Mickey Crowley, who has had a distinguished career as an official and assignor for over 40 years, was gracious enough to provide his list called, "Steps In Moving To The Next Level". These items can be used to measure yourself, identify your weaknesses, and make improvements in your game and approach to it, because nobody is great at all of them.
1. Work with great officials.
2. Listen and learn from everyone.
3. Think all the time.
4. Get a great look at plays. (Sequence/Catalog/Repeat)
5. Be in great condition.
6. Be excellent mechanically.
7. Know the rules.
8. Understand the perception is everything in order to gain credibility.
9. Exude confidence.
10. Sell plays equally.
11. See the same game at both ends with partners.
12. Work hard; sweat as much as possible.
13. Be consistent game to game.
14. Use your common sense.
15. Treat everyone with total and uncompromising respect.
16. Choose your words carefully; eliminate excess talk.
17. Be a great partner.
18. Be global with your vision; local with your calls.
19. Be firm, fair, and polite with everyone.
20. Make the big call right.
21. Never be surprised.
22. Be persistent, set reachable goals, and pick them off one at a time.
23. Work games in segments.
24. Work today’s game.
25. Admit it when you are wrong.
26. Know what to say and what you say in situations.
27. Keep a game-by-game journal of what you have learned.
28. Manage the game and all aspects of it.
29. Forget the politics, jealousies, and negatives.
30. Don’t worry about who has what particular game.
31. Remember that every single game is huge to someone.
32. Work twice as hard the night after the biggest game of your life.
33. Pay attention to the business at hand. “Don’t talk to the minister just before the sermon.”
34. Perfect Preparation Prevents Pee-Poor Performance
35. Smile
36. Give yourself time to develop.
37. Teach officiating to someone; it makes you better.
38. Make an excellent table presentation every single time.
39. Never walk when you can run.
40. Rebound from a bad call; make the next one right.
41. Never challenge the supervisor in public.
42. Don’t rely on anyone else to get things done for you.
43. Have a quality support system.
44. Take the best qualities of other officials and make them yours.
45. Watch yourself on isolated video tape.
46. Chart every whistle 3-5 games per year.
47. Get a constant pre-game routine.
48. Use the law of readiness to guide you to the next level.
49. Accept teaching and criticism openly and objectively.
50. Look/See/Wait/Blow
51. Be a good no-call official.
52. Ask for help when you don’t know; never make one up.
53. Never lose control.
54. Break up fights when they start.
55. Know what you can say and to whom you can say it.
56. Objectively evaluate your weaknesses.
57. Be humble.
58. Be a human being.
59. Get an unbreakable bond with someone.
60. Call you own technical fouls.
61. Be beyond reproach in all that you do.
62. Make each fellow official better.
63. Be “athletic”; look ready to work; “Prowl”.
64. Be aware of body language, how you stand, and facial expressions.
65. Recognize the game has been played for a long time and will continue long after you are gone. Respect your part in the game.
1. Work with great officials.
2. Listen and learn from everyone.
3. Think all the time.
4. Get a great look at plays. (Sequence/Catalog/Repeat)
5. Be in great condition.
6. Be excellent mechanically.
7. Know the rules.
8. Understand the perception is everything in order to gain credibility.
9. Exude confidence.
10. Sell plays equally.
11. See the same game at both ends with partners.
12. Work hard; sweat as much as possible.
13. Be consistent game to game.
14. Use your common sense.
15. Treat everyone with total and uncompromising respect.
16. Choose your words carefully; eliminate excess talk.
17. Be a great partner.
18. Be global with your vision; local with your calls.
19. Be firm, fair, and polite with everyone.
20. Make the big call right.
21. Never be surprised.
22. Be persistent, set reachable goals, and pick them off one at a time.
23. Work games in segments.
24. Work today’s game.
25. Admit it when you are wrong.
26. Know what to say and what you say in situations.
27. Keep a game-by-game journal of what you have learned.
28. Manage the game and all aspects of it.
29. Forget the politics, jealousies, and negatives.
30. Don’t worry about who has what particular game.
31. Remember that every single game is huge to someone.
32. Work twice as hard the night after the biggest game of your life.
33. Pay attention to the business at hand. “Don’t talk to the minister just before the sermon.”
34. Perfect Preparation Prevents Pee-Poor Performance
35. Smile
36. Give yourself time to develop.
37. Teach officiating to someone; it makes you better.
38. Make an excellent table presentation every single time.
39. Never walk when you can run.
40. Rebound from a bad call; make the next one right.
41. Never challenge the supervisor in public.
42. Don’t rely on anyone else to get things done for you.
43. Have a quality support system.
44. Take the best qualities of other officials and make them yours.
45. Watch yourself on isolated video tape.
46. Chart every whistle 3-5 games per year.
47. Get a constant pre-game routine.
48. Use the law of readiness to guide you to the next level.
49. Accept teaching and criticism openly and objectively.
50. Look/See/Wait/Blow
51. Be a good no-call official.
52. Ask for help when you don’t know; never make one up.
53. Never lose control.
54. Break up fights when they start.
55. Know what you can say and to whom you can say it.
56. Objectively evaluate your weaknesses.
57. Be humble.
58. Be a human being.
59. Get an unbreakable bond with someone.
60. Call you own technical fouls.
61. Be beyond reproach in all that you do.
62. Make each fellow official better.
63. Be “athletic”; look ready to work; “Prowl”.
64. Be aware of body language, how you stand, and facial expressions.
65. Recognize the game has been played for a long time and will continue long after you are gone. Respect your part in the game.