With a straight face, senior Julius Brown raised his hand and asked, “Did you ever referee Carmelo Anthony, and did he ever get on your nerves?”
A chuckle broke out inside Coach Eule Ford’s Team Sports Officiating class Wednesday morning at Shoemaker High School, where former NBA official Gary Zielinski spoke to 25 students about his career, offered insights into the profession and encouraged those in attendance to get involved.
“We are the integrity of the sport,” shared Zielinski, who officiated more than 1,000 NBA regular-season games, plus 18 playoff contests during an 18-year career.
Now retired, Zielinski serves in the NBA Referee Operations Department as Youth & Amateur Officiating Development Lead, and was joined in Ford’s classroom by Robert Abney, the Education Outreach and Support Specialist for RefReps.
In the Team Sports Officiating course, which also is offered at Killeen High, students are taught the rules and regulations of various team sports, and guided through their development of communication skills, decision-making and conflict management. As a bonus, they can become a certified official by watching a series of modules and passing the corresponding quizzes through the RefReps program.
“The tests are pretty strenuous, so I want make sure the kids are prepared to go out and work as an official,” Ford said. “I go over the rules, talk about crowd management, making calls. We’ll put them in certain situations, and they will get some volunteer hours when they can meet officials and network and learn.”
This is the second year the class has been offered at Shoemaker, and Ford said a lot of consideration went into how to use the curriculum to create valuable, lasting opportunities for students that reach beyond the classroom.
“I thought, ‘What could I do to really get something more out of it, so it is more than just a P.E. class?,” Ford said. “The long-term goal, I want to get it to almost be like nursing school, where these kids can start working. And if they decide to go to college, they can be an official and help with those costs.”
Senior Jeanetta Turner said she initially registered for the course because she needed an extra class. But, after hearing Zielinski and Abney share what could come of an officiating career, Turner, whose favorite sport to watch is football, said her interest increased.
“It was interesting to learn about all that (Zielinski) had experienced,” she said.
“(Officiating) may be something I can do over time.”
Before introducing Zielinski, Abney –– a member of two local officiating chapters –– looked around the room and pointed out the significance to the students’ participation in the class.
“You are the next generation of sports officials,” he said. “We need new officials like you all. We need help.”
Zielinski echoed those thoughts before sharing his journey from youth basketball official on up to the NBA. He handed out a six-question quiz to highlight the importance of knowing the rules, demonstrated cues and signs to help enforce those rules, and also took questions.
Those inquiries were mostly about Zielinski’s run-ins with superstars and celebrities, andBrown had a few more curious inquests about certain pros, including one of his favorite players, Chris Paul.
Most students couldn’t believe their guest had multiple conversations with Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, had refereed games involving Shaquille O’Neal and Yao Ming, and was on the floor for the Golden State Warriors’ record-breaking 73rd win during the 2015-2016 season.
Zielinski explained, however, that his job and the responsibility of an official is not to make friends with the stars, but instead to enforce the rules.
“I don’t care who wins or loses. I just want to do the best that I can and get it right,” he said.
Zielinski also was asked if he loved officiating now as much as he did when he first started at the age of 11. The short answer was yes, and that he’d still be in the business if it weren’t for a series of injuries.
The passion that Zielinski and Abney exhibited is what Ford hopes is instilled in his students as they continue throughout the year.
“We have a lot of kids that like sports. Some of them might not be able to play or whatever, but they love the sport,” Ford said. “This is another way for them to be involved in sports and activity, and get something out of it. This is their chance to be part of the game.”
