For years, emphasis has been put on the physical side of training for National Rugby League referees. Given that referees typically run upwards of 5.5 miles each during a single match, they essentially trained like triathletes.
However, NRL Referees’ Strength & Conditioning Manager Cameron Black wanted to develop a better way to train these individuals. “They’ve got a lot going on and can have a huge impact on the game if they’re not performing well,” he explained.
When Black first started working for the NRL, he noticed that referees weren’t getting enough exposure to the specific environment needed to develop skills. As a result of that observation, the BTUF concept was born.
“BTUF refers to ‘brain training under fatigue,’” Black explained. “Both physically and mentally, we want our athletes to ‘be tough.’”
The BTUF system makes particular use of different pieces of technology such as Rosetta Stone’s Fit Brains and eye-tracking glasses.
With Fit Brains, there are a series of different games that can be played on an iPad to train different cognitive function skills. The games train memory, focus, divided attention and spacial awareness among others. It’s important for the referees to train these cognitive functions because to perform well on the field, they need to handle a bombardment of communication all while maintaining focus on the game.
“While they’re playing the iPad games we throw in communication to them, which then diverts their attention,” Black explained. “They need to be able to split their focus and consume large amounts of information from an external source while still concentrating on the game itself.”
One particular Fit Brains game the referees play involves balloons popping up on the screen in different colors and shapes. After a first set of balloons, the game will add five to six more which move around. The officials need to keep track of the original balloons all while being fed information relevant to a rugby game.
“The game allows us to draw in their focus, which is what we need,” Black said. “Then we throw something else into that drill and you stream their attention and train different skills together.”
The use of eye-tracking glasses within the BTUF system might make an even bigger impact on training referees. “It’s been done with officials in sport, the use of eye-tracking software, but never with first-person vision,” Black explained. “We can identify using the eye-tracking software when decisions are made, what they’re looking at, and how much relevant information they’re able to identify.”
The glasses offer an opportunity for coaching feedback based on what the trainees are looking at and whether they should’ve been looking there.
Another interesting thing that the NRL has begun working with is STRIVR Labs virtual reality. STRIVR works with a number of professional and collegiate sports teams across the U.S., and Black believes it can increase game-situation exposure time for referees in a recreation of their officiating environment. “You talk about exposure and exposure time, that’s the difference between good and great,” Black explained.
Through STRIVR, Black hopes to capture first-person vision in a 360-degree environment, which will be projected into a headset that officials can wear. “While they’re not actually executing what they’re saying, they’re still in that environment, and they’re still saying it which is far better than what we can recreate,” Black said. “It’s something that’s going to influence performance in all sports. Forget officials, all sports.”
The NRL is also making use of heart rate monitoring devices and a brain training device called Versus. Versus gives real-time feedback on the output of your brain. The game is played with a wearable device and will respond positively or negatively, depending on the output of your brain. It’s designed to help the user achieve an ideal state of flow while performing.
Black realizes that it’s hard to measure improvements in skill acquisition and mental performance but believes each piece of technology used in the BTUF system helps immensely.
“The fact that the officials themselves say the training they do in BTUF has been beneficial is good enough for us,” he said.