How many of you have ventured to the fundamentals page in your rules book? It’s the small, printed booklet you receive for each sport you officiate each year. It is several dozen pages and it contains the information you need to do your job.

I hope you are not the official that reads the rules book the first year and doesn’t look at it further. Don’t be the one that says, “They will cover the new rules at the association meeting, so I don’t read it.”

Many articles have been written over the years about how to study the rules book. Reading a rule a day or just opening to random pages and studying are tricks of the trade. This isn’t about how to study the book; this is about making sure you study one particular page: The fundamentals page.

While most of us played the games as youth we officiate, do we really understand the game and the philosophy of the rules? Are we able to approach our role in the striped shirt as a person responsible for fairness or do we come in to demonstrate we know the rules?

As a 40-year veteran of multiple sports, I will admit that I ignored this page in the books in my early years. One year, during the summer offseason, a well-respected veteran hosted a picnic for several younger officials. Included was great conversation, outstanding food, a few adult beverages and then talk about the upcoming year. He spoke of the fundamentals of the game and how understanding those put all the other rules and situations into perspective.

I listened. I read that page in each rule book as the fall seasons approached and I realized clarity over the game and my role that had been missing. I have always made sure to read and understand that page of the rules book each year. Most of the fundamentals have not changed in my tenure as an official, but my understanding of the game has improved.

When your rules book arrives, I encourage you to read the fundamentals page first. It will be time well spent. It will make your study of the rest of the book more efficient and it is an idea that works.