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Many new video-based technologies (e.g., eye trackers, point-of-view camera) have been integrated into sport referee performance monitoring and training. Mobile 360° video (an omnidirectional video-capture tool affixed to the referee during their performance using a chest harness) provides moving images recorded from a first-person perspective. This case study explored rugby union referees’ and referee coaches’ engagement with mobile 360° video during a viewing of another referee’s performance. Using an other-confrontation interview approach, referees’ and referee coaches’ cognitive activity (interests, concerns, noticing, and knowledge) while viewing mobile 360° video was elicited and studied. Participants experienced heightened immersion in the situation, as well as enhanced discovery and noticing behavior, and they constructed different types of embodied and corporeal knowledge. Using a rugby union setting, this occurred through enhanced perceptual involvement provided by mobile 360° video for reflection on referee positioning and movement, contextual inference about decisions, and sensitivity to player cues and interactions. This study provides preliminary evidence for the utility and acceptability of mobile 360° video as a pedagogical innovation in referee training to enhance referees’ decision making, game management, and reflexivity. Limitations, challenges, and applications of immersive mobile 360° video as a pedagogical tool in rugby union refereeing and other sports are discussed.

Communication and player management are integral to effective sport officiating, but most research has focused on physical performance and decision making. The few previous studies of officiating communication tended to use “transmission” conceptualizations of communication (e.g., decision communication, impression management). Eleven officiating-development managers and coaches from 7 peak Australian sport bodies were interviewed to explore conceptualizations of communication and player management, the way officials improve, and the role of the sport bodies in improvement. Four salient themes emerged in conceptualizations of effective officiating communication and player management: personal qualities of the official, 1-way-communication direction giving and impression management, situation monitoring (interpreting player and context), and skilled interaction (adapting communication appropriately for context). The findings highlight a mismatch between (a) interpretive and interactive communication skills perceived to be most important and challenging and (b) the training that is currently provided to officials. There was general commonality in practice and training issues across sport codes. The article makes theoretical contributions to the study of sport-official communication and practical recommendations for improving approaches to training skilled communication and player management.

Purpose: To determine (1) the effect of a 40-minute steady-state run on muscle membrane integrity of elite athletes as reflected by serum creatine kinase (CK), (2) whether antioxidant supplementation (AS) with vitamins E and C has a protective effect, and (3) if a minimal blood concentration of vitamin E or C is required for any such protection. Methods: Fifteen elite-level endurance athletes ( $\dot{\mathrm{V}}{\mathrm{O}}_2\text{max}=71.5\pm 1.2\mathrm{mL}·{\mathrm{kg}}^{-1}{\min }^{-1}$ ) were randomly assigned to 6 weeks AS (1000 IU·d⁻¹ natural vitamin E and 1000 mg·d⁻¹ vitamin C) or placebo. Using a double-blind crossover design and 4-week washout period, each treatment was followed by a 40-minute steady-state run at 3 mM blood lactate. Blood samples before and 0 and 24 hours after the run were assayed for serum and red cell α-tocopherol (α-TOH), serum ascorbate, and CK. Results: The AS produced a 2.5-fold, well-correlated (r = .84) increase in serum and red cell α-TOH (P < .001) that attenuated the increase in postrun CK (P = .01). There was no change in serum ascorbate with AS and no relationship with CK (P > .1). Curvilinear regression revealed some evidence that a critical level of serum α-TOH in the vicinity of 12 mg·L⁻¹ was required to attenuate CK efflux, a level only achieved with AS. Conclusion: The muscle membrane integrity of elite-level athletes is compromised even during steady-state running of moderate intensity and duration. The AS provided a protective effect, with evidence that a serum α-TOH concentration of around 12 mg·L⁻¹ is required.