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Play on! Towards an understanding of sports officials’ entry to officiating and talent development

Cunningham, Ian; Kittel, Aden ; Larkin, Paul

Authors

Aden Kittel

Paul Larkin



Abstract

This commentary paper discusses key considerations for researchers and practitioners to build our understanding of effective sport officials’ recruitment practices. The identification, development and retention of sport officials is a key management agenda for sporting organisations, with low officiating numbers often reported in different sports, worldwide. While there has been a strong (and worthwhile) research focus on understanding attrition factors of officials and their experiences while in the talent development environment, there is limited understanding of how officials are identified and recruited. The recruitment is a crucial period that has implications on developmental trajectories and potential officiating talent that enter the sport system. Greater understanding of officials’ entry to officiating, including their motivations, sampling pools, specialisation age and other early experiences requires more investigation to provide evidence-based recommendations for key officiating stakeholders in the sport industry. To understand officials’ sport entry and initial pathway progression we can draw on concepts from athlete research and potentially adapt them to the realities of officiating communities. This commentary aims to provide context related to the recruitment of sports officials and inform targeted research into effective recruitment strategies and optimal early developmental climates for sports officials.

Citation

Cunningham, I., Kittel, A., & Larkin, P. (in press). Play on! Towards an understanding of sports officials’ entry to officiating and talent development. Managing Sport and Leisure, https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2024.2305893

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 11, 2024
Online Publication Date Jan 23, 2024
Deposit Date Jan 17, 2024
Publicly Available Date Jan 22, 2024
Print ISSN 2375-0472
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
DOI https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2024.2305893
Keywords Umpire; referee; recruitment; participation; pathways; talent identification
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/3484862

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