Lacrosse Referee
My attempt towards a referee is an arduous but valuable progress during my highschool years.
There are many abilities required for a referee. When I first learned how to judge, I thought that all I had to do was just be familiar with the rules and impose appropriate penalties on the players. However, after digging further, I learned that the role of referees is fundamentally to facilitate the proceedings of the game. Referees thus do their best to prevent overheating of the game, prevent division among players, and increase the fun of watching it. Their abilities include adjusting the level of strictness of fouls appropriately and responding smoothly to complaints from players. That is what requires a referee to "put themself in the players' shoes."
For someone with little experience in sports, it was even harder for me to grasp. I understood why the players were excited, why they sweated, and why they ran as if every goal was a matter of life and death, but it didn’t resonate with me emotionally. My head referee said all of this was "rewarding," but after just a few tryouts, I couldn’t feel it.
Then, one day, tensions flared between a foreign player and the head referee, causing a delay in the game. I stepped in and mediated the misunderstanding in English. It wasn’t a big role, just clearing up one issue. But because of me, the game moved forward smoothly again. When the players lined up after the game, I saw tired and frustrated faces—but also a sense of satisfaction from playing a good match. At that moment, I finally understood this was a "rewarding" experience—and that my role was indeed important.
Once I recognized the importance of my role, I began to understand the players' roles as well. Their roles were slightly different from ours, but ultimately, we shared the same goal: to create a game that everyone could enjoy. Not just for the audience, not just for the players, but for a game that leaves no regrets. That's when sportsmanship hit me in its truest, most powerful form.
Training as a referee is still hard. I still don't know how to convince players on the field, and that sometimes makes me hesitate blowing my whistle during matches. Nevertheless, I'm blowing my whistle again today hoping I can get to know them better in the future.