One of the most consistent complaints about sports has nothing to do with winning and losing. It has to do with the way that games are officiated. Technology has come a long way to allow officials to get more calls right than ever, but there are still egregious human errors that get made.
For some, this can significantly impact their view of and have a negative impact on their enjoyment of that game. There is nothing more frustrating as an athlete than feeling as though the officials have gotten a vital call wrong and cost your team.
But there is one piece of technology that has come to the forefront of sports to assist the way that youth sports are officiated. That piece of technology is known as Silbo, an AI-powered, digital referee marketplace.
What Is Silbo?
Created by three friends from Raleigh, N.C., Silbo is now a network of 7000 officials that spans a dozen sports and 20 cities across seven different states. Silbo provides personalized recommendations of referees for games.
Silbo was, in part, created due to a nationwide shortage of referees. This decline in officiating comes from the abuse and poor sportsmanship that many umpires and referees have faced while working games. This includes fistfights and even police being called to events. Who would want to deal with that?
Silbo tries to eliminate favoritism, bias, and other factors by using geolocation to help make the proper official assignments. This helps to manage weekly payments as well as ensure that officials check-in at the games.
That aforementioned digital payment system has helped to eliminate hours of writing checks that previously muddied the officiating process. Being able to streamline the way that officials get paid and assigned has helped.
But most of all, it puts a system into place that fairly assigns officials and puts them into a position to be successful at their jobs. And at the end of the day, that is what is the most important aspect here.