Admit it: As a fan attending a high school football game, you’ve not only witnessed fans around you yelling at and expressing their displeasure with the referees, but you have probably hurled a few choice words yourself at the officials in stripes.
The truth is that high school officials have heard it all before, and you may be surprised to learn that the insults from fans – at least at the games – aren’t really considered the worst part of what referees have to deal with.
To get an idea of the biggest challenges that high school football officials face on Friday nights, I spoke to three people who have spent the majority of their adult lives officiating high school football games. Two of them are regarded as being among the best in the state when it comes to officiating.
Bobby Willis officiated for 50 years, exclusively in Georgia, and served as the white hat, crew chief, for the majority of his career as an official.
Phil Salter has been officiating high school football for 39 years, 26 of which he has spent as a crew chief for the crew he works with.
Mike Gammons is in his 30th year as a high school football official and, like Willis and Salter, has spent most of that career as a crew chief.
All three have officiated all levels of football, from the smallest schools and classifications to the biggest stages, including state championships at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome and Mercedes-Benz Stadium and at Georgia State University’s outdoor stadium.
No matter the size of the venue, the school, the football team, or the crowd, Willis, Salter, and Gammons all agreed on the primary challenges high school officials face. Here are those top challenges, according to the three crew chiefs with close to 120 years of combined experience officiating high school football.
Abuse From Fans
This one probably isn’t a surprise because we have all either heard the insults verbally hurled at officials or been guilty of yelling at the referees ourselves.
Willis said that fans have a right to voice their opinion because they bought the ticket and it comes with the territory.
“Most of the fans say what they want to say,” WIllis said. “They get it off their chest, then go home after the game.”
However, some don’t leave right away after the game. Some want to stay to get the final word in, even if it’s not necessarily the fault of the officials.
Willis recalled a game in South Georgia when a fan decided to stick around after the game and wait on the officials outside their locker room door.
“This fan was upset about a play that his team had allowed in the final minute that resulted in the opponent kicking a game-winning field goal as time expired,” Willis said.
There was no penalty called on the play, but the fan was upset about his team giving up a last-second play that cost them the game, even though it had nothing to do with the outcome of the game.
“He was simply looking to take it out on us (the officiating crew),” Willis said.
Willis said that he told the upset fan, “I wasn’t the defensive back that allowed the play to happen!”
Willis said criticism from the fans has always been a part of the game and always will be, but some officials take it better than others.
“There are a lot of officials who don’t like it and just can’t get used to it, but if you let it get under your skin, it’s going to be a long night,” Willis said.
Salter agreed, saying that the abuse from fans is one of the reasons it’s hard to attract new officials. It’s not just the fans in the stands either, he said.
“It’s hard to recruit new young officials because of all the criticism we get from the fans, and that includes the ones on social media,” Salter said. “It has gotten worse with all of the social media keyboard warriors out there.”
Willis agreed, but said that the referees shouldn’t expect fans to change anytime soon.
“They (fans) ain’t stopping,” Willis said.
Let’s Throw ‘Em the Rulebook
Willis and Gammons both said that when fans are yelling at them and their crews on Friday nights, much of it comes from the fans not having a complete understanding of the rules, which can change from one year to the next.
“What I want to do is order about 10,000 rule books and toss them into the stands,” Willis said, joking. “If they would read the rule book, they’d stop arguing with us.”
Gammons said fans don’t understand that rules at the high school football level are different from the rules in college, which are different from the rules in the NFL.
“Fans will watch a few college games on Saturdays, then watch a few of the professional games on Sundays, then they’ll come out to one high school football game on Friday nights and think the rules are the same for each, but they aren’t,” Gammons said. “Every level has a different interpretation of the rules, but at our (high school) level, our rules are primarily for the protection of the players, so safety is a big part of the high school rulebook.”
The GHSA requires that the home team provide security for the game officials from the time they arrive until they leave at the conclusion of the game, Willis said.
What About the Coaches?
We’ve all seen and many times heard head football coaches yelling and gesturing at referees, but it’s not as bad as you may think, according to Willis.
“Ninety-eight percent of the coaches never take it too far,” he said. “They say what they want, make their case, and for the most part that’s it.”
What about the other 2%?
“They just don’t like officials, period,” Willis said.
Gammons agreed.
“If you treat the coaches with respect, they’ll treat you with the same amount of respect,” Gammons said. “They just want an explanation of the call if there is a penalty. The coaches are just standing up for their players, and we understand that.”
Extreme Weather
A lot of attention has been paid to the extreme weather that players have to deal with, especially high temperatures early in the season. Thankfully, the GHSA has guidelines that require regular water breaks throughout the game. However, the early start to the season is a major challenge for everyone involved, according to Salter.
“We are starting the season way too early, and with teams getting a couple of weeks off (bye weeks), it prolongs the season even more,” Salter said.
Gammons agreed.
“This is a part-time job for all of us, and you’ve got to get acclimated to the heat,” Gammons said.
He said the new artificial turf fields that more and more teams are installing as their playing surfaces makes it that much harder.
Gammons said the officials really have to pay attention to signs of heat exhaustion, not just with the players, but among themselves.
“We have got to keep an eye on each other out there,” Gammons said.
“We as officials are always talking about the heat and how we have to be careful,” Willis said.
Football officials remain active during games and have to run up and down the field along with the players, so the weather can be tough on them too.
Start-up Costs
The biggest challenge to overcome for anyone wishing to become a high school football official can be the start-up costs.
Any new official who is accepted as a high school referee must purchase their own uniform, which includes two sets of shirts, pants, and shoes. All new officials must also complete a one-day training session, which the official pays for.
Officials joining an association are required to pay dues, although Salter said that the association he is a part of has tried to reduce start-up costs by waving dues normally expected from new members.
“One of the things our association, South Georgia Football Officials Association, has done to help with start-up costs is no dues,” Salter said. “Most associations charge over $100 just to join. Then if you want to be eligible to officiate in the playoffs, the fees to attend the playoff camps are another $100.”
These are all out-of-pocket expenses new officials must pay before setting foot on a football field. They are also non-refundable.
“You can easily sink $500 to $600 in start-up costs right up front,” Willis said.
Travel Demands
We’ve all heard fans complain about home cooking from game officials, implying that the home team is getting help from locals who just happen to be refereeing the game in their own backyard.
Willis said that’s not necessarily an issue, but there are exceptions.
“The GHSA prefers that officials not referee a game in your hometown, and everything is done to prevent that, especially when it comes to rivalry games and region games during the regular season,” Willis said.
He lives in Valdosta, Georgia.
“I may do a game in South Georgia during the season, say in Berrien County or somewhere close,” he said.
When it comes to games between two rival programs and playoff games, it becomes a totally different situation.
“I’ve had to go officiate regular season rivalry games up in Augusta and in the Atlanta area,” Willis said. “Then when the playoffs start, that’s when you really start travelling as an official.”
Willis said that in the last few seasons he officiated high school football, he was required to travel anywhere and everywhere across the state.
“I called games in Columbus, Peach County, McEachern,” he said. “The playoff games is when officials rack up the miles.”
Not only do officials travel far and wide to officiate games, but all officials are required to be on-site two hours before kickoff.
Willis said, however, that if an official pulls up at 5:30 p.m. for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff, they’re late.
“You have to take the Atlanta traffic into consideration, especially travelling from South Georgia,” Willis said.
That means an additional two to three hours of travel time, which requires officials to leave earlier in the day and could even mean they have to take time off from their regular jobs completely on Fridays. Depending on their employers and if they have earned paid time off, that could mean more expense for officials.
Shortage of Officials
Current high school football officials are getting older, and there’s a lack of younger and newer officials joining the ranks.
“The average age of officials in Georgia is about 55 years,” Gammons said. “It’s becoming an issue as a lot of us are getting older and stepping away from officiating.”
Salter agreed.
“Age is a huge factor and a huge issue with football officiating right now,” Salter said. “We have 12 crews in our association, and I will be 62 years old this year, and I’m the fourth-youngest white hat (crew chief).”
Salter said that if the difficulty of recruiting new and younger officials doesn’t improve, it will continue to add to a growing shortage of officials.
“In the next five years, you will see more of these Thursday and Saturday games due to the lack of officials,” Salter said.
So the next time you are at a game and feel like giving the referees a piece of your mind, please remember that they are sacrificing a lot to allow the games to go on.
After all, without our game officials, Friday night lights may become Thursday night lights and Saturday night lights.
