The sports officer helps to plan out various campus-wide sporting events, including intramural and intercollegiate competitions. In order to be considered for most positions, applicants must have had previous experience working with athletes. This can include anything from coaching to managing student organizations that use athletic facilities.
The ability to adapt to different situations quickly and effectively is essential because an athletic event can run into any number of obstacles. It’s up to sports officers to put plans into action even if they are forced to improvise at times.
