Heart Rate Responses of a Head Referee During a Football Game

In brief: To determine the heart rate responses of a football official to both physical and psychological stress during actual game conditions, a head referee was telemetered continuously from one- half hour before until the end of a college football game. The referee's cardiac system was stressed throughout the monitoring period: The highest average heart rate was 161 beats min(-1) (85% of maximum), and the lowest average heart rate was 140 beats min(-1) (74% of maximum). Because officiating is largely anaerobic, the sustained sinus tachycardia was probably caused by psychological stress. Football officials should have a maximal ECG stress test every year and participate in an aerobic conditioning program on a regular basis.