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Coaches insist they're colorblind when performing second job
By Bill Knust
One of the most dangerous situations any coach who officiates is put in is having a relationship of any kind with someone that coach is officiating.
Whether that be officiating a game that involves the school the coach works at, or officiating a wrestling match that involves coaches that coach has known all his life, the best thing an official can do is focus and have the peace of mind to know that he is being objective enough to get the job done.
Oak Park High volleyball coach Ken Corum also officiates basketball and club volleyball. While he has never officiated a varsity basketball game involving Oak Park, he has done a few junior varsity or lower level games.
“At the varsity level I request not to have any Northland schools in general,” Corum said. “They accommodate that. So I do a lot of Blue Springs and Lee Summit games, games that don’t involve Oak Park for the most part.”
Mike Fallein coached Kearney High wrestling from 1997 to 2002, and has been officiating since. He’s been to state the last two years. He does not officiate for Kearney in the postseason, but has no problem working regular-season contests.
“As for controversy, there’s zero to me,” Fallein said. “It doesn’t bother me in the least, and it’s never bothered the Kearney coaches. When I’m on the mat, I don’t care about the color of the uniforms. I see two competitors.”
Kearney High assistant football coach and former tennis coach Shawn Gadberry is one of the top officials in the area. He has officiated playoff basketball games the past eight years. He is not shy about officiating any school other than Kearney.
“I just think it’s best for me to stay away from Kearney games,” Gadberry said. “I could do Kearney games, but I choose not to. Since I teach some of the kids and coach some of them in different sports, I just don’t want to put the school or myself in a compromised situation. I don’t want there to be a conflict of interest.
“As for the other schools in the conference, that doesn’t bother me. I don’t care who the teams are or what colors they’re wearing. I just go out there and officiate the game to the best of my ability.”
Staley wrestling coach Gary Mayabb has to deal with conflicts of interest on a completely different level. Due to his affiliation with USA Wrestling and being an NCAA official, Mayabb works with a lot of the same people, but in different situations depending on the time of the year.
“My biggest problem sometimes is just wearing too many hats. Right now I am (at the U.S. Training Center in Colorado Springs) with two coaches who I will officiate for. I had breakfast this morning with an athlete I refereed a year ago, and sat down and talked about the match with him.”
The best thing he can do is make the situation as professional as possible.
“Wherever I can draw lines I draw lines,” Mayabb said. “They know when we are at the NCAAs we are not supposed to fraternize with the coaches, stop and talk to them or things like that, but many of these guys are your friends. On those weekends though we aren’t friends, and I think the coaches want it that way, too.”
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Whether that be officiating a game that involves the school the coach works at, or officiating a wrestling match that involves coaches that coach has known all his life, the best thing an official can do is focus and have the peace of mind to know that he is being objective enough to get the job done.
Oak Park High volleyball coach Ken Corum also officiates basketball and club volleyball. While he has never officiated a varsity basketball game involving Oak Park, he has done a few junior varsity or lower level games.
“At the varsity level I request not to have any Northland schools in general,” Corum said. “They accommodate that. So I do a lot of Blue Springs and Lee Summit games, games that don’t involve Oak Park for the most part.”
Mike Fallein coached Kearney High wrestling from 1997 to 2002, and has been officiating since. He’s been to state the last two years. He does not officiate for Kearney in the postseason, but has no problem working regular-season contests.
“As for controversy, there’s zero to me,” Fallein said. “It doesn’t bother me in the least, and it’s never bothered the Kearney coaches. When I’m on the mat, I don’t care about the color of the uniforms. I see two competitors.”
Kearney High assistant football coach and former tennis coach Shawn Gadberry is one of the top officials in the area. He has officiated playoff basketball games the past eight years. He is not shy about officiating any school other than Kearney.
“I just think it’s best for me to stay away from Kearney games,” Gadberry said. “I could do Kearney games, but I choose not to. Since I teach some of the kids and coach some of them in different sports, I just don’t want to put the school or myself in a compromised situation. I don’t want there to be a conflict of interest.
“As for the other schools in the conference, that doesn’t bother me. I don’t care who the teams are or what colors they’re wearing. I just go out there and officiate the game to the best of my ability.”
Staley wrestling coach Gary Mayabb has to deal with conflicts of interest on a completely different level. Due to his affiliation with USA Wrestling and being an NCAA official, Mayabb works with a lot of the same people, but in different situations depending on the time of the year.
“My biggest problem sometimes is just wearing too many hats. Right now I am (at the U.S. Training Center in Colorado Springs) with two coaches who I will officiate for. I had breakfast this morning with an athlete I refereed a year ago, and sat down and talked about the match with him.”
The best thing he can do is make the situation as professional as possible.
“Wherever I can draw lines I draw lines,” Mayabb said. “They know when we are at the NCAAs we are not supposed to fraternize with the coaches, stop and talk to them or things like that, but many of these guys are your friends. On those weekends though we aren’t friends, and I think the coaches want it that way, too.”