The Old Boy Network (Referee Mag.)

[hooper]

Seems to me, based on my experience in the corporate world, that there are always good old boys clubs. They are not necessarily formal, they do not gather to smoke in a back room, they do not acknowledge or see themselves as good old boys, but they do promote their buddies, hire others who are similar to them, invite each other to social events - at the exclusion of "others" - and look to each other for advancement opportunities. I can't imagine it's any different in the refereeing world.

And although we'd all like to believe that everything is merit based and that we've all earned our positions, I think we know that some percentage of our success (or lack of success) is based on our gender, who we know, and how much the boss can relate to us.