Central Oregonian

Soccer officials working to improve consistency

Trailing a sideline official during a match is a unique experience

Lon Austin

The last column that I wrote was critical of some officiating that I witnessed during early season football and soccer games.

I was surprised shortly after the column by an invitation from the Central Oregon Soccer Officials Association asking me to shadow a sideline official during a match later in the year.

I agreed, and on Thursday, Sept. 22, I followed a sideline official for the Cowboys match with Bend.

It was interesting to see how the officials approached the match as well as listening to the sideline official explain what he was doing and what the calls were that were being made.

The match started off with a meeting between the three officials who discussed each official’s duties and coverage responsibilities for the match. I was introduced to all three officials as well as an officials evaluator who was critiquing the performance of the officials.

The evaluator explained to me what he was going to be looking for during the match and then the officials explained to the coaches what I was going to be doing during the match.

The officials, who asked not to be named because they did not want to draw attention to themselves, explained that the primary goal of the association was to make sure that the officiating was consistent during a match and from match to match.

For the next 90 minutes I followed a sideline official everywhere he went. The job involved lining up with the back defensive player on the half of the field that we were responsible for and staying in that alignment regardless of how fast the ball moved down the field.

Although I would not be comfortable as a sideline official, I do have a greater appreciation of what it takes to do the job.

I have no idea how far I ran on Thursday, but I know that I was a little sore the next day. The center official was wearing a GPS watch and he recorded 6.1 miles during the match, the equivalent of running a 10K race.

The evaluator discussed specific calls that occurred during the match with the officials both at halftime and following the match, offering his opinion of specific calls as well as suggestions for improvement.

As an evaluator he watches as many as six matches during a week, working with both experienced and newer officials.

The officials all have full-time jobs and have to adjust their work schedule in order to be able to officiating. The small amount of money they make per match probably doesn’t even pay for the wages they lose from their normal day jobs.

They officiate because they enjoy the camaraderie between the other officials, and as one said ‘I have the best seat in the house.’ They also officiate because they have a sincere desire to help with high school athletics.

The other interesting thing about my experience was that the officials did not question my perception of the match that I had been critical of. Rather, they said that they believed my account was accurate and they were concerned with upgrading the officiating.

By the end of the match I was asked if I would be interested in officiating.

Obviously I don’t have the time. However, the officials do bring up an interesting point. There is an officiating shortage across the board in most high school athletics. All of the Central Oregon officiating associations welcome new officials and they are willing and eager to train new officials. If you have ever considered officiating they would love to have you.

If you ever get the chance to shadow an official take it. It’s a great opportunity. It’s educational and it makes it clear how difficult an official’s job really is. The officials I followed did a pretty good job during a tough hard-played match.

A big thank you to all of them. It was a great learning experience.

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One final note. The volleyball match between Burns and Crook County on Tuesday was one of the best matches you will ever see, but the match almost never happened. Crook County A.D. Scott Polen neglected to schedule officials for the event. It was a careless mistake and there were a lot of angry people at the match. The two schools were able to get special permission to start the JV match without certified officials. Officials had to leave another match in Madras and rush to Prineville to officiate the match. They arrived in time to finish the JV match and the varsity match was finally started more than an hour late. Here’s hoping nothing like this happens again. Crook County athletics deserve better than that.