Referees earning their stripes

Relaxing behind the Chrysler Sebring he uses as a rolling locker room, first-year football official Zeke Klancir confidently explained why he brought back a touchdown that occurred over there by penalizing a block in the back that occurred over here.

"It was so obvious, everyone's going to see it, so then you're going to cause people to question your judgment," the 59-year-old rookie said after the freshman game between Lisle and Sandwich.

"You can't have them do that."

A lot of people reserve their beloved ticket-buying right to question officials' judgment.

Some use so much venom it drives officials right out of the sport -- if, in some cases, an inexperienced official's own incompetence or uncertainty doesn't do it first.

Providing new football officials with the training necessary to quickly make fair, reasoned decisions -- helping shore up numbers and an aging base -- is the goal of the football officiating training classes offered by the Inter-Association Council of Athletic Officials. IACAO is an umbrella organization of 14 local groups representing about a third of Illinois' officials spanning several sports.

Like pumpkins, seeds sown in the summer sprout in the fall on football fields throughout the suburbs, though seasoning usually is required before fresh grads move to Friday night lights from Monday afternoon frosh.

You don't want your average lawyer or IT salesman or flooring company owner -- like Klancir -- as back judge Week 9, Naperville North vs. Wheaton Warrenville South.

"My experience is, the first year it's pretty rough," said Klancir, a Winfield man out of Hinsdale Township's Class of '66 who has officiated either underclass games or youth leagues every week since the eight-week IACAO classes concluded five days before the prep season began.

It gets better, though. He enjoys it and vows to return. That's music to the ears of Jay Lyons.

His solid physique and eager disposition familiar after 33 years as a football official, Lyons, a Wheaton resident, is football assignment chairman for the West Suburban Conference.

"We would be lost without it," said Lyons, who gains up to 10 new officials annually from the class.

He refers those interested to the IACAO training class, which after a rocky start at Triton College has settled in nicely at Lisle Senior High. For the past two years classes have also been held at Bremen in Midlothian and Forest View Education Center in Arlington Heights.

A bumper crop

From this year's high of 57 new officials to a low of zero in 2002, 204 graduates have seen the field, with a retention rate of 68 percent.

That exceeds the state's mark of 61 percent and far surpasses the national rate of 33 percent, according to the USA Football statistic cited by IACAO class co-founder and 42-year official Joe Hall.

"We would be struggling," Lyons said, "especially the way the West Suburban has moved so much of their (underclass) football now to Saturday mornings. We wouldn't have enough bodies to cover the games."

According to the Illinois High School Association, as of July 12 there were 1,815 football officials. Of those, 738 were "registered," 230 "recognized" and 847 "certified."

Given a two-year minimum for promotion, the numbers indicate that if an official remains active five years he may be a lifer.

The way to keep an official, says Dave Gannaway, IHSA assistant executive director responsible for football and wrestling, is to reduce doubt.

Gannaway calls the IACAO process "one of the model programs."

"We feel that education is the key to having people enjoy what they do," said Gannaway, who attended the Aug. 20 graduation at Lisle.

"And I think that's what the IACAO clinic does so well with those beginning officials, just a tremendous job of making them feel comfortable, making them feel like they can do the job and feel competent in what they're doing."

To receive a license, most aspiring football officials contact the IHSA, pay their $40, study the rule book, score at least 85 percent on a test of 100 true-and-false questions and attend an approved clinic.

It's a dry read. Second-year official Jim Rogers of Glen Ellyn said it's "like a combination of legalese and Ten Commandments: A lot of 'thou shalt nots.' "

IACAO illustrates them over 16 hours of "classroom" instruction plus, this year, two optional yet highly recommended "mechanics" sessions where students apply the rules, signals and positioning on the field.

Aside from the graduation ceremony (all passed; as one man said, "You're going to score in the 90s unless you're sleeping in class") the course ended at the 36th annual IACAO Clinic at Hinsdale South, where the newbies worked in with established crews officiating live prep scrimmages.

The PowerPoint-based classes are taught by the likes of Hall, who alongside class co-founder Ed Stanley worked with the same crew for more than 700 games; and Jeff Conrad, the umpire in WW South's 2006 Class 8A championship win.

(At Lisle an advanced discussion group for third-year attendees, the "201" class, was led by Naperville's Octavio Herrera Jr., on the IHSA Athletic Officials Advisory Committee.)

Conrad spices mundane rules definitions with film clips that elicit lively discussion. A 19-year official in Indiana, Minnesota and Illinois, he uses humor to drive points home.

Sometimes it's wryly directed at coaches: "We don't care what the coaches think. They rarely do."

Mainly it's self-deprecating stuff.

"I actually have shown video clips of disastrous plays to show them that, guess what, we're human too," he said.

Conrad equated the knowledge gained from the IACAO curriculum -- organized by Laurie Jordan, one of the state's four female officials and football mom of former WW South players Andrew and Will Braga -- to his own experience after three years.

Giving back

It attracts all types, Jordan said, but with a common denominator.

"The biggest reason that I've heard is they want to give back," said Jordan, site manager of the Lisle class. Scott Stemple, a graduate of the old Wheaton-Warrenville High who has even umpired park district coed softball, was class manager at Bremen.

"Either their kids have played or they have younger kids coming up," Jordan said. "Or they had played. I have not heard anybody say they were in it for the money."

Rogers struggled on his own last season through "the school of hard knocks." He was referred to IACAO and breathes a little easier.

"I can get through 80 percent of a game without any turmoil or without anything blowing up in my face," he said.

Doug Andrews, who sent three daughters through Naperville North, was a veteran rugby official now in his second year in football. He took the 2006 course and again this summer as a refresher.

He worked 29 games last year from West Aurora to Oak Forest to Pontiac and is now doing some varsity games.

"It's a good teaching tool, to know all the quirkiness that comes in the game," Andrews said. "Most of that quirkiness comes in the kicking game. If it's going to go wrong, it's going to go wrong in the kicking game."

After his first underclass game, between Glenbard South and Glenbard West, Klancir, the first-year guy out of Winfield, said, yes, he made a couple mistakes.

"But I'm not going to admit them in print," he added.

He relented, saying one signal to stop the clock could have been interpreted as a touchdown. Yet the coaches had no issues, and he gained confidence.

Further into the season, after his game at line judge at Lisle, Klancir was hooked.

"Like they said during the class, 'repetition, repetition, repetition.'

"You can get more of a comfort level when you're out there. You're not so tentative, you're not afraid. You don't try to make mistakes, but you're not so hesitant on throwing a flag if it's not appropriate. You build up confidence.

"It gets nicer," he said. "I enjoy it, I really do."