For the love of the game.
This post marks my 100th… a minor milestone in the land of blogging. Admittedly it would have been good to have it coincide with a year writing this blog. So, onto the shellacking…
I hear a lot of criticism about professional sports people and those who officiate in various sports.
Umpires, referees, whatever you want to call them.
Armchair generals with no applicable knowledge of the game, players or officials they criticise, making sweeping statements in such a way that to the casual observer, these people are speaking as though they are the sole source of truth.
Well folks, things are coming to a head… time for a wake up call.
I hear it all the time in sports…
“Oh, my team would have won if it weren’t for the referee being biased”
“The ref’s obviously blind. Nobody could be this bad on purpose”
“I wonder if the ref takes Visa or Amex for their bribes”
…and my personal favourite…
“This umpire’s pathetic. I could do a better job”
Now here’s the thing. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, that I’ve ever heard utter that last one has actually followed through. None of them have stepped up, done their respective sporting code’s officiating course, pulled on a uniform, picked up a whistle, and gone out and done it.
Nobody.
And why is that?
Well, I suspect that there are a variety of reasons. Ignorance, laziness, lack of fitness, lack of knowledge… perhaps some of them do give it a try, and then see that it’s not as easy as they first thought… or maybe, like a few officials I’ve known in my time, have rankled at the notion of refereeing junior sports, feeling that it’s beneath them.
The fact of the matter is that for the majority of those who get out there, day after day, weekend upon weekend, running the lengths of sports fields, ovals and courts, often for little money, no thanks and recognition only when they make a mistake… they do it because they feel the pull to give back to a sport that they’ve enjoyed so much.
As the saying goes, it’s for the love of the game.
Take football, for example (or soccer for the Yanks and Australians reading).
In Australia, right now, football is undergoing a resurgence in popularity that has steadily climbed since the Crawford Report restructured the sport, the FFA was started, the A-League showed how much talent potential we have… and, oh yeah, that little thing about the Socceroos qualifying for the 2006 World Cup. The game is growing to the point where demand for fields and facilities outstrips the availability, even at the amateur level. A friend who referees in Brisbane had the option of refereeing multiple nights during the week, along with several games each day of the weekend, such is the shortage of officials as well.
Now, for futsal, the indoor 5-a-side version of the sport (for lack of a better way to describe it) being played all year around, so issues of ’season’ aren’t as relevant. At the amateur ’social’ level, it’s possible to get a game every weeknight of the week, if you’re prepared to put your body through that kind of pressure.
Which means, there is an ongoing demand for referees.
The sad counterpoint in all this is that demand and supply are not equalising in setting a reasonable rate of pay for the referees. In any free market, shortage of supply and a high demand balances in a respectably high price for the goods or service. Over the years, this has seen outdoor football referees paid up to $75/game for amateur local league games. Not a bad effort for 90mins+extra time.
At least on paper.
See, what people don’t realise is that the referee out there on the pitch, running back and forth, blowing the whistle, making decisions in a potentially hostile environment, have invested considerably to get to even that stage.
And when you consider futsal referees are lucky to get $15 for a 40min game, you start to realise that the people blowing the whistle aren’t in it to become rich.
Many of us start as players, and we sit the refereeing course (at our own expense) to try earn a bit of extra cash to help subsidise our hobby. Makes sense, after all, since a person that enjoys the sport is going to be a better candidate than someone who doesn’t give a damn.
So, we pay our course fees… anywhere up to a couple of hundred dollars, depending on the organisation that conducts the course. Some courses provide basic equipment in that fee, others leave it to the newly minted referee to purchase their own.
Which is the next expense… equipment. At last count, I had spent, over 4 years refereeing, approximately AUD$2000 on equipment. That’s shoes, socks, uniforms, watches, whistles, compression undergarments (which, at $85 for short Skins, can get expense come time to replace), notebooks, bags, cards, sweatbands, strapping tape, orthotics… the list goes on.
And this doesn’t include expenses, such as travel, medical (since we do get injured as referees, occassionally), accomodation, time off work.
And then you have the personal cost. Time away from friends and family. Having to turn down invites to go out as you have an early kickoff the next day, or a tournament, or perhaps you’re fitness training. Having arguments with a girlfriend/boyfriend/spouse about how much time you spend refereeing… to the point of saying goodbye to them over it. I’ve known more than a few young referees lose girlfriends or boyfriends because their partner didn’t understand the demands involved, especially of time.
Like many professions in life, it is a calling. You do it because you love it, enjoy it, get the best seat in the house and on the days when you have a great game, you may even get someones thanks. You’ll ache, dehydrate, get blisters, get cramps, twist ankles, tear muscles, bruise, cop abuse from players, coaches and parents… and when it’s over, you’ll be lucky to cover the cost of fuel in your car to drive to the games.
But you’ll be at training during the week… and back on the pitch the following weekend.
Like anything difficult that you stick with, you do so because you’re emotionally invested.
And it’s those people who, even when they have the right and the credibility to comment on the performance of sporting officials, refrain from doing so.
Because they do, like we do… for the love of the game.
