Equipment for New Officials
What you need to buy, where to get it, and what to do if the cost is a problem.
New to all of this? Start at Becoming a Football Official. The rule book, the quizzes and what to study first are on Your First Season.
Uniforms
Football is unique in that it likely requires a larger upfront investment of equipment then most other sports. Luckily, you’ll likely be able to pay for your equipment through the first two weeks of youth games.
- Jersey – 2 inch striped shirt. For the first few weeks you will be fine with a short sleeve shirt. Late September you will likely require a long sleeve as the weather gets colder. My favorite brand is Smittys. See below for options.
- Pants – Eventually you will need the required black pants with the white stripe down the side. Again, I prefer Smitty’s but there are many brands out there. They come needing to be hemmed, so in the meantime you will be fine with black shorts.
- Black Belt w/ Silver buckle, most pants come with this.
- Black Hat
- Black shoes – Can have white on sides.
Accessories
For those that do not already have things, it's likely others might have extras they could let you borrow while you learn more and have the ability to buy your own equipment.
- Yellow Flag – I prefer ones with Black ball.
- Beanbags – Ideally 2 but 1 for now will work
- Finger whistle – You shouldn’t plan on using a whistle with a lanyard until you are much more experienced.
- Down Indicator
- Clips (2) – As you all will be starting as Head Line-Judge
Sourcing Equipment
My favorite site for equipment is Purchaseofficials.com. They have great service and are quick to deliver. Other sites for equipment are Allsportseast.com and Honigs.com.
Reach out if you have any questions about equipment.
Please do not let equipment be a deterrent to starting, if that is an issue we likely can work something out.
Also please know, that we do not require first year officials to pay dues knowing that an investment into equipment is required.
The above was taken from an email by Bryan Fortier, and modified a bit to be made more generic by James Nadeau.