familiarity breeds contempt

[9redskin4]

I can see some of your pain. It is often very difficult to officiate in small communities where you know most people. I live in a geographic area of AZ that has several small communities close together. Most people know each other, especially those involved in groups, like athletics. I had a similar situation but handled it a little differently. I was doing a Jr. High football game and it seemed to me that things went fine. The following day I got an anonymous phone call from someone telling me about a person from the visiting school. This person was the AD at the neighboring HS but had a son playing in the JH. Evidently, after the game he was talking on his cell phone and said some things that questioned my integrity, and basically said I was cheating. Remember, this person is an AD of a HS that is governed by the AIA (Arizona Interscholastic Association) and former official that is also governed by the AIA. This happened over a JH game that is not governed by the AIA. Anyway, after getting the information I immediately fired off an email asking this person to give me his side of the story (I always want to get the facts before working with rumors). In his response, he admitted to saying the things he had said the questioned my character. That is as far as I went with him. I forwarded the email to my AIA commisioner and let him handle the situation. I have been assigned to do games for that AD since and things have been professional. What is important to remember here is that when emotions get involved (friendships) it is better to step back and let an outside party handle the problems.