Clearing Hurdles

The 100-meter hurdle race is set up with 13 meters from starting line to first hurdle; each hurdle is set at a distance of 8.5 meters apart for a total of 10 hurdles. The home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line is 10.5 meters long.

Steve Baron, Referee Big 12, shared with our crew that the football season is like a 100-meter hurdle race, and each week of the season is another hurdle. Officials/crews come out of the blocks and gain speed in the first third of the race or season. We establish a rhythm and hit our stride in the middle third and push hard to finish strong in the final third. In any race, the start is important. But, just as critical is how we handle each hurdle. For officials, our hurdles are a game, a call, our health, or any situation that could harm us from clearing the hurdle and heading to the next one. Most weeks, we clear these hurdles with no issues. But, when we stumble or even fall over a hurdle or two, do we keep moving or just give up?

At this point in the season, we are transitioning to the last third of our 100-meter race. So far, we have cleared several hurdles and are now heading to the last hurdles and the home stretch. This is the time to push hard, to lean in, and to finish strong! We can’t lose focus on the hurdles ahead, being careful to take one hurdle at a time and bringing all our momentum and all that we've learned from the previous weeks and applying it to our next assignment. Worry about next week, next week; the focus is this week’s game, or the imminent hurdle, right in front of us.

With your help I can advance against a troop, with my God I can scale a wall.  (Psalm 18:29)

 

In this verse, the psalmist recognizes that when facing “hurdles,” we need help. The key word in this verse is ‘my’ – it’s with my God. Our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father through Jesus helps to lead and guide our thoughts and decisions.  Extend this concept to our officiating crews.  We can clear hurdles and scale walls with “my crew.”  When crews lean on each other, they gain greater strength together as opposed to just relying on each one’s individual abilities.

“When you are prepared for the threats, challenges, obstacles, you become better equipped to handle the hurdles.”
― Carlos Wallace

Let’s clear our hurdles better than these athletes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXPBRw53CA8

Let’s be smooth like the winner of this race:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeKjh9wUzwY

 

Calming Insults

Why do coaches, commentators, and fans spew insults at officials?  For coaches, maybe it’s a way of making them feel better about a situation or even to get an official to do or act in a way that favors their team.  For commentators, it attracts attention to their broadcast and social media which increases ratings.  For fans, well, they are just fanatics and obviously biased to their team!

The Bible’s Old and New Testaments provides direction on how to handle those who discredit or defame you.  Let’s look at some of the verses that speak to how to handle insults:

Psalm 37: 11: The meek will inherit the land.

Proverbs 12:16:  Fools show their annoyance at once, but the prudent overlook an insult.

Matthew 5:5:  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:39:  But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.

These verses instruct us on how to handle insults:

Be meek:  be humble, patient, and quiet in nature, especially when provoked by others

Be forgiving: don’t seek revenge or return evil for evil

Be prudent: make wise and sensible decisions

In addition to insults, officiating can also be full of irritations, such as travel issues, players not being properly equipped or dressed, coaches complaining or whining about fouls, fans shouting their displeasure, and even fellow crewmates and officials not being prepared or focused.  If we are foolish, we will respond to these irritations immediately and with regret.  But if we are meek, forgiving, and prudent in our response, the bothersome situations will be better handled leading to a peaceful outcome.

When I look back on my knee-jerk reactions now, I realize I should have just taken a breath.  Fred Durst

Start Again and Again and Again

Life is filled with series of breakthroughs –a sudden or important development or an instance of achieving success.  As officials, our breakthroughs come in the form of getting our first start at the college level, being assigned a certain game or post-season assignment, and or moving up to the next level we are seeking.  But when considering the games we officiate weekly, each play should be viewed as a breakthrough—a process of successfully finishing the play and being ready to start the next one.

What is the result of our breakthroughs in officiating? —wisdom, knowledge, and perspective.  Simply put---we learn.  Sometimes the lessons learned are easy and other times they are hard.  If not careful, we can allow the hard lessons to become obstacles. Examples include incorrect calls, wrong mechanics, and poor communication.  So how do we overcome these obstacles?  Start again! But realize that we can also allow success to become an obstacle that needs a breakthrough.  Obstacles from success include complacency, pride, over-confidence, etc.  How do we move on from success? Start again!

The reality is obstacles do not go away.  We never enter the land of “no obstacles.”  So, keeping ourselves moving forward –starting again – each play, each game is critical to our breakthroughs. 

Exodus 14: 15  And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.

The Lord led Moses and the Israelites out of their desperate situation in Egypt. During their escape, they were at the Red Sea and had the enemy coming straight for them.  What was the obstacle they saw in their way?  The wideness and deepness of the Red Sea.  Moses prayed to God who answered, “move forward”.  How did they move forward?  Moses obeyed God by putting his staff in the Red Sea resulting in God parting the water, allowing Moses and the Israelites to cross the sea and enter the land God promised, all while the enemy was swallowed by the sea.

What is often seen as an obstacle in our way is actually our breakthrough.  We must keep moving-starting again, and again, and again.

March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life's path.   Kahlil Gibran

Steady & Ready

When the crowd is booing, coaches are yelling, and players are complaining, how do we officials respond?  Sometimes, coaches try to intimidate, rattle, and pressure us into making decisions before we are ready in hopes we will think and act for their benefit instead of in the best interest of all parties involved.

So as officials responsible for administrating the game, how do we best handle the challenging situations of stress and surprises? In high pressure situations, we officials need to exhibit two key attributes to smoothly transition through the situations—grace and poise resulting in calm, steady nerves.

Grace and poise are defined as follows:

Grace:  disposition to or an act or instance of kindness and courtesy

Poise: a stable balanced state; gracious tact in coping or handling

When we are able to calm our nerves in stressful situations, we exhibit an attitude of kindness while being level-headed in our decision making and communication. This is a win for all parties involved on the field!

Proverbs 19:11 ESV

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

Solomon, the author of Proverbs and noted in Bible as the wisest king, provides the framework to show discretion—the ability to know the right action for any occasion—having good sense and slow to anger. In a state of calm nerves, we exhibit grace and poise which increases our discretion and reaction.  In situations where we throw our flag, the Referee announces the foul, the crowd starts booing, and coaches start questioning the call from the sideline, our grace and our poise allows us to have a better mindset to address the coach and build rapport and respect while moving onto the next play.

You can’t always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.” – Wayne Dyer