I was walking down the hall at school last week, mulling ideas for my column, when I ran into Dan Stork, activities director at NRHEG. He was checking in to make sure I had a game on my calendar to officiate the next night, which I did. He was still searching for anyone to officiate a different game and wasn’t having any luck.
This has been the case for much of the year and, really, over the last few years. There are very few people who want to officiate, no matter the sport. It seems like every season Mr. Stork is begging for people to do these vital jobs; without officials, the kids can’t compete.
Why is this a problem? After all, it’s a paying job. You don’t have to work for more than an hour or two. If you enjoy sports, there is no better place to be than out on the playing surface; you get a view unlike anyone else in attendance.
For years, I’ve thought there are two main obstacles keeping people from joining the ranks of the whistle blowers and strike callers. The first is intimidation. Many people worry about having the ability to do the job well. (The joke some of you are thinking right now is, “Well, Domeier’s gotten away with it all these years.” I hear some of you out there!)
I make mistakes every game I officiate or umpire. It’s doubtful I’ve ever had anything close to a perfect game; no official has. But I do the best I can and I try to stay consistent. That’s really the key: consistency. I might miss a bunch of fouls in a basketball game, but if I miss them for both teams, there isn’t much complaining.
Part of the intimidation factor is knowledge of the rules. Based on what I hear from the stands, there are a lot of experts out there though! But in a game situation, will you always know the right call? This is why I tell people interested in trying this wonderful occupation to start at lower levels. Don’t decide you want to umpire and sign up to ump varsity games. It took me 15 years of umpiring before I thought I might try that level.
My first year of umpiring, I made a huge blunder. The ball was hit down the right field line and was going to be close if it was fair or foul. It hit right on the line and I immediately shouted, “Fair!” Oops. Baseball folks know you only shout if it’s foul. The F sound is the same, so players listen for it and know it’s foul if they hear it. So I screwed up. But I learned from it.
I work with new umpires in Owatonna, and we’ll work lower-level games together to get a feel and build confidence. Put a new umpire or official in a game with 12 and 13-year-olds; there’s really not a lot of pressure. I tell new umps the same thing that I was told many years ago: 95% of calls are fair/foul, ball/strike, or safe/out. It’s the other 5% that can be tricky, but you learn and grow with experience.
I learned something in a basketball game recently. A player slid across the floor while trying to gain control of a loose ball. Traveling, right? Wrong. The ref said you can slide as far as you want. I thought, “That can’t be right,” and looked it up. The official was correct! It’s once you stop that slide and have control that you can’t move anymore. Now I can’t wait for it to happen in a game, so I can get it right!
With experience, you build confidence that you will know the rules and will get the calls right. But you have to start to get to that point.
The other reason people don’t start officiating is they don’t want to get yelled at. I wish I could tell you otherwise, but you will get yelled at. Coaches, fans, even players will want to let you know you were wrong. But with the confidence you develop through experience, it’s less likely to happen, and you will know how to handle situations.
I’ve learned to ignore most of what I hear. Many fans are ignorant of the rules, and they don’t recognize the different angle from which a basketball or football or baseball game is viewed by an official. At least once a year, it seems I get to explain a rule to fans, moreso in baseball. Occasionally, I’ll offer my whistle or umpiring mask to someone who seems to know it all. But the less I acknowledge that I hear them, the less I tend to hear. Let them know you’re listening and they’ve got you!
I don’t enjoy being yelled at, but I know I did my fair share as a coach, so I’m sure there’s some karma in there. You do have to have a bit of a thick skin to do this, but it doesn’t happen as often as you might think.
If you like sports, please consider officiating. If we don’t start to shore up the supply soon, kids might not have as many chances to compete. After all, if there are no officials, there are no games. I’m happy to work with anybody who would like a crash course in how to officiate a sport. And I know Mr. Stork would be happy to hire you. We all started with a first game. When will you begin?
Word of the Week: This week’s word is sialoquent, which means spraying saliva while speaking, as in, “One benefit to the pandemic was the sialoquent coach was masked up while yelling at the refs.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!