Why don't you want to officiate lacrosse after college?

[laxfan25]

BTW, it's generally agreed that the best position from which to draw officials is the goalie position. They have a different persepctive on the game, so they tend to understand what the officials do better than anyone else.

I've found that the majority of refs seem to come from the defense - don''t know why. It could be that there are three times as many as there are goalies!

[jessexy]

With all the various levels of officiating desperately needing new refs around the country, I'm curious as to why more ex-MDIA players don't start officiating once they are finished with their undergraduate degrees.

Your honest input is appreciated....

cuz they dont get paid enough to deal with the idiots on the sidelines (fans & coaches). its too much to take to "give back to the game." there are always complaints from the coaches and the ultimate excuse is we need better referees. well, how about treating people better, then maybe some referees that have potential will stick around longer and become good refs.

oh, i ref soccer at many different levels so that keeps me from reffing lacrosse. i get plenty of work there.

[Sonny]

cuz they dont get paid enough to deal with the idiots on the sidelines (fans & coaches). its too much to take to "give back to the game." there are always complaints from the coaches and the ultimate excuse is we need better referees. well, how about treating people better, then maybe some referees that have potential will stick around longer and become good refs.

oh, i ref soccer at many different levels so that keeps me from reffing lacrosse. i get plenty of work there.

Obviously supply and demand has something to do with the pool officials. But in general, lacrosse officials at the high school level are pretty well paid. Here in Georgia, we are the 2nd highest paid officials behind only football. I know in parts of the NY, youth and h.s. officials can make $80 - 90 a game. That ain't chump change.

[LaxRef]

Obviously supply and demand has something to do with the pool officials. But in general, lacrosse officials at the high school level are pretty well paid. Here in Georgia, we are the 2nd highest paid officials behind only football. I know in parts of the NY, youth and h.s. officials can make $80 - 90 a game. That ain't chump change.

The pay is generally pretty good for lacrosse officials, but there are a whole lot of people who aren't willing to deal with the pressure and abuse many officials face for any amount of money.

How is that going to change? With regards to abuse, the coaches, players, and fans (and, BTW, the MDIA players that I encounter are actually pretty well behaved compared to 6 or 7 years ago and compared to high school players) have to behave themselves, and the officials need to be willing to throw the flag when the line is crosse.

The pressure itself isn't going to change, but if newer officials don't feel that there's a constant threat of abuse, I think that might reduce the perceived pressure.

[Zeuslax]

I got thrown out of a game last season...............After the game was over too. A few days later a nice brown box arrived at my door. It didn't have a return address either. The ref that tossed me actually sent me a "how to get started ref'ing kit". It included pamphlets, instructions, an application, and such.

Pretty funny!!! Never met the guy. Very cleaver thought on his part, and made a good point too.

[LaxRef]

I got thrown out of a game last season...............After the game was over too. A few days later a nice brown box arrived at my door. It didn't have a return address either. The ref that tossed me actually sent me a "how to get started ref'ing kit". It included pamphlets, instructions, an application, and such.

Pretty funny!!! Never met the guy. Very cleaver thought on his part, and made a good point too.

While I agree that that's funny, I'd be hesitant to have this sort of contact with a player after I'd ejected him. Some people might not take the joke so well.

[Zeuslax]

I completely agree. I remember making a statement to that affect at the time. You never completely know.

[Adam Gamradt]

I would like to try, just to learn the game from a different perspective. Plus, I look really good in stripes and high socks. It seems it's harder to get started than I'd expected.

I am curious what the learning curve is for new refs. I would imagine it's a bit harder to learn to officiate lacrosse, than say football, or basketball. The game has many more plays that would require a judgement call, when an advantage is gained, or lost, etc. I would wager that the learning curve for new officials is quite shallow at first, which may lead to people giving up on it.

The complexity of our game certainly doesn't help encourage people to become refs. It's one thing to manage the game from your own coaches box. It's another matter to govern on the field, and attempt a degree of objectivity. Seeing how much passion and emotion is involved from the players\fans\coaches, I've gained a lot of respect for the guys who manage our sport on the field. I know I've been very hard on our officials, as they are an easy target. Most of us coaches and players are strictly volunteers, so picking on the paid professionals is an easy thing to rationalize. It's been my observation that we, at times, treat the referee's, especially the new one's, quite poorly.

We as coaches and players and fans need to realize that it's a hard sport to officiate in general. Also, we need to keep in mind the fact that the cultivation and training of new officials is necessary to keep the game growing at such a rapid pace.

Last night, I was talking to a guy who already refs basketball about reffing lacrosse as well. The schedule works out nicely, so he could transition to lacrosse after the basketball season. What sort of recruiting efforts does the refs organization undertake? Should the league become more active in building bridges to other sports officials? Or is the recruitment aspect handled entirely by the official officials orginization? Perhaps a currect ref could comment?

[laxfan25]

I would imagine it's a bit harder to learn to officiate lacrosse, than say football, or basketball.

I would disagree Adam. I think both football and basketballhave just as many, or more judgement calls, i.e. holding or pass interference in football and obviously foul calls in B-ball. In my mind B-ball is the toughest, since things happen so fast, and you could call a foul on just about every drive to the hoop if you wanted.

Lacrosse is definitely easier to pick up as a ref if you've played the game, because you have that feel for what should be allowed on a check and what should be a slash. That's why we'd like to get more MDIA guys putting on the stripes!
We have refs here in MI that have done b-ball or hockey before, and if they stick with it, can become excellent officials. The MHSAA, since the sport became sanctioned last year, has been actively recruiting new officials, and I have been doing some of the training classes. We have two 3-hour classroom sessions, and in spring there is another session going over any new rules. The biggest challenge is getting the recruits on a field in the off-season, since they're usually snow-covered! Field work is really critical. We will have new guys work middle-school games to start, trying to pair them up with more experienced guys. With the shortage of refs, rhey may be moving up to JV or low-level varsity very quickly, which is not really optimal.
I have had several coaches go through my classes, and they end up with a better understanding, not only of the rules, but of officiating philosophy. They gain a new appreciation and perspective, and are much less likely to be bitchin' from the sidelines, especially making comments that make no sense. I'm happy to have them in the class.
The need and opportunity is definitely there. I hope you give it a try. Talk to one of the more experienced guys in your area and I'm sure he can get you pointed in the right direction for training.

[Sonny]

Lacrosse is harder then basketball, in my opinion. The area of coverage in basketball is much smaller (basketball court) then lacrosse (an enlarged football field) - but you have the same exact number of officials (3 or 2). I also think plays happen just as fast in lacrosse (crease play is huge) as they do in basketball.

[Dan Wishengrad]

I had alot of success back in the 90s training basketball refs as lax officials. Some of these guys had never even seen lacrosse but made the transition very quickly, as they were "professional" refs who had the deportment and temperment to handle the job and to blow a whistle and be decisive. While I agree that lacrosse players who understand the game can make the transition to reffing the sport, it doesn't always work out that these guys make the best lax refs -- especially if they have never officiated a sport before.

I've seen some incredible lacrosse players who flamed out quickly as lax refs, and seen some people with backgrounds officiating other sports become top-notch lax refs by studying the rules, the mechanics manuals and by jumping in and doing it.

Last year when Washington played at Chico, it was great to see one of my "proteges" on the crew -- a guy who had reffed one of my rec league basketball games and I recruited to lacrosse, still doing a great job and now a senior WCLL official and crew chief. He had never seen a game before, and people were laughing in his first game in the 90s when he called them for "Stepping into that circle thing", but he is a very likable fellow who has the perfect deportment for a ref, and he caught on quickly and got the terminology down too.

[Kyle Berggren]

I've actually done some officiating, from the indoor season to a few outdoor games, and I'll have to say that I would not do it for extra money, or realistically, if it wasn't absolutely necessary. It is simply not as fulfilling, in my eyes, as coaching or playing. The negative attention that can come with officiating really isn't as bad as you'd think, you'll have ups and downs. I've been commended on atleast as many calls as I've blown, and if you were a player always looking to improve, you'll improve rapidly as an official.

Even after i re-read this, I believe I would actually officiate elementary or middle school games. I always seem to have a smile on my face around those kids, and I'm happy to do it at no charge, but when its more competetive is when the fun comes out of it for me.

[tamu33]

Here in Texas, we actively recruit other sports officials. First of all, it is good for all officials to be active in their primary sport's off-season. That is why many Texas Refs are Football refs too. In addition, if you have officiated at any level in any sport, that has a huge advantage in your learning curve. You understand about getting your self in the right position and rule applications to live game play. These things are the hardest in my opinion to get down. Everyone can tell if someone is offsides... the problem is being in the right position to see it when it occurs and still have the ability to watch the play in front of you.

As for monetary gains from officiating, I know some refs that make quite an extra bit of money during the lacrosse season. I won't go into specifics but that new car his daughter wanted was paid off by three seasons of work.