Referees part of complex puzzle to get games going
Officials want to know if they need to wear masks, get tested, have the vaccine shot
Leo Lopoz was just getting into the complexities of his high school league’s search for on-field officials this spring when his phone buzzed with a text message from a man in charge of assigning referees.
“He’s right now begging for a schedule,” Lopoz, the East Bay Athletic League commissioner, said Wednesday night.
In the mad scramble to get state high school seasons started for outdoor sports referees — once afterthoughts during the COVID-19 pandemic — have emerged as a big piece of the return-to-play puzzle.
Athletic administrators have precious little time to get referees assigned to games in the wake of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s announcement on Feb. 19 that outdoor contact sports are permitted under specific guidelines starting as early as this week.
“It’s unfortunate the governor thinks he can flip a switch because all officiating organizations are scrambling,” said Mac Parfet, an executive with the Silicon Valley Sports Officials Association.
Referees, the unsung cast members of sporting events, are used to blending into the background until a decision erupts into controversy. But they need as much clarity as anyone else before safely returning to the field to supervise the games, a handful of Bay Area referees said.
“Officials almost became one of the forgotten factors in return to play,” said Lopoz, who also serves as De La Salle High School’s vice president for athletics. “Not because there was no respect for their importance. But just getting the start was the first priority.”
Officials carry pertinent questions with their whistles and striped jerseys as high school athletic administrators try to stitch together compressed schedules.
— Do they need weekly tests for coronavirus like some of the athletes?
— Do they need to wear a facial covering on the field?
— Must they be vaccinated for COVID-19 before working?
“I know officials who don’t want to get the vaccine,” said Tom Emery, president of Peninsula Sports, Inc. in Seaside. “You’re not going to see them out there” if mandatory shots are required.
Emery’s company handles officiating for the Pacific Coast Athletic League, a sprawling 34-school conference with campuses in four counties, including Santa Clara. He said he is concerned about whether his referees can work in different counties without a “vaccine passport.”
He also wanted to know if button-operated electronic whistles would be required.
Emery’s questions underscore the confusion leaders of officials’ organizations say they are experiencing with seasons just weeks away.
“I don’t think you can go with your transitional mindset and get through all of the variables without major heartache and headache,” Lopoz said. “That is the way we’re going to live in 2021.”
Lopoz and others say they expect the COVID-19 rules to vary slightly by county, by school site and by event.
Emery said he does not yet know how many of his 450 referees for nine sports might opt out this school year. But he said the pandemic has weighed on the minds of the officials 60 years and older. The situation might be the impetus to retire, he said.
Some officials wondered if all the referees who want vaccinations can get inoculated before the competition begins next month because of limited supply.
Mike Adam, president of the Silicon Valley Sports Officials Association, said most of the 160 referees in his group say they will work. He said about 10% decided to sit out the academic year while another 10% are waiting to get vaccinated before committing.
Ken Leffle of the Contra Costa Umpires Association that works games in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties said many of his 455 referees received vaccines. He added the association plans to have referees wear masks at all sporting events.
A lobbying effort to get state officials to approve the return of indoor sports could add to the scheduling chaos for referees who in previous years would already have their assignments for the fall sports, Parfet said.
A majority of referees have full-time jobs, he added. They work games for about $75 an event.
“The money is secondary for most of us,” Parfet said. “There is an energy you receive by doing this.”
Many referees like Parfet are licensed to work multiple sports throughout the year. As leagues cram a year’s worth of sports into four months this spring, something has to give.
How will they get every game covered?
“A lot of smoke and mirrors,” Leffle said.
Administrators said it might mean playing games on Mondays and Wednesdays instead of the traditional Tuesday and Thursday time slots. Football has been extended to Thursday through Saturday in many leagues to make sure enough officials are available.
Emery said he expects to have situations where only one official will be assigned to volleyball — if the indoor game is permitted to return this school year. He said parents and teachers might be called upon to help assist the lone referee.
Parfet said he hopes coaches, players and parents will have patience with the referees, who have been idle for more than a year.
“We haven’t been running on the field and being mentally active with making calls,” he said. “We’re all going to have to re-learn” the play calling.
Many referees have worked with their associations to “train” for possible seasons, officials said.
The Silicon Valley Sports Officials Association offered virtual yoga classes and other group training workouts, Adam said.
They also held bi-weekly meetings to go over new rules and watch game film to work on calling infractions correctly.
Adam said many of the referees started jogging and working out on their own in January when it appeared high school sports might return.
His colleague Parfet said most referees want to get back on the fields and courts. But he said they want to do it safely.
Lopoz, the De La Salle administrator, said he is confident they will be OK.
“Once we get that first whistle, that first tip, you are going to see some common practices,” Lopoz said. “After that, it will flow smoothly.”
Contact Elliott Almond at 408-920-5865.