Identification of key performance characteristics of elite Australian football umpires

Abstract

This research aimed to present a hierarchy of key attributes for Australian football umpires. Elite Australian football umpires ( n = 19) and their coaches ( n = 5) participated in this study. A list of attributes necessary for sports officiating was obtained from past research and adapted specifically for Australian football umpires. Umpires were required to rate each attribute on a scale of 0–9 (least to most importance), and provide a justification of its importance to performance. A modified questionnaire was developed with attributes removed or added, according to the first survey round. This research identified two cognitive attributes: knowing the laws/interpretations and decision-making as the two highest rated attributes, respectively. Psychological attributes composure and concentration were rated highly by the umpires, ranked as number three and five, respectively. The game skill attribute of teamwork was rated as the fourth highest. Fitness was the only physical attribute to be rated in the most important category. Results highlight the importance of cognitive and psychological attributes to elite performance; however, participant feedback suggests that the integration of all attributes is critical. This knowledge establishes an understanding of the key attributes for expert performance, and this information could be used by coaches for the assessment and development of Australian football umpires.

Transfer of 360° virtual reality and match broadcast video-based tests to on-field decision-making

“…A key aim of video-based testing is to isolate decision-making skill (Kittel et al 2019c). Making decisions within games, however, involves an interaction of physical, psychological and external factors surrounding the decision-making process (Morris and O'Connor 2016;Kittel et al 2019a). As such, video-based approaches have been labelled as 'narrow' given they isolate decision-making skill (O'Brien and Rynne 2020).…”

“…In terms of attributes required for successful officiating performance, decision-making is commonly identified as the most important skill in sports such as soccer (Helsen and Bultynck 2004), rugby league (Morris and O'Connor 2016) and Australian football (AF) (Kittel et al 2019a). Similar to players (Bonney et al 2019), it has been established in-game performance is the best method to measure decision-making skill for sports officials (MacMahon et al 2007).…”

Effects of Communication Style on Competence Evaluations of Soccer Referees: Procedural Versus Relational Framing

“…Our study also has important implications for referee education programs. Having good verbal communication skills is an important attribute of competent referees (Kittel et al, 2019; Morris & O’Connor, 2017; Slack et al, 2013). However, soccer referees have indicated that communication training is one of the aspects they missed most in their training programs (Apple-Chiarella et al, 2020).…”

“…Referees are crucial for the success of most sporting events. Across various sports, referees indicate that having good communication skills is an important competence in on-field officiating (Kittel et al, 2019; Morris & O’Connor, 2017; Slack et al, 2013). After all, referees communicate their decisions to players, coaches, and other stakeholders on a regular basis.…”

Training and development in sport officials: A systematic review

“…This perspective emphasizes isolating sport‐specific skills officials should aim to develop and that are requisite of more optimal performance. While there is a growing body of research on the characteristics of expert officials 4,21 and influences on sport officials' performance (e.g., crowd 22 , injury 23 ), there is substantially less known about the development of sport officials 7,24 . Indeed, while there has been a proliferation of research on expert characteristics, one scoping review found less than one percent of research on football officials is actually dedicated to development (i.e., how officials' skills and characteristics change over time as a result of training and/or experience) 24 …”