Can you imagine what it was like to be one of the referees after the conclusion of the Skyridge-Pleasant Grove high school football game on Oct. 6?

You’d just worked for nearly three hours in the overtime contest, doing the best you could to enforce the rules of the game to ensure athletes on both teams could play a fair game.

Yet as you left the field after the Viking victory, things started getting ugly.

Some disappointed Falcon fans started taking out their frustrations by throwing water bottles at you, something that would be hard to evade given the volatile and unpredictable nature of such crowd situations.

To get away from that situation, Skyridge officials attempted to get you inside the high school at its nearest point, which was different from the normal route.

In the ensuing confusion with people milling about, someone in the crowd saw an opportunity and punched you in the back near the neck.

Would it make you question your decision to take on the vital but oft-maligned task of wearing the stripes?

That was the alleged situation that those referees had to deal with last week, attacks that all rational individuals should condemn.

Authorities are investigating with the help of cell-phone videos and witness accounts, although no charges have been made at this point.

But, unfortunately, it’s not the first time that such despicable and dangerous actions have happened at high school games and it likely won’t be the last.

Jeff Cluff, associate director for the Utah High School Activities Association, happened to be at the Skyridge game and worked quickly to address the situation.

He credited the school for being responsive and cooperative, as has Alpine School District.

But the Utah High School Football Officials Association also took the situation seriously, to the point that they sent a letter to Cluff and the UHSAA earlier this week in response.

“It said they would no longer work Skyridge High School games until the problem was solved and they felt safe with their plan and their exit strategy and everything else,” Cluff said.

Cluff explained that all the parties involved got together this week to work out a plan to ensure the safety of officials.

“The plan that we came up with was that Skyridge High School would have four uniformed police officers along with an administrator or principal or athletic director with the officials before, after, and during the game,” Cluff said. “They also changed where the referees will go and a few other logistical details. That’s their plan moving forward and the school was very responsive.”

While hopefully that will limit the risk at any future Falcon football games, Cluff was quick to point out that a similar situation could happen anywhere.

“It has happened to one degree or another,” Cluff said. “The physical contact is rare, but the verbal abuse is not. We will continue to try to address it and create a heightened awareness about what we need to do to put protocols in place to protect our officials.”

But actions by schools, districts and the UHSAA can only go so far to address the bigger issue which is unacceptable behavior by attendees at these events.

The official presence of police and school administrators dwarfs in comparison to the number of spectators at most events, which means their ability to prevent officials (or players, coaches and other fans) from being in danger is limited.

“It creates a lot of vulnerability and, from an efficiency standpoint, it’s a problem,” Cluff said. “That’s a problem in Utah. It’s a problem everywhere.”

He said that the National Association of Sports Officials just did an enormous study of 32,000 referees.

“It showed that one of the major reasons why people leave the profession is because of safety,” Cluff said. “And it continues to escalate. We as an association will continue to work with our member schools to create policies and sportsmanship handbooks that will address issues and hopefully give our schools the tools that they need to be most effective in these in these scenarios.”

But the only way to truly ensure the safety of the women and men who referee is for fans to push themselves and those around them to act with more dignity, respect and common sense.

Cluff talked about the extensive marketing campaigns that have been deployed at both the state and national levels to encourage better sportsmanship

“If you go to our website right now (http://UHSAA.org), it says, ‘Fans respect officials, protect high school sports and bench bad behavior,'” Cluff said. “That’s the most recent campaign piece we’ve got going and we are all constantly posting it on our social media and other places.”

The goal is for everyone to keep things in perspective and realize the abusive words or violent actions never have a place in sports, particularly at the high school level.

“The bottom line is everyone needs to look within themselves and realize it is just a game,” Cluff said.

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