Insider Info

Ever wonder what it would be like to referee a football game?

Jeff Hilyer of Alabama has been refereeing high school football games for 20 years. He is now moving into college football as well. "Twenty years ago, I wanted to try refereeing and I enjoyed it," he recalls. "I was never a player. God didn't give me a lot of athletic talent, but instead He gave me the ability to be an official."

Hilyer has attended two training camps in L.A. He says many states are implementing these camps to help referees and other officials increase their skill levels. "There is formalized training available if you want it. It is voluntary. You don't have to take it, but it can be good."

Hilyer regards refereeing as a hobby. "I enjoy it. I am paid for refereeing, but not a lot," he says.

He is also a certified public accountant and an attorney. Hilyer manages to adjust his regular work schedule to fit in his referee responsibilities. During the fall football season, he referees two or three nights a week.

Hilyer enjoys making a difference in kids' lives. And there is great self-satisfaction in knowing you have done a good job when the game is over.

"In high school football, we are supposed to be just like teachers and set examples for the student athletes to follow," he says. "The officials, the administrators, the fans -- they are all expected to be a positive influence. We teach sportsmanship, leadership, citizenship and responsibility. We are part of the team. We're part of the educational process."

Hilyer highly recommends football refereeing to anyone with an interest. "It's a good way to stay involved and to make a difference. It teaches you a lot about self-discipline and self-control."

Brian Small is involved in football in a number of ways. As well as having many years of experience as a referee, Small is the vice-president of a football officials' association.

"When I was four years old, I remember my dad listening to football on a big old radio that we had back then. I have been a fan as long as I can remember."

Small played football in high school, but didn't become involved in refereeing until several years later. "I was a late starter. A friend of mine got me involved. Within a couple of years, I was refereeing at a league level of football," he says.

"That was a very fast progression. There are only a few that have been that fortunate."

In 1994, he was picked up by the Canadian Football League when the league expanded into the U.S. During his three years with the league, Small worked games in Baltimore, Sacramento and Las Vegas.

According to Small, refereeing is a somewhat different experience at the various levels. At the pro level, for instance, he found a lot of pressure to make the right calls and to be in the right place. "It's a business. There's a lot of attention focused on you. You don't make anybody happy. At the most, you might make half of them happy."

Football politics can be stressful. "For example, at the lower levels, parents are well-meaning, but they may not be football people. They don't understand and they get their priorities changed around a bit. They think their kid should be on the field more, or they think that you're not being up front with them. Parents should relax so the kids can have some fun."

Joey Martin from Alabama agrees that sometimes parents can be the problem. After four years of refereeing at high school and junior high games, she finds that when people scream insults or obscenities at the players or at members of the crew, it is very stressful.

"I hate to hear somebody screaming, somebody being down on a young athlete. Even though they are not screaming at me personally, I don't like that kind of negativity."

Martin, a gym teacher, has always been interested in sports. She became involved in football refereeing at the urging of some friends who were football officials. She was a baseball umpire, and her friends knew that she would enjoy football if she ever got involved. "I said I'd try it for one year. Then I just fell in love with it," she says.

"We have weekly meetings where we go over rules and situations. We talk about mechanics, which means where you should be on the field. We have to take a test, but there are books we can study. Each year, the high schools have scrimmage games. When we're starting out, we work those so we get a feel for what it is like on the field. Other people in the association go to scrimmage games with you. They help you out, train you."

Martin worked her first two years at the junior high and junior varsity games. During her third year, she worked on the varsity field at the end of the season. "In year four, I worked a full schedule of varsity games," she says. "And I worked some playoff games at the end of the season."

Martin finds it important to keep learning. Rules change constantly as the football associations strive to make the field a safer place for athletes. "There are camps every summer," she says. "We work on mechanics, rules and situations. We also go out and work scrimmage games with instructors who critique you and give constructive feedback."

Martin adds that people who attend the camps do it because they want to be a better official. Many have to arrange time off from their regular jobs to attend.

Like most referees, Martin enjoys officiating. "I feel like I'm in it for the kids. I take pride in getting out there and doing a good job for them. I like trying to keep the game as fair as I possibly can. It's a challenge to be out on the field and to keep up with the young athletes. It's a thrill to see the kids out there working towards a common goal."

Martin points out since she never had an opportunity to play football, being a girl, this is one way that she can be involved in the sport that she loves. Even so, she is the only female referee in her association. "I try to blend in. I put my long hair up under a cap. Sometimes if guys notice I'm a female, they get on to me about it. I try to just be one of the crew."

Her most exciting moment happened last year when she worked a playoff game in Oxford, Alabama. It was the largest crowd at a high school football game that she had ever seen. The stands were packed an hour and a half before the game started. "It was loud and extremely exciting to be on the field in front of so many people."

If you want to be a football referee, Martin has advice to offer. She recommends that you get involved with people that you see are good officials and hang out with them.

"Take pride in what you do. Know the game and never think you know enough. Understand that you will make mistakes and accept that. Be fair. Be consistent. As long as you are trying your best, the coaches will realize it and you will do OK."

And don't be in it for the money. "Go out and do it for the kids. Always remember that every game you referee, whether it's a peewee game or a college championship, is the most important game in the world to the young players that you are calling."