Although the focus is on the players, there are others in the spotlight at this week’s NJCAA Division II Men’s National Basketball Tournament in Danville. They are the officials – fifteen men in striped shirts – who are working the games.
David Warfel is the Supervisor of Officials for the tournament. He says most of them dream of working games at the Division One level….
{AUDIO: ‘’Most of them are working JUCO Basketball, or Division Two Basketball. I would say about half the guys at this year’s tournament are working at least some Division One Basketball – just in the early stages of their careers.’’}
Officials selected for the tournament in Danville are from six states – Illinois, Indiana, Arkansas, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Georgia. Warfel notes they usually have a busy schedule, but things have been different this past year because of the COVID-19 pandemic…
{‘’In a normal year most of these guys will work four or five nights a week. So it takes physical – the travel, everything is wearing as much as the games, too. Because most of them aren’t close to home and they spend a lot of hours in the car, in a plane, or on the road.’’}
And for those fans who like to yell at the refs during the games, Warfel says chances of them being heard are slim…
{AUDIO: ‘’You’ve got to tune all that out. You know, actually, when I officiate I always said it was two hours of peace because you could block out the total world and concentrate. If you’ve got good concentration than you don’t notice it near as much as people would like to think,’’ said Warfel during an interview with VermilionCountyFirst.com News.
‘’It’s one of those things that gets in your blood,’’ added Warfel. ‘’You’ve got to want to do it. You’ve got to love the game to really be good, I believe.’’ He also says the role the officials play is major – and adds to how well the tournament goes.
