George Gusman, HHSAA Football Officials Coordinator
The job of
refereeing an athletic competition can be challenging. The decisions which a
referee may make in a typical game are many. Most referee calls are standard;
however, a few may be subject to second-guessing. Nevertheless, the major
objective of refereeing is to be fair says George Gusman, Hawaii High School
Athletic Association Football Coordinator of Officiating.
Gusman, who
works as a referee for major college games on the mainland, was recently
appointed this position to ensure fairness by the referees and safety on behalf
of the athletes during the state tournament games.
“I don’t
know of any official who doesn’t want to make sure that a game that they are
involved with is played fairly,” Gusman said. “We want everyone to be treated
the same and to ensure that no one take advantage of the rules.”
Gusman
revealed that football rules can be confusing at times for the fans.
“With all of
the technology today, fans get a chance to see a lot of football and begin to
form lots of opinions about what they are seeing,” Gusman said. “Basically
there are three levels of football (high school, college and professional) and
each level have different rules. Many times some fans don’t understand the
differences and get upset when a ruling is made. But despite this notion, the
refereeing is based upon fairness and the vast majority of time a referee call
is correct.”
Gusman has
plenty of experience manning the referee position.
“I started
40 years ago refereeing for the Oahu Interscholastic Association. Now I regularly
travel throughout the mainland refereeing at college games.”
During the college
football season Gusman travels thousands of miles leaving the Hawaiian Islands
on Thursday and returning Sunday.
“It’s very
exciting every week. I’ve gone to places I never dreamed I would have a chance
to go when I first started out doing this. At a typical Saturday game there may
be 80,000 to 90,000 people watching me. So I know when I step on that field I
have to get calls right,” Gusman said.
“There’s
pressure, but I feel if I am prepared than I will make good judgments,” Gusman
added.
Gusman says
part of that preparation includes making sure that he gets enough rest during
the days before a game, staying physical fit, and staying abreast of the rules.
“Most
officials of college football start preparing in June for the season. We have
training sessions, watch films of past games, and rehearse game situations,”
Gusman said.
“Although
refereeing can be fun for the officials, we want to make certain that every
participant on the field have an equal opportunity at the decisions that we
make,” Gusman insisted.