It happens every year. You have that final whistle. You put the whistle away. The cards go back into the bag. The shoes you spent most of the past three months wearing now will now go unused for eight and a half months. You also get your time back. You get to see your family again. You get to come home from work and relax for a night. You can eat at home instead of whatever you can pick up from the gas station on your way to your match.
For the past 22 years I have been extremely lucky to have my last whistle be at the state tournament. It’s a privilege and honor I never took granted. Each time I got that call that I was being asked to officiate at the state tournament I was excited, humbled, and honored. This year that call didn’t come and I am OK with that. I did have the honor to line judge at the state tournament. Line judging is hard! For me, it is much easier to work as a R1 or R2. As we all know, line judges can make or break your matches. We have all had those line judges that make our job 100 times harder than it should be. We also have the line judges who we know we can rely on and it makes our jobs so much more fun. I am so glad I was able to LJ this year. It gave me an opportunity to be a different part of the state tournament.
I have been officiating for about 30 years now. Over that time you get to know a lot of the volleyball community. Some of those connections grow over time and when you spend hours each weekend around each other year after year relationships grow. I am happy to say I have strong relationships with a majority of coaches in Southeastern Wisconsin. We don’t always agree on every whistle I blow and that’s ok and healthy. However, at the end of the day, they know I am giving their team my best effort each and every game. I have seen state championship teams go from consecutive state championships to bottom of their conferences and then build back up. I see the hard work that goes into building successful teams. I admire the work the coaches put into what they do. I coached soccer for many years and I understand what it all entails. Part of the reason I ref is after a match I get to go home. I don’t have to answer questions as to why someone played or didn’t play. I don’t have to plan a practice to prepare high school kids for their next opponent. However, I don’t get those close relationships with the athletes. My relationships are with the coaches.
This year I had two special moments. The first was a coach for whom I have officiated for many many years decided to retire. When he started he was a fiery, loud, and intense coach. We had quite a few tense moments. However, somehow, those moments never ended in a card of any kind. Over the years we have talked about philosophies and how high school athletics are different than club athletics. He grew into a coach I respected as highly as any coach I have ever officiated for. At the end of the year I gave him a yellow card. My partner and I even signed it. He finally got carded by me. A day or so later he publicly thanked me (anonymously) for helping to make him the coach he is today. There is a mutual respect there that even goes beyond volleyball. My other situation involves a coach that I have greatly respected from day one. She came into a struggling program and I have seen her build it into one of the top programs in the state. It hasn’t been easy and there have been more than a few long discussions as to when is the right time to step away and move on. Thankfully, that time was never the right time. There have been teams that should have won state championships and for various reasons they fell short. However, this weekend her team finally got to raise the gold ball. Let me say, I never have and never ever will make a call based on how I feel about a player, team or coach. But I was able to make the out call (it wasn’t a close call) that made the score hit 25. If I wasn’t a line judge that night I never would have been that part of that match. As officials we are human and when events happen you have feelings. Those aren’t wrong. Make sure they don’t impair your officiating. But once they day is done you can still feel happy for someone. I will always be happy to have had a part in that game.
This is why I officiate volleyball. It’s not the money. It’s nice but we don’t make enough. It’s the relationships with the coaches. It’s the breakfasts I have with the officiating group before a Saturday tournament. It’s the dinners I have with my partner before our regional and sectional assignments. It’s that long phone calls just talking about what has happened and what will happen as far as our season is going. I’m going to enjoy my down time. I’m going to enjoy going home and spending time with my wife and dogs. I’m going to enjoy not having to live in my car. But wow, I sure can’t wait for that first whistle in August again.
What was your season highlight or what were your top moments?
I was so excited to get the call this year to officiate the State girls tourney after 11 years of not being there… what an honor! And, it was fun to officiate with a partner who had never done that before. One of the greatest compliments we received was from a coach who didn’t win their match, but said “You gals did a great job. I didn’t even have to look at you once to see what you were calling!” That’s what I hope to do as an official – be invisible & let the athletes be the stars of the show.
Terri, Dave and I really enjoyed working with you and Eileen as your line judges for one of the state matches. I thought we had great communication between the entire crew, the players/coaches were great, and we had a fun time. It’s an honor to get to work at state in any capacity and I’m glad I was able to work one of the matches with you ladies. Well done!
That is awesome work and congrats to yah both as well!
I was assigned 2 regional matches which is always an honor for me. My intent was to be the r2 but the official I was assigned with was sick. I felt bad for him but was afraid if he took the ladder he might fall off of it. I took the r1 position and had a fabulous time. The atmosphere in the gym was electric. The band played during warm ups and everyone stood up while they played the school song which everyone sang. The losing coach told me I did a Good job after the match.
While there were several great moments this season, my highlight has to be the call for my VB partner Dave and I to line judge at the state tournament this year. This was a first for me and an honor as so few get the opportunity. I really enjoyed the matches I worked and the officials I got to work with. It was also extra fun to be able to do it with my partner who I’ve worked with all season. After watching and listening to the constructive critiques that were made in our match debriefs, I can say I also learned a few things that I can incorporate into my game. All in all it was a great experience and I hope I’m able to do it again in the future.
Right on brother, it was an honor as well as very knowledgeable and a joy. Also receiving my first post-season matches was exciting! Thanks for the teamwork, bringing me along and the sass we give/have.