Breaking News

As clear as black and white

By Patrick Eland

Friday, September 25, 2009

Refereeing: It’s as clear as black and white, isn’t it?

Society has pumped many standards of behavior into us from a very early age. We learned how to stand in lines, say “please” and “thank you,” open doors for girls, and just generally be courteous to others.

photo

Photo by Mike Gunnoe

Pat Jardine, Overland Park junior, signals for a touchdown during a flag football game. Jardine started reffing because he likes football and needed a job.

photo

Photo by Mike Gunnoe

Aaron Flickinger, McPherson junior, indicates what down it is during a flag football game Tuesday. Flickinger says he loves sports and being around them whenever he can.

“The Golden Rule” was the name of the concept we all learned many of our values from and it said to “treat others as you want to be treated.” So why the heck do those who dawn the black and white stripes at every athletic event seem to be exempt from this rule?

Refereeing can be a pretty brutal profession. It can consist of quite a bit of verbal and, in some cases, physical, harassment.

“Any time you put on the stripes, you basically put a target on your back,” says Matt Beck, intramural coordinator. “You become the bad guy.”

Referees work many years at their job and slowly work their way up the better they get at calling the game. Most referees who officiate at high school sports or at higher levels have started their careers at a lower level. Intramural referees are at this lower level and are trying to learn, but some find it hard to stick with refereeing when they get hassled about every call they make. They treat the participants fairly, so they, in turn, expect to be treated with the same respect, Beck says.

“Relax, it’s just a game,” he says. “You’re playing for a T-shirt. They are students just like everyone else on campus. They’re bustin’ their butts for you, but if you think you can do better then come on out. We’d love to have you.”

The intramural referees go through a three-day training period when they are drilled on the rules and regulations of the sport, as well as the mechanics and positioning of refereeing. Then they play some simulation games to get a feel for calling a game in action.

“The guys who’ve played before, it starts clicking for them pretty quick and the more it (the game) slows down,” says Steven Dickherber, St. Louis sophomore and second year intramural referee. “Then the guys who have never played before or don’t really know the game, it may never click for them.”

Beck says refereeing is something that is best taught through experience. The more experience someone has refereeing or just being around the sport in general, the better they will get, which will then lead to feeling more comfortable calling a game.

Refereeing instructors can drill the new referees on the rules and regulations until they know them like the back of their hand, but until they actually go out there and experience it for themselves, they won’t be able to understand the whole refereeing process.

Intramurals also uses experienced referees to help introduce new ones to the game and the experience.

“It helps me as being one of the veteran referees to help the new people coming in to tell them to look out for these kinds of things,” says Aaron Flickinger, junior from McPherson and third-year intramural referee.

Despite all the training that referees get, they are going to make mistakes. It just is a part of the game, but what the referee instructors and supervisors try to stress to these refs is to make each call with confidence and to stand by their decision.

Because these are usually beginner refs, to be fair to the participants, they do have a chance to petition any “non-judgment” call. This means that any call that isn’t solely up to the judgment of the referee can be petitioned to the referee supervisor that is on hand for every game. These supervisors are there to settle any disputes in addition to evaluate the refs on their performances.

“Let the refs do their job,” Dickherber said. “They are trying the best they can and if they’re not they will be chewed out by someone else.”

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Advertisement