Welcome to The RefReps Playbook

Even though this isn’t the first post on this blog, it still feels like it’s important to introduce ourselves and welcome everyone to the world of RefReps. Whether you’ve been familiar with us for a while, or you’ve only recently heard about us, we want to take a moment to tell you about how we got here, what you’ll see in this space, and what we hope this blog will do for you and the world of sports officiating.

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Our Story

RefReps came into being in January of 2022, when we started a pilot project to teach sports officiating in seven Indiana high schools with 70 students. Since then, more than 46,000 potential new officials have taken RefReps classes in more than 1,100 high schools, colleges/universities, and officials’ organizations around the globe. All around the United States and the world, people have experienced seeing the games through the eyes of the officials.

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What to expect from The RefReps Playbook

At its core, RefReps is an education platform designed to help schools launch sports officiating courses as part of CTE pathways, PE programs, and elective offerings. We want to train the next generation of sports officials and strengthen the officiating pipeline for the future of all sports.

Part of this mission is making sure we talk about all facets of officiating, from pregame conversations and soft skills, to the people in the world of officiating who are making a difference and ensuring that officials are being trained and games are being played. In this space, you will see things like:

• How-to guides to improve officiating skills: Topics like communication, mechanics, positioning, handling conflict, and game management.

• Game scenarios that will test your rules knowledge and mechanics: Designed to test your knowledge and help you think like an official.

• Interviews with officials, instructors, and athletics leaders: Featuring the people shaping the future of high school and college officiating.

• Community spotlights: Celebrating schools, students, and officials using RefReps or contributing to the officiating pipeline.

• Stories from referees: Moments that shaped careers, challenged perspectives, or highlighted the human side of officiating.

  
  

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Addressing the officiating shortage

The officiating world is changing. The longstanding officiating shortage and the need for high-quality official development have sparked new conversations across the industry. You might be asking, “Am I someone who would be able to benefit from The RefReps Playbook?” If you’re one or more of the following, you’re in the right place:

• New or veteran sports official

• High school student exploring officiating

• PE teacher or CTE instructor

• Athletic director or administrator

• State association or assignor

• Coach or sports leader

• Someone interested in sportsmanship and the rules of the game

By sharing resources, stories, and training tips, we hope to make officiating more accessible, more understood, and more supported. Ultimately, The RefReps Playbook exists to help you:

• Improve your officiating skills

• Understand the rules and philosophies of sports

• Learn from experienced referees and instructors

• Support students and young officials

• Strengthen sportsmanship in your community

  
  

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We’ll be posting monthly, and we hope you will find it informative, interesting, and most importantly, beneficial to you whether you are an official, an instructor using RefReps, or someone wanting to make sure kids in your community get to play games. If you have ideas for us, or would like to share anything, you can email us at hype@refreps.com.

We’re thankful for everyone who has joined us on this journey, and we’re excited to share more about our plans to train the next generation of GREAT sports officials.

If you’re looking to find out more about our team and experience, visit our About Us page. Until next time!