Managing Anxiety & Refereeing With Confidence

How anxious do you become during stressful moments in fixtures? Would you describe yourself as an anxious referee?

Anxiety doesn’t just happen to officials. Even in cup finals, the event itself doesn’t cause anxiety. So, why do so many referees become anxious in important fixtures?

Two reasons contribute to anxiety for officials

One cause of anxiety for referees is labelling yourself as an “anxious official”. If you believe you are an anxious referee, then that is exactly what you’ll become. You feel helpless in your attempts to change or when trying to manage anxiety. In essence, you become a martyr to your anxiety.

For instance, anxious players rarely perform well under pressure. If a tennis player labels himself an anxious athlete, he will anticipate anxiety and choke under pressure.

Another contributor to anxiety is the belief that you cannot control your emotions. The truth is you control your emotions and not the situation which you find yourself in. If you believe you can’t control your emotions when you experience negative emotions in a game, this increases your anxiety.

An official who fails to identify foul play in the penalty area in the 80th minute will understandably become angry, frustrated, or agitated. Those emotions are normal. Burying negative emotions compounds the problem. The goal for the referee is to regain composure and focus on the decision they’ll be called upon to make.

The question then is how can you manage your emotions during a game? If you become anxious, then you can become relaxed & composed

You can manage your situation by re-interpreting the situation, challenging your thoughts or making use of a relaxation strategy.

When you apply these simple strategies, you will feel you are capable of rising to officiating challenges with confidence.

In golf, professional player, Hideki Matsuyama won the 2021 Masters tournament, his first career Major championship victory. Heading into the final day of the tournament, Matsuyama was winning by four-strokes and was very nervous at the start of the round.

“My plan this morning was to wake up about 09:30, but needless to say, I arose much earlier than that and couldn’t go back to sleep. So, I came to the golf course early. Had a really good warm-up. I felt really good going to the first tee, until I stood on the first tee, and then it hit me that I’m in the last group of the Masters Tournament, and I’m the leader by four strokes. Then I was really nervous.” – Hideki Matsuyama, 2021 Masters Champion

Despite his nerves and all the “what if’s”, Matsuyama was able to keep his composure, manage his strong emotions and win the tournament by one stroke.

As referees, we have the capacity to manage our emotions in high pressure situations during important fixtures. You are the director of your experience and ultimately, influence your own performance.