Written by: Alissa Flores
This semester, Southern’s intramural games have sparked more than just competition. Many students have voiced frustrations over inconsistent or biased officiating, claiming that referees make too many mistakes.
Judeline Pineda, senior liberal arts education major and frequent intramural participant, shared some insight into some concerns she has felt regarding student officiates.
“I feel like sometimes they don’t take the girls seriously,” Pineda said. “I feel like that could be something, like ‘it’s just girls, whatever’ in some sense. I don’t think they’re trying to do that [on purpose], but it’s just how it is.”
Pineda also said that while she understands that referees are supposed to be neutral, she has sometimes felt that referees have favored some teams over others.
According to Jaden Hutchinson, a four-year referee for the intramurals program and a senior kinesiology major, an influx of inexperienced and new referees has contributed to the tensions. Additionally, he claimed that many students do not understand the challenges of making split-second decisions or the difficulty it takes to be a student referee among peers.
“What a lot of the students don’t realize is that the refs are all students as well,” Hutchinson said. “I’d say, probably 75% of the refs we have right now are all new. They’re just starting to learn. So, of course, that’s going to affect the game and how it’s being reffed because they’re not 100% confident in themselves.”
In an interview with the Accent, Pineda acknowledged this lack of experience, saying that in this last basketball season the new referees would sometimes make calls while raising the wrong hand and confuse the other referee on the court.
“So you could see that in the refs too,” Pineda said. “They kind of clash with the calls. They’re normally on the same page, which is kind of frustrating, because we want them to be on the same page.”
Hutchinson explained that in previous semesters, the majority of the referees had been on staff for four years. Now, with a largely new roster this semester, players have voiced more complaints.
“You just have to give them time, and [basketball is] their first sport doing it, which sucks for them, because basketball is the hardest one,” Hutchinson said.
According to Troy Walker, the university’s intramural director, not many students volunteer to be referees due to the fact that disciplining peers can be difficult and uncomfortable.
“Sometimes I have to take what I can get and train them as best I can,” Walker said.
When questioned about the issues and the manner in which students present their problems during games, Walker stated that the most common concerns are missed calls, a normal part of officiating. He said students should remember that no referee is perfect.
Hutchinson said based on his experience as a referee during intramural games, students will often raise concerns mid-game about a foul call, which he often tries to explain on the spot. However, he explained that not all interactions are constructive.
“If a person sits there and starts yelling at you or starts arguing or complaining all the time throughout the game, I’m not gonna sit there and explain it to them,” Hutchinson said, “because they have it in their mindset that, like, what they’re doing is right.”
He added that if a student player seems unsure of the rules but insists in an argumentative manner that they know best, he advises referees to wait until the game is over to discuss the call when the player is more receptive.
Gabriel Castro, senior construction management major and multisport athlete on campus, says that he has never experienced his team being treated differently by refs.
“But I won’t say that’s not a possibility,” Castro said. “I will say that whatever side of the aisle you’re on, players often think they are right about calls when they don’t have the vision the refs have.”
Walker explained the process he uses when unhappy students come to him with complaints of bias or flawed calls.
“I try to help student participants to understand what reffing is really like,” Walker said. “It’s just not easy to referee. I explain to them that the refs are only human, and they’re doing the best they can. They’re refs that have limited experience. I don’t know of any ref that I have out there that wants to do a bad job or doesn’t care.”
Walker said to be hired and trained as a referee, students either take a two-credit officiating class taught by himself or they attend referee training sessions when he can fit them into the schedule. In addition, Hutchinson shared that many student athletes have backgrounds in weight lifting or personal training but not in sports officiating. Hence, when they come to work as referees, it can be a struggle for them to pick it up.
Throughout the training process, Walker highlights the importance of impartiality and even gives officials pamphlets and guidelines to review during their employment to stay up-to-date on sports’ rules.
“I address bias with every ref and educate them on the fact that a referee cannot be biased, no matter who’s playing,” Walker said. “If it’s your girlfriend, your best friend or your roommate, it doesn’t matter. You gotta ref everybody the same.”
Pineda shared that while she understands all the referees are just students with no professional experience that sometimes it appears to her, and others as if the referees aren’t as into the games as much as the players.
“I feel like they’re not really into it, like they don’t care sometimes,” Pineda said. “Like, for us, we might take games so seriously. I really care about it. But again, we can’t really say anything to them, because then they’re gonna come after us for bad sportsmanship or something.”
Hutchinson emphasized that being unbiased is the number one rule referees need to follow.
“I don’t think I’ve seen an instance of bias,” Hutchinson said. “I think people have it in their head that we’re being biased just because we know the person we’re reffing, but that’s not what we’re trained for.”
Looking ahead, Walker hopes to implement a survey system where students can give positive and constructive feedback on referees’ performances. While he is open to students’ concerns, he encourages students to be mindful of a referee’s perspective.
“They’re not going to get every call perfectly, but the refs don’t decide the outcome of a game,” Walker said. “The refs are just enforcing rules that a player is either following or not following. All they’re doing is enforcing those rules as best they can.”
