With the onset of another school year and the kickoff of the fall sports season, it might be a good time to ponder behavior at school athletic events from the perspective of game officials. Since I only officiate basketball, I spoke with some of my colleagues who also work other sports to get their viewpoint as well. Over the years several people have asked me why I officiate and often pose questions like, “How can you stand getting yelled at all the time?” Like most things in life, sports officiating has its trade-offs, and you take the good with the bad… and the ugly.

The good: Ask any sports official why they do it and I guarantee they won’t say it’s for the money. The camaraderie amongst officials is always high on the list. Traveling to a ballgame with people you enjoy being with, sharing stories and laughing about comical and embarrassing situations, along with the love of the game and giving back to a sport that we enjoy. Over the years a network develops through relationships with coaches, athletic directors, other officials and even fans with whom you’ve become friends over the years.

Being around and interacting with the players, experiencing their enthusiasm and helping to provide them with an enjoyable and memorable experience is also rewarding. A good official also takes advantage of “teaching moments” that give the athletes opportunities to learn and build character, push through adversity and mature (after all, athletics should be an extension of the classroom)! We like to tell them to “listen and respond” as we talk to them on the court or field so that they can learn from their mistakes (and avoid penalties associated with them). It’s fun to watch players progress over the course of a season, and see them grow, develop and improve their game… and sometimes their attitude.

Having a pregame discussion with your partner(s) before getting some exercise and being a part of the game (but not the focus of the game!) Walking into a packed venue with the band playing, two competitive teams facing off, the roar of the crowd, a well-played game that goes right down to the wire and knowing that you did your best is an awesome feeling for officials. Finally, meeting up with other officiating crews after the game to share stories and get a bite to eat and a beverage or two. Those are the parts of officiating that we tend to enjoy the most.

The Bad: “Call it both ways, Ref!” (“Well, the foul count is five to five and I just called the same thing on the other end of the floor.”) “Get a pair of glasses!” (“I have a pair, but I’m wearing contacts.”) “Let ‘em play!” (“That’s what we’re trying to do… within the rules of the game.”) “Blow the whistle, Stripes!” (“I just did that, if you recall.”) “Are you blind?!” (“Not quite, but right about now I wish I were deaf.”) “Three seconds!” (“Which is about how much longer I’m going to listen to your stupid remarks before I have the contest manager throw you out of the gym!”) Those are just a few of the countless suggestions heard from parents and fans during the course of a typical basketball game (and the responses to each of those comments that we’d like to make).

Most of the time officials are able to ignore the rude comments and dismiss them as fans who don’t know the rules. There have been times, however, when a fan (usually a parent) has had to be escorted from the gym. Believe it or not, officials do mess up from time to time. We usually know when we might have missed a call… and we know when we’ve had a bad game, just like the players do.

I think most of us officials would agree that most (but not all) of the coaches and players in our area of the state have been pretty well behaved. In my experience, it’s when you work a game between teams you don’t normally see that the behavior gets more “chippy.” It may be due, in part, to how officials in other regions call the game. I believe it also has to do with familiarity and a mutual respect that is built up over the course of time. One season my partner and I worked a full regular season basketball schedule without issuing a technical foul. When it came to tournament play between schools we don’t typically encounter we called four technical fouls in two games!

The fan (and team) behavior varies by city/school as well. Some schools are notorious when it comes to treatment of the officials, and even the opposing schools and their fans. Fan bases that have enjoyed past success sometimes have trouble coping when things aren’t going their way (if our team is behind it must be the officials’ fault).

In baseball my friends who umpire agree that fans arguing balls and strikes is the most annoying complaint they have. Who has a better vantage point than the umpire who is directly behind home plate? In all sports one of the key components to making a call (or not) is your line of vision. Coaches and fans who don’t see a play from the same angle the official has are going to see the play differently.

In football one of the problems is the rule differences between high school football and what fans watch on TV on Saturdays and Sundays. There are different regulations regarding equipment and different rules pertaining to infractions. There is also no instant replay, and there are no “challenges” where the referee can review the play on a monitor and reverse the call if the situation warrants. The real time judgment of the officials is the way it works in high school sports.

In recent years technology has also become a factor in critiquing officials. Some teams are using video replay equipment to try to “prove” that a call was incorrect. Some fans, players and even coaches have voiced their officiating complaints and criticisms on social media.

One of the most annoying things to an official is when a coach, fan, or player continues to complain about a call that was made long ago and they refuse to get over it and move on.

As officials we have developed friendships with the coaches in the area. When asked what their biggest obstacle is, and the main reason coaches leave, is interference from parents. Usually, it centers around playing time for their child, and sometimes even coaching philosophy. From our perspective that’s a sad commentary, since we know the time and effort that goes into preparing these kids, not just to win ball games, but to teach them good sportsmanship, ands to be supportive teammates and better, more responsible people as they mature.

The Ugly: The easiest games to officiate are usually when there are two quality teams that have the skills and athleticism to play a clean, competitive game. It’s when two (shall we say) less skilled teams play each other that it gets hard to officiate. Typically, it is teams that don’t win many games and this is their chance to put a “W” on the board… so if their team is trailing it must be the officials’ fault. One saying that is often shared amongst us refs in that situation is “At no time was the officiating worse than the level of play!”

Another ugly situation can occur when you get extremely unevenly matched teams. The highly skilled team is dominating the game, still pressing full-court, and still looking for calls to go their way. The other team is lucky if they can get the ball into the front court. In one such game the coach of the team that was leading by 35 points questioned a non-call, saying “Wasn’t that traveling?” To which I replied, “Yeah, about 30 points ago.” The coach responded with, “Okay, I get it.” He then took off the full-court press.

About midway through the first half in a regional tournament game, the coach of the team that was trailing by double digits, informed my partner and me that we had missed 27 calls already. My partner, who always seemed to have the perfect comeback replied, “Oh really? Well, your team has missed 25 shots and committed 15 turnovers so far. Maybe you should ref the game and I’ll coach your team!”

Games can also get ugly when one team is playing and aggressive, physical, man-to-man defense and the other team is sitting back in a more relaxed, zone defense and the fans and/or coach of the more aggressive team expect the foul count to be the same for each team. Another is when a coach (and/or fans) want a certain call to be made… but only against the other team.

Another ugly situation is when the better team refuses to “call off the dogs” and continues to run up the score. Recently, at a JV football game, the team that was leading by 35 points had the ball inside the five-yard line with less than a minute to go, and instead of taking a knee, they ran a play to score another touchdown. Not only is it unsportsmanlike, in football especially, it could be dangerous. There are mercy rules in place for that reason. When the outcome of a game has been all but decided, the clock runs without stopping to move the game along, thus reducing the chance of injury and further humiliation.

Sometimes we officials can be our own worst enemy. When rules are not enforced consistently or certain rules are ignored, that makes it hard for the officials who are “going by the book” to enforce the rules as they are written. In those situations, we hear, “The officials we had last week didn’t call that.” There have also been some rare cases when officials are publicly critical of other officials. This practice is totally unacceptable. The code among officials is to trust your partners and support your officiating peers. Sometimes they are the only friends we have!

There are conferences and schools in other parts of the state and the country that have had to take measures to monitor behavior in pre-game and post-game activities (like the hand-shaking line-up) to prevent trash talking, bullying and violence. Some schools even employ security or police protection for teams and officials. I think most officials I know would agree that sportsmanship in this area is generally better than it was years ago and is pretty good compared to other places. That doesn’t mean there aren’t still some loudmouthed, obnoxious fans/parents in the stands around here. At any rate, a good rule to follow is: Let the players play, let the coaches coach, and let the officials officiate.