NASO Participates in NFHS Officiating Events

NASO was at the forefront of two recent events hosted by the NFHS. NASO President Barry Mano participated in a virtual media availability session on Jan. 17 and NASO chief operating officer Bill Topp and NASO chief business development officer Ken Koester were invited presenters of NFHS Officials Consortium 2.0 held Jan. 26-28 in Indianapolis.

Mano joined Dr. Karissa Niehoff, NFHS chief executive officer; Dana Pappas, NFHS director of officiating services and NASO board chair; and Erin Trujillo, who has officiated high school basketball and volleyball in New Mexico and Colorado for 26 years. The four panelists detailed how unruly behavior from spectators, coaches and players has chased officials from the officiating ranks.

One of Mano’s key comments called for better education and training for officials while also tasking sports organizations to “put a line in the sand” on certain behaviors that should not be tolerated.

The NFHS highlighted its Bench Bad Behavior campaign, which is designed to be an “edgy” campaign — as Niehoff describes it — targeting unsporting behavior.

Topp and Koester kicked off day two of the NFHS Officials Consortium 2.0 with a presentation titled, “The State of Officiating.”

Topp presented data from NASO’s 2017 National Officiating Survey and he mentioned a new survey slated for 2023.

The challenge of sporting behavior at the youth levels was one of many topics covered.

“How do we help create a good environment for people to start?” Topp said to the group of more than 70 representatives in the room. “At the recreational youth level … it’s a toxic environment. How do we and all these other levels of sport help deal with that?”

Koester spoke about the frustrations that local assigners and associations face in trying to cover games and tailoring training to officials by level.

“What can we do for the officiating community?” Koester said. “What can we do to better handle this behavior?”

Koester said one factor is training officials differently than most associations have ever done before.

“Many (associations) are doing what they were doing 25 years ago,” Koester said. “They’re meeting as one group. I’m not so sure we want those high school (students) in the same room as that 35-year veteran. One, they’d never get a chance to speak but two, can we tailor the training in such a way so that you have likeminded individuals together?”

Topp also joined the first panel, “Getting on the Same Page,” on day three. Topp joined Pappas, who moderated the panel. Also on the panel were Jack Furlong, The OSIP Foundation (Outstanding Sportsmanship Is Paramount) founder and president; Roger Harvey, Bose Public Affairs Group principal; and Ryan Virtue, Positive Coaching Alliance regional partnership manager.

Topp discussed assaults as they relate to sports officiating, specifically legislation across the United States. While the early months of the legislative session see a flurry of bills being introduced, Topp noticed something unusual about this year as state legislatures swear in new members and take up new business.

“There’s never been more activity than in the last couple of years,” Topp said during the session. “There’s activity going on in about seven states right now and that’s something we’ve never seen before.”

Topp also shared how NASO has evolved in just the last few years, noting the number of media interview requests has skyrocketed. Additionally, Topp shared the need to better educate local associations on how to respond to crises, through a crisis management plan.

“You have to be prepared to do crisis management at the local association level,” Topp said. “This is something we never thought about years ago, but what are you going to say when the media is calling the local officials association for comment?”

To find the media availability session in its entirety, search “Media Availability, Mano, NASO, NFHS, YouTube.”

To find Topp and Koester’s presentation in its entirety, search “The State of Officiating, NASO, NFHS, YouTube.”

To find Topp’s participation on a panel in its entirety, search “Getting on the same page, NASO, NFHS, YouTube.” 