Young official answers the call as high school sports need referees

Ethan Shetler blew his whistle and calmly approached the scorer’s table, ignoring some grumbling from a visiting coach during a recent freshman boys basketball game at Wooster High School.

Just two years removed from suiting up as a three-sport athlete for Wooster, Shetler, 19, has made a smooth transition to officiating.

“I’m enjoying it,” said Shetler, who will ref more than 20 combined games this winter at the junior high, freshman and JV levels. “I played basketball for 15 years. My grandpa was a ref for 40 years over in Pennsylvania, my uncle has been a ref for 25 years and my cousin's been a ref for about eight years. I thought I could give back to the sport that I grew up playing and also make some money.”

Ron Dessecker, Ohio Cardinal Conference commissioner and officials assignor, loves to see youngsters like Shetler get involved.

In fact, Dessecker wants to see more men or women of just about any age give high school officiating a shot as long as they have knowledge and passion for the game.

“We don't have the numbers that we had 20 years ago, nowhere near,” said Dessecker, 77, the OCC commissioner since its formation in 2002 and a member of the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame. “It's just a matter now where young men or women aren’t getting involved like they used to.

“Age has nothing to do with it. Whether someone is 19 or 49 and might want to try officiating, we can use you. It doesn't make any difference. We need more officials in all the sports: fall, winter and spring.”

Dessecker also is a member of the Ohio and Wayne County Officials Halls of Fame. He umpired baseball for 33 years including five state championship games, and during 38 years as a football official, he worked six state finals.

If someone wants to be a good official, they have to be dedicated to continually improving, Dessecker said.

“You need to have a passion for officiating and high school sports,” Dessecker said. “If you're in it just for the money, it’s not going to go well. I always tell guys, ‘If you want to be good, then put the time in. Go to clinics, watch as many games as possible, be around other officials and ask questions after the games. Learn your craft.’”

Brett Carpenter, a 2002 Smithville graduate, has taken over for Dessecker as secretary for the Wayne County Officials Association. After once picking Dessecker’s brain for tips to become a better official, these days Carpenter is carrying the torch as one of the area’s top football and basketball officials.

The 41-year-old Carpenter is in his 13th season as a basketball official and will work his second state championship game in March, getting the assignment for the Division V final. He’s been a football official for 15 years and worked Mid-American Conference college games the past two years.

“There’s a big difference between (officiating) high school and college,” said Carpenter, whose dad, Jennings Carpenter, has been a longtime high school football official. “For the college coaches, it's their livelihood. For a high school coach, who’s maybe also a math teacher, if they lose their coaching job, it's a bummer, but it's not their total livelihood.

"I've had a great experience with the coaches at both levels overall. Obviously, the guys at the college level can get kind of fired up in the heat of the moment, but we understand that.”

Carpenter had the chance recently to watch Shetler officiate and liked what he saw.

“I'm sure Ethan has learned a lot this first year, and I think he's got a bright future,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter said it’s less common for someone as young as Shetler to start officiating high school games. More often, men or women get experience while in college officiating intramural sports and then decide to progress to working high school contests or adults move up from youth sports to high school action.

Shetler got his first experience as an official working at Parks & Rec basketball games. In Shetler’s fourth scholastic game early this winter, a fight broke out during a middle school contest.

“I didn't have to call anything because it wasn't in my area,” Shetler said. “It was right in front of my partner. He issued a double-technical foul.”

A few games later, Shetler admitted he made a mistake on an over-and-back call near the end of a hotly contested JV game.

“The fans were very livid that I called it, and when I later went into the rule book, I realized it was wrong on my part,” Shelter said. “I had already called it, so I just progressed on in the game. At that point I was like, ‘I’ve gotta have thick skin to kind of deal with all the parents and all the coaches.’ You just have to keep trying your best.”

Veteran officials at all levels advise less experienced refs to make calls with confidence, have good communication skills when talking to coaches and players, and remember no one is perfect. Even NFL, NBA and MLB officials have calls overturned after replay challenges.

“Some of the newer officials do not have good communication skills, and I think that leads to a little bit of an issue when it comes to dealing with coaches,” Dessecker said. “Basketball is a sport where it gets emotional very quickly, and to diffuse that, officials have to learn to communicate.”

Anyone interested in becoming an official can learn more online at www.ohsaa.org/officiating. Candidates need to take an online course. After passing, they can join a local group such as the Wayne County Officials Association, which holds preseason meetings.

Carpenter said people interested in learning more about becoming an official can email him at brett24c@gmail.com.