How Sleep Aids Matchday Performance & Post Game Recovery

Referees know that being physically active is a vital component of a healthy lifestyle. Regular exercise increases longevity and reduces the risks of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Exercise can also reduce the risk of developing anxiety and depression, and, crucially, it can help you sleep better.

In order to perform at their best, officials must prepare in every aspect of their lives. They train regularly, eat healthy meals and snacks, and make time for rest, recovery, and sleep. When one area is lacking, overall performance on the field of play can suffer. Sleep is certainly no exception!

Why Is Sleep Important For Referees?

For referees, sleep is essential for overall health and wellbeing. Everyone needs sleep in order to feel restored and function their best the next day. Other physical benefits include:

• Allowing your heart to rest and cells and tissue to repair. This can help your body recover after a physically intense fixture. Also, as you progress through the stages of sleep, the changes in your heart rate and breathing throughout the night promote cardiovascular health.
• Preventing illness or helping you recover from illness. During sleep, your body produces cytokines, which are hormones that help the immune system fight off infections.

All of these restorative effects are important for officials’ recovery and onfield performance.

How Sleep Helps an Officials' Mental State

Sleep helps people to retain and consolidate memories. When referees practice or learn new skills, sleep helps form memories, and contributes to improved performances on the field of play in future. Without sleep, the pathways in the brain that allow you to learn and make memories can’t be formed or maintained.

Sleep is also essential for cognitive processing. Loss of sleep is associated with a decline in cognitive function. This can have adverse effects on officials, who require a high level of cognitive function, such as decision making and reacting to situations unfolding in front of them.

Also, just as exercise can help improve or maintain mental health, sleep is important for maintaining a referee’s mental health. Quality sleep is associated with improving overall mood. Healthy sleep prevents irritability and decreases the risk of developments such as depression.

How Does Sleep Affect Refereeing Performance?

Both increased quantity and quality of sleep helps officials improve performance in many areas related to the demands of refereeing.

• Research into officials who extended their sleep to 10 hours a night showed several positive outcomes. The referees ran faster in both shorter and longer dynamic sprints. Their decision making improved by at least 9% for both routine and key match decisions (KMDs). The officials also reported improved physical and mental wellbeing, in addition to decreased daytime sleepiness and fatigue.
• Other studies into referees have demonstrated that sleep hygiene education helps officials increase their overall sleep time. This adequate sleep before matchday is likely to promote a higher level of performance on the field of play.

A Lack of Sleep Affects an Officials' Performance

Poor quality and quantity of sleep lead to several negative effects in anyone. Mentally, sleep deprivation reduces the ability to react quickly and think clearly. People who are sleep deprived are more likely to make poor decisions and take risks. A lack of sleep also increases irritability and risk for anxiety and depression. Physically, a lack of sleep increases the risk for many medical concerns, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and stroke.

While quality sleep has positive effects specifically on refereeing performances, a lack of sleep is detrimental to onfield performances. A great number of concerns can arise when officials do not receive adequate sleep:

• Inhibited ability. In a study of male referees who were sleep-deprived, average and total dynamic sprint times decreased .
• Decreased accuracy. After sleep deprivation, male and female officials had decreased decision making accuracy of up to 23% when compared to performance after normal sleep.

• Quicker exhaustion. In a study of male referees, all members of the group expended their energy earlier in games after sleep deprivation.

• Decreased reaction time. A lack of sleep adversely affected reaction time to KMDs in a studied?group of male officials.

• Difficulty learning and decision making. Executive functions are impacted by a lack of sleep. Choices such as playing an advantage or following the patrol path you know you should take can be impacted.

• Risk for injury. Research of youth referees revealed that a chronic lack of sleep is associated with increased rates of injury.

• Risk for illness or immunosuppression. Poor sleep habits are associated with lower resistance to illness, such as the common cold.

How Is Sleep Different For Referees?

Evidence shows that more sleep, or extended sleep, can benefit officials, their recovery, and their performance. Recommendations for referees range between seven and nine hours nightly. Elite officials are encouraged by their organisations to get at least nine hours of sleep nightly and to treat sleep with as much importance as training for matchdays and their diet. In contrast, people who exercise moderately, likely do not need as much sleep as elite level operators. Standard sleep guidelines are appropriate.

While it is not recommended for some sleepers, such as those with insomnia, napping after a night of inadequate sleep can also benefit referees. Officials who anticipate a night of inadequate sleep can also benefit from extending their sleep in the nights beforehand. Additional sleep is encouraged before significant events such as traveling to your appointed fixture, before a key match, and during times of illness or injury.

For some referees, waking early has more of a negative impact than staying up late. A study of officials showed that sleep deprivation at the end of the sleeping time (i.e., early morning) decreased power and muscle strength the following day. If early wake times are affecting your performances on the field of play, consider working with your referee coach/manager to determine a training and match schedule that best meets your needs.

Stages of Sleep for Officials

Different functions happen throughout each of the stages of sleep, and all are necessary in order to have healthy sleep. But are there any parts of the sleep cycle that are particularly beneficial to referees?

The results of a recent study suggest so. Of the officials studied, those who improved their observer marks had different sleep patterns from the referees whose marks dropped. The sleep patterns of the improved officials had less rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, higher amounts of deep sleep, and lower respiration rates.

Sleep Hygiene Tips for Referees

Sleep hygiene is important for all people to sleep well. Common components include:

• Creating an appropriate sleep environment. Your sleeping space should be dark and cool with little to no noise. Your sleep environment should be used only for sleep.
• Avoid alcohol and caffeine before bedtime. These beverages can interrupt sleep or lead to more disturbed sleep.
• Stay away from electronics in the hours before bedtime. This includes TVs, mobile phones, and computers. The blue light that these devices emit can affect your circadian rhythm.
• Have a wind-down routine. Activities such as reading, taking a bath, or meditating can help you relax and get ready for sleep.
• Get out of bed if you can’t fall asleep after 20 minutes of trying. Do a quiet activity in another space until you feel sleepy.

In addition to these sleep hygiene tips, other habits especially important for referees are to:

• Avoid overtraining. Keep a consistent training schedule so as not to overexert yourself.
• Avoid training and matches too early or too late. These can affect sleep quantity and quality, especially if your officiating schedule is inconsistent.

• Keep naps brief, if you take them at all. Naps should be no more than an hour and not taken after 15:00.

• Reduce stressors. Not only do mental stressors affect sleep quality, but they also impact performance overall.

Jet Lag in Officials

Another aspect of sleep quality referees need to consider is the effects of jet lag. When traveling to different time zones for fixtures, officials can get out of their natural circadian phase. This means referees may experience fatigue or the inability to perform at their best. For example, West Coast based American officials referee significantly better during evening games than the visiting East Coast officials.

To combat the negative effects of jet lag, referees should consider additional sleep hygiene tips for travel:

• Prepare for travel. Adjust your sleep schedule to mimic the time of the destination you’re traveling to in order to quickly adjust to the time upon arrival. Set your watch for the destination time zone when you board the plane.
• Get enough sleep before traveling. To avoid sleep debt upon arrival, be sure to sleep prior to and during travel, if necessary.

• Make a comfortable environment. Pillows can be used for cushion and comfort. Earplugs and eye masks can help create a quiet, dark environment for sleep during a flight. Avoid distractions such as electronics.

• Stay hydrated. On the airplane, be sure to take plenty of fluids. Avoid caffeine and alcohol.
• Eat meals on the destination time. Arranging meal-times according to your destination time-zone can also shorten the time it takes to adjust to a new time zone.

At?The Third Team?I work individually and in collaboration with different professionals where I have developed workshops and 1-2-1 sessions associated with Resilience and Mental Toughness Development to help referees. The?workshops and 1-2-1 sessions?are interactive, where referees are encouraged to open up and share their experiences to help themselves and each other.

Feel free to?contact?me if you’d like to know more about my workshops or 1-2-1 sessions and how I could help you or your officials.

Best Wishes,

Nathan Sherratt

Referee Educator & Managing Director, The Third Team

[email protected]

https://thethirdteam.co.uk/

07530894226

The Third Team?is now offering all?#ResilientReferees?across the world the opportunity to gain access to our coaching through ‘The Refereeing With Confidence’ Online Course!