Silsbee/HJ referee fiasco

[AggiesAreWe]

This is the info I have gathered regarding the situation with officials for the Silsbee/HJ varsity and sub varsity games.

Coach Travis Williams of Silsbee and Coach Todd Sutherland of Hardin-Jefferson contacted the Beaumont Chapter of Officials two weeks prior to the game to notify them that Travis had a scratch for the game at HJ and Todd had a scratch for the game at Silsbee. The scratches were turned in and several days later the chapter came back with a list of only FOUR officials that Silsbee and HJ could choose from, NONE of which either coach felt comfortable having in a game of that magnitude.  So both coaches informed the chapter that the choices given were not acceptable for this game.  Both coaches presented a list of officials they would agree on (a list that was 10 deep).....the chapter said none were available.  Basically, the chapter refused to move the ten requested out of other games.  Moving officials around happens all the time.  I mean all you have to do is look at how they are handling the situation with the two injured refs, they are having to move officials around for their games and they are doing it w/o a problem and not notifying anyone in the process.  Once Coach Williams and Coach Sutherland were told that they couldn't have any of the officials requested, both coaches told them they would go to UIL for officials. Both schools waited 24 hours after telling the chapter before they decided to go with the UIL, just to give the chapter a chance to change their mind. The chapter didn't change their mind so therefore they went with the UIL.  Both teams wanted to use Beaumont and have used Beaumont for EVERY district level game between the two teams up to this point.  So after they went UIL.....suddenly the 9th/JV fallout happened.  Coincidence??? I think not.

I found out from both HJ and Silsbee coaches that Coach Williams got a call from the underlevel assigner of the Bmt. Chapter around 10am Friday morning and was asked "who was calling your game for tonight" and Travis told her they were officials from the SFA chapter. She said "okay" and that was the end of the conversation. Then suddenly they don't have underlevel officials as of 3:30 pm. So it now looks pretty obvious that it was done on purpose.

Also, Roy Washington was supposed to call that game. He tore his ACL in the HJ / Kountze game at the beginning of the year. NO ONE in the chapter serving area has been notified of his season ending injury and they just put someone else in his place without notifying the coaches of who it will be. Still even when they were called about the scratches about this game, no one informed anyone about Roy Washington being out for the year......same thing has happened to Jon Jones and he is supposed to call the HF @ OF game next Friday night........No one has notified HJ or Orangefield of him not being able to do the game.

This to me shows a big lack of communication between the chapter and the area coaches. Also it shows that the leadership in the chapter are not doing their jobs. I have learned from my investigation that the sub level games(9th and JV) are filled by a sign up sheet. How can that possibly work? If you don't have enough to sign up, what happens then? To me, it should be on a merit system that requires you to do sub varsity games to enable you to get varsity games. Those officials should be appointed those underlevel games until they have worked their way up the ladder. As for the varsity games, particularly this one in question, the chapter could have moved some officials to do this game. A list of 10 was provided yet the chapter couldn't or "wouldn't" move any around to accommodate. After Silsbee and HJ both decided to go with the UIL, it looks as though the Beaumont chapter decided to not send any officials to do the sub varsity games. This looks to have been done out of spite.

The Beaumont Chapter looks to be ran in a clique. If you are not in it, you are not accommodated.

[Bobcat1]

I had no idea about Mr. Washington's ACL I have known him since I was born!  That really sucks because he is one of the best.

[KFDM COOP]

Happens sometimes in football to. Chad knows more than me with the officiating deal. I do know some coaches in football that use other Chapters, when they do the Beaumont Chapter sometimes says "well you don't use us for Varsity, then you don't get us for Sub-Varsity".

[Bobcat1]

This is just for thought...

Say Orangefield and WOS did they same thing because to WOS and OF their game is more important then what happens in the Silsbee HJ game...Not saying the Silsbee/HJ game wasn't important but you know what I mean...Also the what if Ozen scratched different refs...Or Central/LCM...It can't all be about the Silsbee/HJ game AS IMPORTANT as it is... There were also other games going on that night.

Please do not get this wrong, I think the Silsbee/HJ game was an important game...

Goodbye Karma..

[AggiesAreWe]

This is just for thought...

Say Orangefield and WOS did they same thing because to WOS and OF their game is more important then what happens in the Silsbee HJ game...Not saying the Silsbee/HJ game wasn't important but you know what I mean...Also the what if Ozen scratched different refs...Or Central/LCM...It can't all be about the Silsbee/HJ game AS IMPORTANT as it is... There were also other games going on that night.

Please do not get this wrong, I think the Silsbee/HJ game was an important game...

Goodbye Karma..

No offense taken, Bobcat05. I totally understand your questions, they are legit. But from what I gathered, these two schools tried to get their refs two weeks prior and was put on hold. To me it is very suspicious.

[Bobcat1]

Ok, I didn't know the 2 week thing. That does seem very odd.

[AggiesAreWe]

Ok, I didn't know the 2 week thing. That does seem very odd.

I talk about it in that first paragraph of my post.

[Bobcat1]

I thought that was just for the scratches not the list of 10..

[bullets13]

for the rematch, use the UIL again.  have the sub-varsity games reffed by sutherland and williams.  we want our head coaches in good shape!

seriously, though, thanks for the good info AAW.  this defintely sounds like something that needs to be addressed.  can the UIL look into the situation, or is the beaumont chapter able to do pretty much whatever they want?

[Guest nostradamus]

This is just for thought...

Say Orangefield and WOS did they same thing because to WOS and OF their game is more important then what happens in the Silsbee HJ game...Not saying the Silsbee/HJ game wasn't important but you know what I mean...Also the what if Ozen scratched different refs...Or Central/LCM...It can't all be about the Silsbee/HJ game AS IMPORTANT as it is... There were also other games going on that night.

Please do not get this wrong, I think the Silsbee/HJ game was an important game...

Goodbye Karma..

Something else to take into consideration is that while every coach considers their game important, not every game provided the same type of atmosphere as the HJ/Silsbee game.  In fact, I bet you would be hard pressed to find a game that put that many people in that small of a space.  There are a lot of good officials in the chapter but, not many can handle/manage that type of atmosphere.  That is taken into high consideration when it comes to these type of games.  The three officials that came from the SFA chapter have all called college ball.  When the small scuffle broke out the officials handled it like champs and did exactly what should have been done.  Knowing what to do came from being in that type of environment many many times.

[AggiesAreWe]

I want to add, that in all fairness, I would like someone from the chapter to post their side of the story or contact me with their information.

[HoopInsider_Cooper]

It's coming

[Lazeek]

It's coming

like the top 25 player rankings?