Movement, positioning, and awareness for officials

The main role of the sports official is to enforce the laws of the game; however, to perform this at a high standard, officials must move around the playing area. Consequently, sports officials often complete extensive movement demands to provide them with an unobstructed view of potential foul play scenarios. This chapter will summarize the existing research available, analyzing the volume and intensity requirements of officials across a range of sports and competition levels. The factors impacting the movement demands will also be discussed. Further, an examination of the impact of positioning on decision-making accuracy will also be introduced. The case study provided at the end of the chapter also provides a practical example of strategies used to prepare elite-level rugby union match officials in the lead up to and during the 2019 Rugby World Cup.