Officiating children's sport

Children’s sport should be FUN!  Officials who are involved with children’s competitions should keep in mind that:

  • the social aspects of sport are highly valued by children
  • the focus should be on skill development and individual improvement, rather than winning as the outcome

Children’s Characteristics (Note: these characteristics may vary among children)
 

Children’s Social Characteristics

Officials Should
  • concerned with themselves
  • learning social roles and skills
  • learning how to cooperate
  • come from different cultural and social backgrounds
  • learning how to cope with winning and losing
  • promote cooperation, teamwork and fair play
  • reinforce the fun aspects of children’s sport
  • provide a supportive environment and show sensitivity to individual differences

Children’s Level Of Understanding

Officials Should
  • learning the best way to do things
  • unable to process too much information
  • do not do things automatically
  • keep instructions short and simple
  • allow time for children to absorb information
  • reinforce and praise when something is done well

Children’s Physical Characteristics

Officials Should
  • very active
  • lack fine motor control
  • have different levels of ability
  • growing rapidly
  • less tolerant of heat and cold
  • children develop at different rates, and there may be both early and late developers in any group
  • be aware of varying ability levels
  • be aware that growth periods will alter the child’s coordination and skills

Children’s Personality Characteristics

Officials Should
  • easily motivated
  • wide range of reasons for playing sport
  • sensitive to criticism and failure
  • short attention span
  • listen to what the children say
  • be positive, compliment effort

 

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Australia is one of only two nations to have competed in every modern Summer Olympic Games.

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113 thousand people have so far completed the ASC online coaching course.
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