Officiating sports can take a physical toll as well as a mental toll

By Jolie Shultz
Editor In Chief
IG: jolie.rebecca

From an outside perspective, one might see sports officiating as a mentally exhausting job. Officials are expected to make perfect calls within split seconds, all while facing criticism from coaches, parents and even athletes themselves

Social media videos have shone the spotlight on referee abuse. Recently a video surfaced of two teenage officials for a youth hockey game, being shoved to the ice by a parent of a player.

Acts like these may make someone wonder, ‘why do they do it?’

“I see a lot of social media really emphasize all of the bad things that happen with officiating but you don’t really get to see the good things,” Buhler High School teacher and high school football and basketball official, Brennan Torgerson said.

“I feel like in this area you don’t really see a lot of that,” Torgerson said.

Hutchinson Community College freshman Jett Finnell has had a pretty similar experience.

“I think where I’ve been officiating, the smaller schools, I don’t have too much concern with having someone come after me,” Finnell said.

When it comes to the anxiety he faces after he makes a call that he’s not too sure about, Finnell tries to just move on.

“I just try to get back in the game, get out of that slump,” he said.

Ryan Pinkall, an assistant biology professor at HutchCC, officiates both high school and collegiate football. He understands that athletics are a game of passion.

“That’s just a part of the game,” Pinkall said. “Athletics are very passionate. You have to understand that as an official, passion is flowing,”

Although all three agree that there may be some obstacles and anxiety when officiating, they all love what they do and believe that it’s a good path for high school and college aged kids to pursue.

“To some degree, I actually think officiating helps your mental health,” Torgerson said, “It allows you to kind of get away from the day-to-day grind of your life. It captivates my mind to kind of get me away from the things in my normal day-to-day life that are stressful.”

To new and young officials, Pinkall has some advice that is pretty simple.

“Embrace the abrasiveness.” he said. “Have a good support system or even a veteran official.”

Torgerson voiced similar advice.

“I think you got to find a mentor. Find someone that will go and do games with you to help ease that anxiety.” Torgeron said.

“The hard part is crossing that line and actually stepping out on the floor and doing it.” he said

“I think there’s so manny benefits and the camaraderie amongst officials, we all support one another and we’re all looking out for each other. That’s what it’s about”

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