Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials

• Summary

• Details

Work Activities

• Verify scoring calculations before competition winners are announced.
• Signal participants or other officials to make them aware of infractions or to otherwise regulate play or competition.
• Compile scores and other athletic records.
• Confer with other sporting officials, coaches, players, and facility managers to provide information, coordinate activities, and discuss problems.
• Teach and explain the rules and regulations governing a specific sport.
• Inspect game sites for compliance with regulations or safety requirements.
• Verify credentials of participants in sporting events, and make other qualifying determinations, such as starting order or handicap number.
• Resolve claims of rule infractions or complaints by participants and assess any necessary penalties, according to regulations.
• Start races and competitions.
• Officiate at sporting events, games, or competitions, to maintain standards of play and to ensure that game rules are observed.
• Judge performances in sporting competitions to award points, impose scoring penalties, and determine results.
• Direct participants to assigned areas, such as starting blocks or penalty areas.
• Keep track of event times, including race times and elapsed time during game segments, starting or stopping play when necessary.
• Inspect game sites for compliance with regulations or safety requirements.

Skills

• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
• Troubleshooting
  • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
• Technology Design
  • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
• Science
  • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
• Writing
  • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
• Management of Financial Resources
  • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
• Service Orientation
  • Looking for ways to help people.
• Operation and Control
  • Using equipment or systems.
• Judgment and Decision Making
  • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
• Persuasion
  • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
• Operations Monitoring
  • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
• Complex Problem Solving
  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
• Monitoring
  • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
• Mathematics
  • Using math to solve problems.
• Equipment Maintenance
  • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
• Reading Comprehension
  • Reading work-related information.
• Equipment Selection
  • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
• Coordination
  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
• Programming
  • Writing computer programs.
• Systems Analysis
  • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
• Active Listening
  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
• Active Learning
  • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
• Management of Material Resources
  • Managing equipment and materials.
• Speaking
  • Talking to others.
• Learning Strategies
  • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
• Systems Evaluation
  • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
• Quality Control Analysis
  • Testing how well a product or service works.
• Operations Analysis
  • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
• Instructing
  • Teaching people how to do something.
• Installation
  • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
• Negotiation
  • Bringing people together to solve differences.
• Management of Personnel Resources
  • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
• Repairing
  • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
• Social Perceptiveness
  • Understanding people's reactions.
• Time Management
  • Managing your time and the time of other people.

Abilities

• Information Ordering
  • Ordering or arranging things.
• Spatial Orientation
  • Knowing where things are around you.
• Number Facility
  • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
• Stamina
  • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
• Trunk Strength
  • Using your lower back and stomach.
• Glare Sensitivity
  • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
• Arm-Hand Steadiness
  • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
• Manual Dexterity
  • Holding or moving items with your hands.
• Explosive Strength
  • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
• Deductive Reasoning
  • Using rules to solve problems.
• Speed of Closure
  • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
• Wrist-Finger Speed
  • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
• Gross Body Coordination
  • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
• Hearing Sensitivity
  • Telling the difference between sounds.
• Written Expression
  • Communicating by writing.
• Fluency of Ideas
  • Coming up with lots of ideas.
• Reaction Time
  • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
• Dynamic Flexibility
  • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Finger Dexterity
  • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
• Control Precision
  • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
• Flexibility of Closure
  • Seeing hidden patterns.
• Auditory Attention
  • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
• Mathematical Reasoning
  • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
• Selective Attention
  • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
• Far Vision
  • Seeing details that are far away.
• Originality
  • Creating new and original ideas.
• Peripheral Vision
  • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
• Depth Perception
  • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
• Visualization
  • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
• Time Sharing
  • Doing two or more things at the same time.
• Oral Expression
  • Communicating by speaking.
• Problem Sensitivity
  • Noticing when problems happen.
• Sound Localization
  • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
• Static Strength
  • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
• Extent Flexibility
  • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
• Visual Color Discrimination
  • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
• Speech Clarity
  • Speaking clearly.
• Gross Body Equilibrium
  • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
• Response Orientation
  • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
• Night Vision
  • Seeing at night or under low light.
• Written Comprehension
  • Reading and understanding what is written.
• Category Flexibility
  • Grouping things in different ways.
• Near Vision
  • Seeing details up close.
• Oral Comprehension
  • Listening and understanding what people say.
• Memorization
  • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
• Inductive Reasoning
  • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
• Rate Control
  • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
• Speed of Limb Movement
  • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
• Dynamic Strength
  • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
• Multilimb Coordination
  • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
• Perceptual Speed
  • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
• Speech Recognition
  • Recognizing spoken words.

Knowledge

• Geography
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
• Customer and Personal Service
  • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Medicine and Dentistry
  • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
• Biology
  • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Therapy and Counseling
  • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
• Food Production
  • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
• Education and Training
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
• Mechanical
  • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
• Psychology
  • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
• Design
  • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
• Fine Arts
  • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
• Economics and Accounting
  • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
• Foreign Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
• Philosophy and Theology
  • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
• English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Building and Construction
  • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
• Chemistry
  • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
• Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Production and Processing
  • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Telecommunications
  • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
• Transportation
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
• Administrative
  • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
• Sales and Marketing
  • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
• Mathematics
  • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• Administration and Management
  • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• History and Archeology
  • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
• Physics
  • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
• Personnel and Human Resources
  • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
• Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Computers and Electronics
  • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Engineering and Technology
  • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Sociology and Anthropology
  • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
• Communications and Media
  • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

Education

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

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Education and Training Opportunities

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Pay

Washington Annual Salary

40040/yr

Washington Employment Trends

Currently Employed

1,230

Yearly Projected Openings

310

Personality

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

• Dependability
• Integrity
• Self Control
• Attention to Detail
• Stress Tolerance
• Cooperation

Tools

• Ball pump
• Bench scales
• Cross trainers
• Digital video disk players or recorders
• Exercise balls
• Fitness weights
• Flags or accessories
• Game accessories
• Ice skates
• Notebook computers
• Personal computers
• Phone headsets
• Pressure indicators
• Public address systems
• Sport safety equipment other than headgear
• Sport safety headgear
• Sport scoreboards
• Sports timer
• Stationary bicycles
• Tablet computers
• Tape measures
• Treadmills
• Whistle

Technology

• Data base user interface and query software
• Document management software
• Electronic mail software
• Internet browser software
• Office suite software
• Presentation software
• Spreadsheet software
• Video creation and editing software
• Word processing software