You always hear about how the game was lost, and it was all the referee/officiating officials’ fault. The fans and losing team will cry and complain and blame the officials, but never blame the fact that their team fumbled three times, couldn’t make a basket, never got a shot on goal, or actually violated the rules. In today’s society just as it is in many daily occurrences, everything is always someone else’s fault. But that’s not true.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) has some of the finest officials in the USA. They go through extensive training and have to pay to register and then take an entrance exam. Certain sports like football and basketball require an additional mechanics test for the people signing up. And you need a very good passing score to be an official, so nothing is handed to them, and they just don’t accept anybody and everybody. Also, the officials get evaluated by teams throughout the year. The schools in their survey can also suggest room for improvement.
Many of these officials in the state of Michigan have been doing it for many years, and they travel all over the state. And when they do start, they start at the bottom and have to work their way up and prove themselves before they can do Friday Night Lights or officiate state championships. A majority of the officials enjoy what they do and really like it in spite of some of the things they have to deal with.
Weather can be a horrible factor, especially outdoors in the harsh winters of Michigan, but I think the biggest problem they face is the wrath of angry fans and coaches who will disagree with them on anything and everything. And that’s a lot of stress for them, considering the amount of money they get paid. To many, it’s not worth it, especially when they get threatened with violence.
The officials are not perfect. Nothing is perfect in this world except the word perfect. But for the most part, they do a very good job as a whole and they know the rules and do not show bias. Many times you will hear detractors saying they play favorites because they know the kids, the coaches, or are from the area, but I’ve been covering sports for years and know officials who will be at a game in their hometown where their kids played, and they will call the game honestly and fairly because that’s what they are sworn to do.
And in spite of many claims, there is no racial bias among the officials. Many times a team will lose, and that team, the fans, and the coaches will say the officials are biased because the officials were all white. They always have to blame someone or something instead of accepting that their team didn’t play well or follow the rules. Again, I’ve been all over the country covering sports and in many different areas, and I have never seen or heard racism amongst the officials. From the teams and fans, yes, but not from the officials. I think that accusation has to be one of the worst things anyone can say.
Another negative issue is female officials being harassed and ridiculed. You will hear teams and fans saying they don’t know what they’re doing because they’re female, or you’ll see male coaches basically talking down to them, treating them negatively, and that’s uncalled for and just wrong on so many levels. They are equal to male officials and follow the same codes and rules in every way. And they do a great job.
There are games where hardly anything gets called, and other times you will see a referee throw 35 flags in a football game. It depends on the discipline of the teams and the players and how their leadership of the coaches keeps them all in check.
Yes, I’ve seen mistakes made. I’ve seen missed calls and bad calls. Because the officials are looking everywhere and trying to pay attention, they might miss something. It happens. They’re human. Everybody makes mistakes. But games are not decided by one missed holding call or travelling call.
All in all, the MHSAA officials do a wonderful job, and we should be grateful that people want to do this job. It’s not easy, and it can be stressful. And if you think it’s an easy, do-nothing job and that you could do better, then feel free to contact the MHSAA and sign up. They could always use the extra help.