“Never having the right to make a mistake, I think that’s the hardest part of being an official”: Exploring young sport officials’ experiences of abuse and their related coping mechanisms

Radziszewski, Stephanie; Parent, Sylvie; St-Pierre, Elisabeth; Fortier, Julie

doi:10.1080/10413200.2023.2197964

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Yasmin, one of two female match officials in our sample, was the youngest match official interviewed. Her experience directly aligned with other research on match official abuse documenting increased rates of harassment and abuse directed toward younger ( 73 ), less experienced ( 74 ), and female officials ( 75 , 76 ), suggesting their experiences of abuse can differ in both type (e.g., gendered abuse) and frequency from their older, more experienced, and male peers, subsequently impacting their mental health and retention in sport.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Part of this also requires careful examination of what we expect to have happen when such an initiative is siloed from other health and welfare issues, including match official harassment and abuse. Experiences of abuse impact the welfare and retention of match officials in sports ( 78 , 79 ), as well as their ability to manage the match and ensure the safety of athletes ( 73 , 80 ). Yes, we recognize that rugby governing bodies have responded to referee harassment and abuse by implementing strategies to safeguard match officials from the amateur level ( 81 ) up to international competitions ( 82 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An examination of social relations and concussion management via the blue card

Jorgensen,

Safai,

Mainwaring

2024

Front. Sports Act. Living

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IntroductionInitially developed by New Zealand Rugby in 2014, the Blue Card initiative in rugby enables match officials to remove athletes from play if they are suspected to have sustained a concussion. Considerable attention has been paid by sport and health advocates to the possibilities and limitations of this initiative in safeguarding athlete health. However, little if any attention has been paid to the well-being of those responsible for administering the Blue Card (i.e., match officials). The aim of this paper was to examine match officials' experiences with and perspectives on implementing the Blue Card initiative in Ontario, Canada, with focused attention on the tensions around their ability to manage games and participants (e.g., athletes, coaches) while attempting to safeguard athlete well-being.MethodsUsing Relational Coordination Theory (RCT) as a guiding framework and qualitative research method, we highlight the rich accounts of 19 match officials' perspectives and experiences regarding sport-related concussion (SRC) management and the Blue Card protocol.ResultsFour themes were derived from the data, reflecting latent assumptions embedded within the concussion management process, which include: assumptions of trust, respect, and cooperation; assumptions of shared responsibility; assumptions of shared understanding; and assumptions of harassment-free sport.DiscussionOur findings emphasize the need to attend to social relations in concussion management and provide insight into match officials' fraught experiences on the frontlines of concussion management. We identify factors affecting match official well-being and provide considerations for concussion management initiatives designed to improve athlete safety, such as the Blue Card.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An examination of social relations and concussion management via the blue card

Jorgensen,

Safai,

Mainwaring

2024

Front. Sports Act. Living

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“…A growing body of literature addresses various issues related to this community, examining the entire process from entering to leaving officiating roles ( Purdy and Snyder, 1985 ; Kellett and Shilbury, 2007 ; Warner et al, 2013 ; Ridinger, 2015 ; Livingston et al, 2017 ; Ridinger et al, 2017 ). With attrition rates of nearly 30%, sport officials are leaving their positions due to many reasons, for instance, abuse ( Radziszewski et al, 2023 ); lack of respect and recognition ( Hancock et al, 2015 ); and gendered aggressions ( Webb et al, 2021 ; Tingle et al, 2022 ).…”

Section: Community and Motivation Among Tennis Officials: A Cross-cul...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Community and motivation among tennis officials: a cross-cultural multilevel analysis

Li,

2023

Front. Psychol.

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Sport officials are pivotal to the development of the game at every level. Yet, the exploration of these officials’ job satisfaction and turnover intentions, especially within tennis, remains largely neglected. This study undertakes a cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Referee Retention Scale (RRS) in a Chinese context (RRS-CN) and uses multilevel models (MLM) to explore the influence of perceived administrator consideration, mentoring, continuing education opportunities, remuneration, stress, and ecological factors on tennis officials’ sense of community and officiating motivation. Data from 523 tennis officials across 26 provinces in China were gathered via an online survey. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the RRS-CN was validated as a culturally adaptive 25-item scale. In the following, MLM results revealed that officiating levels, socioeconomic status, perceived administrator consideration, mentoring, and levels of continuing education significantly predict officials’ sense of community. Additionally, we identified that continuing education, mentoring, and remuneration significantly influences officiating motivation. These findings underscore the importance of fair assignments, mentorship, and ongoing professional development in enhancing job satisfaction and retention. Future explorations are encouraged to extend the analysis to more ecological variables and further investigate their potential effects on systematic partial nesting, enhancing the generalizability and precision of measurement in job satisfaction and turnover studies across diverse cultural landscapes.

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