Resource Center for Officials

There are a variety of offiicating resources available to the officiating community, highlighted on this page are the most common. For sport specfic related content, go to the Sports page of this website.

MHSAA Officials Guidebook
Tax Guide for 2025

Tax Guide from NASO/Referee

MHSAA Uniform Requirements
MHSAA uniform requirements, including GCCOA recommendations & tips.

The MHSAA website has content and information for everyone involved in high school sports. This section focuses on the officiating audience.

  • Official Services – Login to access a number of My MHSAA services for officials, including Rules Meetings, Exams, Officials Directory and much more.
  • New Officials – Are you interested in becoming an official? Are you new to officiating? Learn more about officiating and next steps, and much more.
  • Sport Specific Content – Find sport-specific officials resources, guidelines, and policies here.
  • Post Season Requirements – Are you interested in officiating in the MHSAA Tournament? View the requirements for postseason tournament consideration.
  • Officials Guidebook and Policy Manual – The Officials Guidebook and Policy Manual details everything you need to know about officiating high school sports in Michigan. From contracts to filling out ejection reports to how to deal with weather delays, the Manual has you covered… plus much, much more.
  • Officials Reports – This takes you to the Officials Reports form (you will need to use your MHSAA credentials to log in)
  • Officials Directory – Visit the Officials Directory to view officials for the various sports, districts, and areas that are supported by the MHSAA. Please note, your MyMHSAA login is required to access this page. If you are not logged in, you will be prompted to do so.
  • Resources – Additional resources

Officials Reports – Requirements & Guidelines for Writing a Proper Report

Writing a clear, concise, and fact base report can be a daunting task. Jeff Spedoske provided an explanation of the ejection report and appeal process at the October 2025 Officials Review Committee. He highlighted the key issues with the report process, including delays in submission, inaccuracies in the information, and concerns with the format of the report writing. It is imperative you review the Report Writing Guide prior to typing and submitting your ejection report.

A couple of reminders about filing and writing Ejection Reports:

1. Ejection Reports MUST be filed within 24 hours of the contest.

2. You MUST contact the AD of the affected school before noon the next day. I encourage you to complete this task via email, as it will create a paper trail as proof that you’ve fulfilled your obligation. Do not provide details of the ejection in your email; that’s what the report will do. Simply inform the AD who was ejected and from what contest.

3. You MUST cite the rule within your report.  Too often, MHSAA receive reports with no rule citation. For example, if you gave a player a Direct Technical Foul for Taunting an opponent, you would cite Rule 10-4 Art 5 (c).  

4. When writing reports, include only facts, not opinions or emotional context. When quoting, use quotation marks and do not soften language or use symbols in place of letters when quoting profanity. The report must accurately and comprehensively detail the events that occurred.  Refer to the MHSAA Officials Report Writing Guide for more details.

National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) – MHSAA has partnered with NASO for liability insurance and officiating content. As an MHSAA registered official, you will receive benefits listed includes but not limited to the following:

No matter what sports you officiate, no matter what levels you work, NASO insurance covers you! Providing up to $6 million per occurrence, with an overall policy aggregate of $14 million for claims for bodily injury, property damage and personal injury, NASO provides our members with the most comprehensive insurance protections in the industry.

MHSAA content written by officials for officials, only NASO members receive the exclusive “Members Only” version of Referee magazine — the number one resource for sports officials for more than 40 years. Every month, 100 pages of the latest news, rule changes, training techniques and hot topics are delivered to your door.

Not only do NASO members receive a physical copy of Referee   every month, you also get access to the digital version of Referee at no cost, making it easy to read the information you want, on the go, anytime from your tablet or smartphone.

Only NASO offers this type of protection. Members automatically have $100,000 worth of coverage for claims arising out of any assigning work you do. No assigner should be working without it. Even if you only assign a few games a year, as an NASO member, you have the only coverage that takes care of you.

REFEREE – Referee and NASO (National Association of Sports Officials) are closely linked where Referee Enterprises, a for-profit publisher, manages the non-profit NASO. Referee is the media arm providing enriched officiating content. Referee includes:

Free Guides – Receive Weekly Newsletters and download free officiating guides such as:

  • Rules Challenge
  • 18 Tips for New Officials
  • How Decisive Are You
  • Mental Performance
  • Guide to Game Time
  • And a few others

Officiating Articles are published frequently with a variety of officiating content related to news, tips, guides, and general information.

Sport Specific Articles are published weekly with officiating content regarding all sports and sport specific content.

The Referee Training Center is an online store where you can purchase sport specific rule/case books, preseason guides, mechanics manuals, and many more. Be sure to use your NASO membership ID to get discounts to items purchasing.

ArbiterSports is a general requirement for all MHSAA  registered officials to receive their assignments through this tool. Registered Assigners & Schools will add you to their Arbiter group if they are to using you to officiate their MHSAA sanctioned contests.

MHSAA registered Assigners and/or Schools generally use Arbiter to assign your games and pay you after completion of your contests.

Ensure the Assigner and/or Schools add your email address that matches your MHSAA email address

While not required, it is highly recommended that you download the Arbiter app to your mobile device. This enables you to receive contest reminders, get notified of new games or changes to games, and reach out to your partners when needed.

Arbiter Pay is module within the Arbiter App (web & mobile) where schools transfer game fee to your Arbiter Account. From there you can transfer to your bank account at your convenience.

Use Arbiter Sports web or mobile app to block dates you are unable to work. You can also put travel limitations on distances (miles) you are willing to work or not work. You can also lookup school and officials contact information. 

National Federation of High School (NFHS)

The NFHS is a national leader and advocate for high school sports and activities in the United States. NFHS write playing rules, conduct research, offer guidance, provide education and celebrate successes. Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that all students have the opportunity to Play, Perform and Compete Together in high school sports and activities. This where you can retrieve the latest rules, clarifications, points of emphasis, and information specific to each sport. It is important to note, the NFHS writes the rules, the MHSAA adopts said rules. The MHSAA does not write any playing rules except where state associations have the limited freedom to create or modify such as over time rules, etc.

National Federation of High School Network (NFHS)

The NFHS Network has live and on-demand videos of all the sports we officiate. Access requires a subscription that can be canceled at anytime (non refundable). There is annual subscription of $79.99 billed annually ($6.99 monthly) or monthly subscription of $13.99 billed monthly. The benefits of subscribing allows you to not only watch high school games, but review plays, clip and save for teaching moments. MHSAA.TV utilizes the NFHS Network to broadcast and view MHSAA sanctioned events specific to MHSAA.

Officiating is often more mental than physical. The demands on your memory, decision-making, judgment and reactions can be extreme. We don’t focus on mental performance and how to improve it as much as we should, but it’s as vital as studying the rule book or attending association meetings. Use these simple but effective points of advice to make sure you’re operating at peak efficiency each time to you step on the court, pitch or field.

You go to meetings and study the rules but when game time approaches it’s your responsibility to get yourself ready. Pregame preparation, site surveying, meeting with coaches and administrators and much more is covered in this great guide that will help you set yourself, and your crewmates, up for success every game. The Guide to Game Time will get you ready to go out there and work a great game.

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