So, you want to be a Referee

Written by

William (Bill) “Foxy” Fox

Why would someone want to become a referee? You are young and your parents think it is a promising idea for you to try it out. Your friends are also referees. You think you can help the game. Somebody you know asks you to try it as there is a shortage and real need for referees. Whatever the reason, here you are at your first referee clinic.

I started to referee in the early 1970s in the Toronto Beaches organization working house league games while also working the High School Box Lacrosse. A few seasons later I was the Referee-In-Chief for the High School League.

Your very first clinic covers the basics to get you started. There are rules to cover including old and any new rules for the upcoming season. There are Videos, PowerPoints, Rulebooks and a Test. You are officially certified to referee the season ahead. You have received a referee sweater, whistle, and other items. Contact information for the assignor in your area and list of tournaments available are in your hands.

Now what?

It is important for those first-year referees to contact your assignor and let them know your availability for the weeks, months, and year’s assignments. Show the assignor you are interested in working games.

There is a process that is in place to move onto bigger and better games. A development program allows feedback from local assignors to those Referee-In-Chiefs hosting tournaments to add outside referees to their staff. You get noticed by working hard each game out and once again you are invited to another tournament. Then there are provincial tournaments and the provincial Referee-In-Chief selects those from all over the province to attend the tournament. Being available, working hard and being a team player helps you to get to the next level.

It is never too late to get into the game. There is a referee shortage in most sports these days. I have seen youth referees stay with it for years and become remarkably successful. I have also witnessed those in their adult years get into the game and work their way up through the ranks to work provincial, national, and international games. One such individual is Frank Lawrence (inducted into the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2024 and Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2023). How Frank came into the game as a referee was by chance, he claims. Watching his son Doug Lawrence play in a game Frank might have been a little too vocal. The person in front of Frank (Glen Flippance) turned and said to him “You seem to know a lot about Lacrosse”, “There is a clinic coming up please come to it”. Frank took on the challenge and just look where it took him. Frank became not only one of the best Box and Field referees in the game but also a fantastic mentor for so many making their way into the game and to the next level.

A special thank you to Jim Price the father of modern-day Field Lacrosse Referees in Canada inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame 2022. Frank and I and so many others say thank you for everything you have done across Canada and around the world.

So, you are never too young or too old to step into the shoes of the Men in Black.

Where will it get you? 

It does get you the best seat in the house. It does allow you to stay in the game you love. It does give you some sort of satisfaction to move up levels through challenging work and being in the right place at the right time for that next big game. For many of us, making lifelong friends seeing the country and the world if you are fortunate enough. It will also unfortunately take you away from family and friends. You will miss birthdays, Mother’s Day, and many other functions when you get the call “we need you today for a game at the last minute.” That happens throughout your career as a referee. If you are lucky your family understands and accepts it. I was one of the lucky ones as my wife Angela son Brendan and daughter Katie understood “It’s what my dad does”.

How do you get better? 

Just like any player a referee needs good coaching. I was lucky here in Ontario to have the best coaches. Harry Benham (Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame 1996), John Herd (CLHOF 2011), Murray Taylor (CLHOF 2024), Mike Kaake in Box Lacrosse. Without those individuals helping me along the way I do not know where my career would have taken me. It was not just clinics it was the time spent on the road talking about the upcoming game and their experiences on the road and games they did in the past. Post game on the way back home it was life stories and more game talk.

How do you prepare?

A referee does not just show up and say to their partner “okay let’s go.” You need to be ready for the next game right after the last game you refereed.

Who are your partners? Where are we meeting to travel? Where is your next game? What teams are playing? What are the specific league rules? What are the off-floor officials like?

Off-floor officials are part of your crew. They are an especially important part of the crew. If the shot clock operator is not working out the way they are expected, the game can go downhill fast. The scorekeeper and timekeeper are a huge part of your crew. It was so nice to see those faces you could count on each game. It is just like working the floor with the same partner each game you know what you are getting. Having the best off-floor staff during your games is a huge relief. 

Do your homework. Each game an up-and-coming referee should read one rule, practice one signal, cover one Referee mechanic either pregame in-game or post-game. By the season’s end you will have covered most of the rulebook.

Travel 

Local games are easy to cover as you are in and out and home. Away games depending on when the game is and where can be problematic. Leaving work early to at times make that 2-3-4-hour drive to cover a 2-hour game while expecting to be there 1 hour prior to the game and then decompress shower change and make the long drive home to do it all again the next night sometimes. Field Lacrosse is a different animal as you need to have an exceptionally large equipment bag with an overflow of items. You need those items to cover those spring and muddy days, those extremely hot and humid days and in the fall everything in your bag comes out and you put it on. Neoprene divers’ gloves to keep your hands warm along with Under Armor garments everything in your bag during freezing days.

If you are fortunate enough to make it to the next level, then travelling further distances comes into play. National, International and Professional games require time away from your family and friends and all those functions you only hear about after you come back home. Twenty seasons working in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League/National Lacrosse League meant a lot of travel all over North America. Working as a referee and playing Box and Field took me across the country. Working International games and World Championships and Professional Championships is something being right there amongst the best players in the world. It is not just the players that are the best, it is the other referees you are working with in those games. No matter what level you are covering you never stop learning your craft. Something will happen in a game that you have never seen before and at times it is not covered in the rulebook. You always need to expect the unexpected, to be prepared do your homework.

Silence is a referee killer as the players need to know where they stand. Referees need a pocket of catch phrases they should use all game long. “Play the ball, stay off the back, stick down, do not grab” and so on. If the draw player taking the face-off violates let them know why at your first convenience how they fouled as for many that is why they are on the team for their special skills.

Blow the whistle like you are going to break it.

Make your signals big and practice those at home.

Keep your chin up and look confident.

Yes, mistakes will happen, we all make them no matter what level of play you are doing. Lacrosse is a fast game of speed, finesse skill and controlled physical contact.

The rule is “if you see it, you will call it”.

Be a good friend and mentor to your partners each game. Do what you can to help them to move up to the next level. That was important to me as I wanted to give back the same way that those referees mentored me each game. I truly was incredibly lucky not only here in Canada but those in the USA who helped me. Roy Condon, Richard Tamberrino, Mike Ventura and more. Internationally Graham Lester and Jake Curran.  Thank you.

We became referees for many varied reasons, and I am happy I became one of them.

Editor’s Note:

Bill Fox officiated at all levels. He has refereed thousands of box and field lacrosse games in the minor, junior, senior and professional leagues across Canada, the United States and internationally.

Mr. Fox has been inducted into the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame (2021), the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2023) and the Ontario Lacrosse Hall of Fame (2024).  He was known for being a top-notch referee, mentor to countless young officials and a credit to the game of lacrosse. Without question, Bill Fox is regarded as one of the greatest officials to ever put on the stripes.