PRE-GAME

Today’s lineup:

• Tip ‘Off’ The Day: Build Your pre-season Referee Checklist ✅

• Primary Coverage Area: Why Admin Season Hits Harder Than Game Season 🤕

• Crunch Time: What Supervisors REALLY Want From You 🫵

• Media Timeout: Don’t Let Admin Season Break You (Gift Inside 🎁)

• Option to Advance 👉🏼

• Game Report 📝

TIP ‘OFF’ THE DAY

Build Your Pre-Season Referee Checklist ✅

Before the first whistle blows, the real work begins…

Create a pre-season checklist that includes contracts, paperwork deadlines, uniform orders, and travel receipts.

This habit reduces last-minute stress and keeps you ready for the first game.

Need help staying organized this pre-season? Click here to download a FREE Pre-Season Admin Checklist! 🔗

PRIMARY COVERAGE AREA

📋 Why Admin Season Hits Harder Than Game Season

Pre-season arrives and the familiar stress hits: game checks haven't started yet, but expenses are piling up. Travel costs for camps, hotel stays for clinics, registration fees for associations.

Meanwhile, your inbox fills up with contract requests from different assigners—each with their own preferred format, deadlines, and submission process.

It feels like you're refereeing before the season even starts, except this time it's contracts and deadlines instead of block/charge calls. And somehow, this administrative game feels just as overwhelming.

The Chaos I Used to Live In

I used to let this time of year completely overwhelm me. I'd scramble to figure out each assigner's system, dig through weeks-old emails hunting for deadlines, and all the while feel the financial pinch of spending money without earning any.

The hardest part wasn't just the money or the paperwork…

It was the chaos of not having any rhythm.

Every email felt urgent. Every deadline felt like a surprise. I was reactive instead of proactive, and it showed in how scattered I felt going into the season.

The System That Changed Everything

What helped me was creating a pre-season "admin system" that I could rinse and repeat every year. Nothing fancy, just three simple components:

One folder on my computer labeled "Referee Administrative Forms" with subfolders for each year and each assigner's contracts/requirements.

One checklist with every deadline from every assigner, sorted by date, that I check weekly.

One spreadsheet tracking pre-season expenses so I know exactly what I'm investing before that first game check arrives.

The same process every season, no matter who the assigner is or what their preferences are. Once I had my own system, the admin side became another part of my routine, not another stressor.

The Real Payoff

We can't control how each assigner wants their paperwork submitted. We can't control when camps are scheduled or what they cost. But we can control how we organize ourselves around these realities.

The earlier you build your own system, the easier every pre-season becomes. The game may not pay until the season starts, but your system pays you back every single year.

What's your approach to managing pre-season chaos? Have you found systems that make the administrative side feel less overwhelming? 🏀

CRUNCH TIME

What Supervisors REALLY Want From You 🫵

In this group call, Kevin breaks down one of the toughest balancing acts for referees: handling administrative expectations from supervisors without letting that pressure bleed into our play calling.

✅ On the court, we can’t officiate with a supervisor’s voice in our head — that hesitation can cause mistakes.
📋 Off the court, we must follow through on their points of emphasis, paperwork, and preseason admin requests exactly as directed.
⚖️ It’s a fine line between judgment and compliance, and knowing the difference is key to thriving this season.

Watch this clip to hear how Kevin explains navigating those expectations and why mastering the administrative side of officiating is just as important as making the right calls on the floor.

Want access to discussions where we analyze exactly these kinds of game management decisions? Click here to engage with our growing REF SKOOL Community! The honest conversations that help officials navigate the gray areas.

MEDIA TIMEOUT

🚨 Don’t Let Admin Season Break You

You ever feel like the admin side of refereeing hits harder than the games themselves? The endless contracts, preseason forms, different requests from every assigner… all piled on at once with no clear guide.

That frustration is real — and it’s exactly why we built the REF SKOOL Community. This season, you don’t have to figure it out alone. We’re launching free online study sessions for the Women’s Basketball preseason exam, plus tools, discussions and resources to help all referees tackle the paperwork overload.

👉 Click here to join our free REF SKOOL Community today!

OPTION TO ADVANCE

GAME REPORT