Recruits Facing a Rough Crowd

Recruiting new high school sports officials is one challenge, retaining them seems to be another.

Poor sportsmanship by participants and fans is the primary reason 60% of rookie high school officials do not return for a second year of working Southern Section games, a consultant for the federation said.

During the fall and winter seasons of this school year, 1,104 incident reports -- including 483 from soccer games -- were filed to the Southern Section, a statistic section Commissioner Jim Staunton called “extraordinary.”

Some were routine ejections for flagrant fouls or minor incidents. But others were part of what seems to be a trend toward physical attacks on officials.

Staunton said violence was “a sign that we’ve got a lot of people who are unable to control themselves and who show very little regard for authority. It scares me.”

Among the incidents:

* An official who worked a girls’ water polo game between San Gorgonio and San Bernardino afterward was allegedly punched in the face by a fan, sending him to the hospital.

* During a boys’ soccer playoff game between Apple Valley Granite Hills and Fountain Valley Los Amigos, an official was shoved in the chest by a player who had been ejected for directing vulgarity at an opponent.

* A boys’ soccer tournament semifinal game between Long Beach Millikan and Long Beach Wilson was stopped with time left on the clock after a melee involving the teams escalated to include fans. The championship game was canceled and two Millikan players were arrested and recommended for a juvenile diversion program in connection with the incident.

* Officials who had worked a South Torrance-Redondo Beach football game were confronted in their dressing room afterward and berated by a player who had been ejected for kicking an opponent.

* A coach from Fullerton Eastside Christian bumped an official during an argument over what the coach thought should have been a penalty.

Experts say most problems arise in big games or rivalries, when emotions are already running high among players, coaches and fans.

“We don’t care who wins or loses,” said Barry Mano, president of the National Assn. of Sports Officials. “Though there are a lot of people who think otherwise.”

Staunton said school administrators, citing tight budgets and staffing problems, have balked at his suggestions for more supervision at games. Stiffer penalties for ejections might also help, he said.

Southern Section rules call for a one-game suspension for any coach or player who is ejected. In the Los Angeles City Section, any team whose coach is ejected automatically forfeits that game. And in some City sports a player who is ejected from more than one game can be suspended for the rest of a season.

Altercations with spectators are tougher to govern and control.

“You’re out there wearing a striped shirt and you’re a target,” Mano said. “We need to be very wary, very aware, of everything going on around us.”

Nic Simental, the water polo official who said he was punched by a fan, said he feels fortunate in some respects.

“I was thinking, ‘Thank God I didn’t get stabbed or shot,’ ” he said.

The man accused of hitting him was arrested and is awaiting trial, but Simental still doesn’t feel safe.

“I feel like fans and even the schools think, ‘It’s over. It was a one-time thing. It’ll never happen again,’ ” he said. “But you know what? I don’t feel that way.”