When I worked as a scorekeeper for CYO basketball games as a freshman, I didn’t expect to find any other job opportunities at CYO. That wasn’t really my goal. However, one thing led to another, and I ended up becoming a flag football referee the following year as a sophomore. I continued reffing this year as a junior, and feel it is my responsibility to share my experiences in the stripes.
First, I feel that some background information needs to be shared about CYO refs. Historically, CYO refs haven’t been viewed as being all too good at their jobs. If you ever go to a St. Ed’s football or basketball game, chances are you’ll hear the student section chant, “CYO ref” after any bad call. This perception of CYO refs combined with them having to deal with angry parents and coaches has led to a shortage of CYO officials.
That’s where I come in. Somehow the following fall, I ended up on a CYO flag football referee training email list. I saw the requirements for being an official, and more importantly the pay, and decided to take on the job. I loved flag football back when I played, and now would have the opportunity to get back on the field, but this time as an official. A few weeks before the season, I got some good experience at a scrimmage at Ragan Hall, which gave me flashbacks to my own flag football career. With one scrimmage under my belt, I was ready to ref regular season flag football for the first time at 15 years old.
The first games I officiated were in late August of 2022, and luckily were held at St. Bernadette (my alma mater) which was a very convenient location for me. I didn’t run into any major issues in Week 1, or really any week that whole season. The lessons I was taught at that Ragan Hall scrimmage helped me out tons. I still remember a quote from an older ref, which has become my philosophy: “Call it if Grandma can see it.” As the sole official for these games, it was literally impossible for me to catch every penalty. I followed the ball, and called any penalties that Grandma could see. It also helped having the support of the athletic director and site directors throughout the season, and really everybody at St. Bernadette.
The final week of that season I had my only somewhat major hiccup in a season full of smaller ones, which could be expected from a first-year, 15 year old ref, or any CYO ref in general. There was a game between two fourth grade teams from the same school. With this, there was some heat building up going into it. Both teams had lots of talent, and were physical in a league where you aren’t allowed to block. The game was neck and neck throughout, and tensions were a little high given the situation. But the problem I faced was with kids tackling each other. In flag football, you pull flags, you don’t tackle players.
Normally, I don’t call penalties for tackling because they are so rare, and most of the time kids accidentally tackle when going for flag pulls. In this game, I was forced to make a lot of those 50/50 calls on whether there was an intentional tackle. I kept the flag in my pocket more often than not, which upset the coaches on one of the two teams. After a clear tackle on one of the next plays, I threw the flag, and the kid who was tackled was shaken up. The coaches on both sides gathered all the players at midfield, and one coach gave everyone a talk on how they’re all brothers at the same school, and how football is meant to be fun. The game ended smoothly, but I shouldn’t have let the game get to the point where there had to be a meeting at midfield.
With one year of reffing under my belt, I got the call from CYO that they’d appreciate my services for a second year. I’d be back at St. B’s for some more CYO flag football. The season went well again, especially with the relationships I’d built with the coaches, and St. Bernadette athletics. Again however, there was one situation that got out of control.
In CYO flag football, you’re not allowed to block. By block, I mean extend your arms and initiate contact with defenders. This rule was implemented for player safety, as well as some other rules which I find questionable. Players can’t run inside the hash marks too, which allows for defenses to pack players outside of the hash marks to stop the run. I could write a whole separate article on the issues of the CYO flag football rule book, but that’s beside the point.
With the season coming to a close, there was a third grade flag football game between two opposing schools. Both teams looked big for their age, so I figured they’d each be solid. They each were, but they were also playing a completely different style of flag football. From the first snap, each team was throwing blocks like it was the NFL. I called an illegal block on the very first play, and reminded the players and coaches to not extend their arms. Nothing changed. More full-on blocking and more penalty markers. Both teams were physical though, so I gave each team some leeway so I didn’t have to throw a flag after every snap.
The moment one of the teams started falling behind, their coaches began losing it on me. I’d never dealt with coaches as aggressive in my time as a CYO ref. I keep my cool in these situations, don’t take things personally, and finish out the game. But when I got word from the site director that parents were complaining about how the coaches were acting, we decided to end the game with 12 minutes to go. That was the first and only game I’ve ever ended early in my two years as an official. When the decision was made, the same coaches that were giving me an earful gave the site director an even worse one. We both knew that calling the game was the right thing to do, but it’s never something you want to do.
After the game, one of the coaches on the winning team gave me a small cross to thank me for handling the situation, which was nice of her. The picture I got with her was the social media post from CYO to celebrate officials weekend, which I thought was funny.
Having reffed two years of flag football, I think I’m now prepared to ref CYO basketball. With my St. Ed’s basketball career being behind me, this seems like the right step. Now, I’ll have to balance the life of a high school CYO basketball player, and the life of a CYO basketball official.
I’d like to finish this one off by saying that next time you hear the “CYO ref” chant, take a step back and appreciate your CYO refs.
