‘Team Zebra’: An Exploration of Social Identity, Motivation, and Sport Officiating Persistence

Abstract

The purpose of this study is three-pronged: (1) to expand the understanding of social identities and motivations of sport officials, (2) to explore the utilization of Sport Employee Identification (SEI) for sport officials, and (3) to elucidate the impact of identification with an officiating group as it relates to strategies for officiating persistence. The authors conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 30 high school varsity basketball officials at two officiating training camps across two different states in the Midwest and Northern regions of the United States. Officials had an average of 12.97 years of officiating experience. Findings demonstrate the importance of having a connection with sport, mentors serving as gatekeepers to the officiating group, and group membership as it relates to sport official motivation, social identification, and likelihood of officiating persistence. Expanding the understanding of sport officials through the lens of social identification and motivation theory has theoretical implications for understanding this unique stakeholder group as part of the sport ecosystem and has practical implications related to the relationship between social identification, motivation, and officiating persistence.