Hostility at sporting events

It's a typical weeknight in December and you find yourself at your child's basketball game. The game is being played and everything seems fine until, in the estimation of many of the fans, the referee makes a wrong or controversial call. It is then that all ‘heaven’ breaks loose.

I officiate 4 different sports and do so because I love kids, love sports, and it is a great way to stay active and involved with both. The last few years it seems like the verbal abuse from fans has been ratcheted up several notches. If a call goes in the opposing team’s favor, blame has to be assigned to someone, and more times than not that’s the referee or official. Yes, something went wrong but seldom is it the fault of the athlete who may have committed the foul, turnover, or violation; more often than not fault is assigned to the official.

In one of the sports I officiate (not basketball), the assignors for that sport are constantly trying to recruit new officials and there were times last year when I worked games alone because there were not enough officials to cover all of the games. I think the abuse directed at officials is a large factor in why there are shortages of officials in almost every sport.

Because officials are “paid” to do a job, many feel it is within their rights to scream and yell at the official whenever they want. Here are a few things that parents need to know about referees and their involvement in a sporting event.

1.  The pay is nice but no one is getting rich – When it comes to officiating middle school and high school sporting events, yes officials are paid but it’s not much. And it’s even less when you factor in they are not paid mileage to travel over a several county radius to get to games nor are they compensated for the constant upkeep of equipment and uniforms.
2. The rules are complex – Not many parents have ever taken the time to read a rulebook for a particular sport their child plays. There are 100’s of rules in every rulebook and the officials are required to read these, know them, and are tested on them annually.
3. Contrary to what you might think the referee’s are not biased – Most officials have no interest at all in who wins. They simply want to give their best effort as an official. So the next time you are tempted to yell, “Call it the same on both ends”, know that the official is doing their best to do exactly that.
4. Seldom is a game decided by the referees – The vast majority of games do not come down to one or two calls by the officials. There have been a plethora of missed shots, turnovers, and violations, which contributed much more to a loss than the officials ever did. When a youth hears a parent or coach blame a loss on an official (“We would have won if the officiating had not been so bad”) that is simply teaching that young person to not have respect for those in authority. Unfortunately that often then translates to other areas of life as well for that student be it in their interaction with a teacher, a boss, a police officer, or whomever.
5. Referees are human and will miss calls – Players make mistakes, coaches make mistakes, and officials will make mistakes. When I meet with the captains before a game I often joke with them that if they promise not to miss any shots, we as officials won’t miss any calls. Trust me, when an official knows they missed a call, they feel horrible about it. At the game perfection is expected of no one except the official and that’s simply unrealistic.
6. Parents and coaches, please set the example for your young people - In the grand scheme of life, what's the big deal if your child won or lost? Of course giving one’s best effort is very important, but parents and coaches need to teach their kids and players the responsible way to behave. Often times, the kid who is constantly complaining to the referee has a parent that is doing the exact same thing. Teach the kids to be more accountable in their play and to accept consequences for their behavior. It's not just for sports, it's a life skill that will serve them well in the days ahead.