Previous researchers have indicated that a sense of community and social support are vital to referee retention; however, little is known about the connection between specific characteristics of sports officials’ networks and retention. To better understand the sports officiating shortage, researchers explored the social support networks of 116 referees utilizing egocentric network analysis. The authors suggest that retention of sports officials depends on the interpersonal ties and network structures within which the referees are embedded. Specifically, resulting hierarchical models confirmed that retention relationships among officials are a multilevel phenomenon, and that outside communication and community were vital network characteristics that fostered retention relationships. Network size, tenure, and the officiating level also were significant when considering an official’s network and its impact on retention. Areas for future research and suggestions for referee managers are presented.

之前的研究人员已经指出，社区意识和社会支持对于保留裁判员至关重要。然而，人们对体育官员网络的具体特征与保留之间的联系知之甚少。为了更好地了解体育裁判短缺的情况，研究人员利用自我中心网络分析探索了 116 名裁判的社会支持网络。作者认为，体育官员的留任取决于裁判所处的人际关系和网络结构。具体来说，由此产​​生的等级模型证实，官员之间的保留关系是一种多层次的现象，外部沟通和社区是促进保留关系的重要网络特征。在考虑官员的网络及其对保留的影响时，网络规模、任期和官员级别也很重要。提出了未来研究的领域以及对裁判管理者的建议。