Give the referees a break

I haven't been afraid to share my feelings about the conduct of adults at youth sporting events, particularly in the wrestling world. So, it probably comes as no surprise to hear me say that I'm becoming increasingly upset with the way people treat referees at wrestling tournaments.

Yesterday was an important day for high school wrestlers in Wisconsin because it was the first round of the state tournament qualifying tournaments. My father is a wrestling referee - he's pretty good, too - and he spent the entire day at a local regional tournament. Fortunately, he has watched an abundance of high level wrestling, so he has a keen eye for what is taking place on the mat. I believe this separates him from other referees in the area as he's consistently near the top of Wisconsin's ref-rankings. Still, he can't keep from telling me how awful coaches and parents treat him at dual meets and tournaments. He has horror stories nearly every time he takes the mat.

I can't help but wonder how much better the sport of wrestling would be if coaches spend as much energy focusing on their athletes as they do on the referee. What if the coaches instantly took responsibility for how their athletes competed? The entire culture of the sport would be positively influenced if athletes and coaches held themselves accountable at all times, instead of "blaming" the referee for their short comings.

I could go on and on and share numerous stories of how coaches, parents and athletes have acted out-of-line towards a referee, but I'm not going to take the time. Instead, I will raise the expectations of every wrestling fan reading this blog entry to treat referees kindly.

We are in need of referees at every level in every sport right now. One referee who worked with my dad claimed he will never referee a wrestling match again because of the way he was treated yesterday. How can this actually happen? If we care about our sport, no one should walk away from it because of bad experiences - referees included.

I've seen my fair share of bad calls, missed calls and no calls. And I've acted in a unsportsmanlike way towards a referee, so I can identify with everyone who thinks they have a right to be upset. However, the truth is you don't have the right to disrespect another human being and you never have the right to be an obscene jerk.

Once again, this is a classic case of wrestling people being bad for wrestling. I maintain that administrations, budget cuts, Title IX and all of the other excuses pale in comparison to the harm caused to the sport of wrestling by wrestling coaches and parents. We continue to undermine the development and growth of the sport by selfishly chasing away quality referees while discouraging anyone new from wanting to blow the whistle at all.