First Strike Paintball - What Makes an Excellent Referee

The Ref's primary purpose is to serve the customer!

The Excellent referee performs in a professional manner whereby the customer has a "SAFE" and enjoyable paintball experience beyond their expectations.

Above all else the Referee will always conduct the play of a game in a "SAFE" manner. The referee will insure all players conduct themselves according to all safety instructions and game rules. All player(s) not adhering to the safety instructions or game rules will be removed from the premises.

Referees will always act with diplomacy and tact when interacting with customers. Always be polite, courteous, helpful, calm, respectful, and kind. Never use profanity, get angry, be disrespectful, or provoke the customer to anger.

Know the rules of each type of game and explain them to all participants before the start of each game. The rules of each game should be written and memorized by each ref. so that the explanation of the rules to the customer are always the same.

Refs must speak in a loud and clear voice so that all players can hear them during the explanation of the rules and during the setting up of the next game.

Games should start on time (each 10 minutes) and end on time. It is the ref's responsibility to insure that as many games as possible are played during the time that the field is in operation.

Prior to each game the Head ref should divide the participants into equally skilled teams. The number of players on each side is not as important as dividing the players up such that neither team has a decided advantage at the start of each game.

To divide the players up into teams the ref will ask all "banded" players to stand on one side, "unbanded" players to stand on the opposite side of the banded players, and those who have NOT played to stand in the middle of the assembly area. Before deciding which players will be assigned to a team the Head ref will count the total number of players and access skill level and fire power of each player (the type of marker they are using). Assistant refs will immediately place arm bands on players assigned to the "banded" team so play can start as soon as possible.

Paintball games should be monitored such that if one team dominates (over powers due to an imbalance in skill and firepower) two games in a row the referees should reevaluate the participants on each team. Players will be shifted from one team to another, where necessary, to insure that the teams are evenly balanced for level of skill and experience.

Referees will "actively" participate in refereeing the game and not passively "watch" the game. This means that refs will actively remove "eliminated" players, enforce the rules, and conduct paint checks without necessarily waiting for a player to ask them to do so.

Referees will monitor the play of "new players" to insure they are playing by the rules. New players are less experienced and may overshoot other player(s), "play on", forget to follow safety rules, blind shoot, and fail to observe the 15 foot rule.

Refs will actively remove eliminated players and insure they are safely removed from the game. Safely removed from the game means that these players will not be "shot" again by other players as they leave the field of play. Active players who shoot "eliminated" players will be verbally cautioned on the first occurrence and penalized thereafter.

Referees will always be courteous and respectful of all customers. At no time will referees use foul language, speak ill of a customer, or complain in public. All complaints or issues will be brought to the attention of management in private.

Referees will listen carefully and without bias to customer complaints of overshooting, cheating, and other rule infractions. Refs will take immediate action to resolve such complaints to the satisfaction of the customer(s). If the customer is not satisfied the ref will alert management for their help in resolving the customer complaint.

Referees will come prepared to ref the game. Flags, radios, squeegees, arm bands, shields, timers, and other gear needed for a game will be obtained and made ready prior to the start of each game.

Refs should position himself in a game where they have the best vantage point to make the game as enjoyable for the participants as possible. Generally, the best vantage point is where the most action and most players are concentrated. When there are multiple refs in a game they should preplan their positioning and how they will monitor the action.

Refs will insure that all paintball guns are chronographed prior to a player being allowed to play a game.

Violations of safety rules, overshooting, playing on, and other infractions will be actively enforced to insure safety and enjoyment of the game by all. Such situations will be handled with tact and diplomacy. Suspected violators will be talked to privately and with respect.

All mask/safety violations will be called in immediately to the front desk. No Exceptions!

At no time will players be allowed to intentionally shoot other players in the back of the head!

Refs will diffuse potential confrontations as soon possible. From time to time tempers may flare and players may become irate or ill willed toward other player(s). This can happen for a variety of reasons. Whenever this occurs the observing ref will do two things. First, the observing ref will immediately get between the players that are in dispute and begin to calm them down. Also, the observing ref will immediately call for assistance from the other refs. All refs must insure that the players are separated and not allowed to continue to let their tempers flare. Separating and moving the players off the field is a must. Also, players should not be allowed to continue to verbally insult one another thereby escalating each others emotions to the boil of violence.

At the end of each game refs will respectfully remind all players to stop shooting and insert their barrel covers.

At times special types of groups may be on the field. These particular groups may require special attention since their behavior requires it. When this occurs more refs may be required to referee the game.

All refs will be prepared to aid a player with minor repairs to rental equipment.