By PETER MANCUSO
Many young sports fans dream of playing in the ‘big game’ – getting the game-winning hit in game seven of the World Series, throwing the Lombardi-clinching touchdown pass in the Super Bowl or draining the three-pointer in the NBA championship game to win the title. The likelihood of that happening, though, is very small. Fortunately, those aren’t the only opportunities to get into the ‘big game’ – be it professional sports or college athletics. All those contests have officials. Sometimes they are called umpires, referees or linesmen, or in some sports all three and they all are needed to make sure the games go on as scheduled.
The Greater Rochester area has a long history of successful officials in college and professional sports. A few prominent professional football officials are Bill Schuster (Livonia), Jimmy DeBell (Greece Arcadia) and Maia Chaka (Edison Tech). Schuster was a National Football League (NFL) official for 20 years and suited up for over 300 games, including Super Bowl XLIX on February 1, 2015 between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. DeBell appeared in 92 regular season NFL games over six seasons and Chaka has 32 NFL games to her credit and is finishing up her second NFL season. She is the first black woman hired by the NFL as an on-field official and the league’s third female on-field official after Shannon Eastin and Sarah Thomas. All of these officials worked many years in the high school and college ranks before officiating in the NFL.
“I started in 1982 by joining the RCCFO (Rochester Chapter of Certified Football Officials) after my co-worker (Frank Marafino) encouraged me to do so. I thought I wanted to be a coach but found officiating to be a much better way for me to stay involved in football,” recalled Schuster, a Livonia High School three-sport star. By 1988 he was officiating Division III football. “My goal was to get as high as I could in football officiating. When I had an opportunity to apply for college football, I went for it.” He started working Division I-AA games in 1994 and earned a spot in the Big East in 1998. Schuster’s NFL career started in 2000 and spanned 20 years. During that time, he also spent seven years officiating for NFL Europe.
In 2016, Schuster was hired by the Liberty League and Empire 8 Athletic Conference to be their supervisor of officials and he formed the Northeast Football Officiating Consortium (NEFOC) to service the leagues.
“I modeled the NEFOC after the NFL for training and mentoring and have assembled a great staff who care about helping officials improve.”
Many officials that have joined the NEFOC at the Division III Level have advanced to Division II, Division I and the NFL.
Schuster’s story is very similar to some other local football officials who have risen up the officiating ladder. Two other former RCCFO members earned prominent roles in Division I College Football Bowl games this season. Mark Kluczynski was the referee in the 2022 Holiday Bowl. He is on Schuster’s NEFOC staff as a position mentor specializing in referee training and grading. Jim Eckl (Greece Olympia) will be the umpire in the 2023 College Football National Championship game played Monday, January 9, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The game is expected to be viewed by more than 23 million people and will have over 70,000 people in attendance. But that isn’t the largest crowd Eckl has officiated in front as he was on the field for a national television prime time game between Notre Dame and Penn State in Happy Valley when more than 108,000 packed the stadium.
“I joined the RCCFO in 1984 and spent 14 years officiating high school in the Rochester area,” Eckl remarked. “The Rochester area does a very good job of training officials and it enables those interested and qualified to move on and work college games.”
Eckl is in his 24th year of college football officiating and has spent the last 11 working in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). He notes this year’s National Championship game as one of the highlights of his officiating career and also notes his first game this season was Notre Dame at Ohio State. Eckl has also been an official in three Outback Bowls, three ACC championship games, an Army-Navy contest, a National Semi-Final between Oklahoma and Alabama plus numerous rivalry games over the years.
“There is a lot of preparation that goes into being a successful official week after week. It starts almost immediately after the game when we review the fouls we called and continues during the week as we review our grades,” Eckl explained. “By mid-week we are scouting the teams for the upcoming week, reviewing tendencies and blocking schemes to prepare for the next game. Once we all arrive for the game we meet as a crew to make sure we are ready.
“I’m working with a great crew, five of the eight of us have been together for eight years. Great guys on the field and we enjoy each other’s company throughout the weekend.”
Eckl isn’t the only area official who was assigned a College Football National Championship Game.
Current RCCFO officials Dylan Hill, Tim Britton and Nick Tomidy were all chosen to officiate in the 2022 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl which is the Division III National Championship. Played on the grounds of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, North Central (Illinois) defeated Mount Union (Ohio) 28-21 on December 17, 2022.
Hill grew up in Hotchkiss, Colorado and attended Hastings College in Nebraska. Always a college football fan who played the sport in high school and college, he didn’t get into officiating until he took a graduate assistant position at SUNY Brockport in 2017. It was then that he learned about the RCCFO and joined that same year. “I officiated some for rec league while in college and once I got to Brockport, I was encouraged to join and I have been having fun ever since,” Hill exclaimed. “During my second year I really started to think about doing this forever and maybe I could do college games too.” He became involved with Schuster’s NEFOC in 2020 and has been doing college games ever since.
“I prepare myself to be a better official each and every game, working both physically and mentally to make that happen,” Hill commented. “The next game is the most important game. I’m always trying to improve and grow from one game to the next so I can be prepared to do my best.”
Hill was also selected to officiate, with some fellow RCCFO members, the 2022 New York State Class A Football Championship game. “You meet so many amazing people while officiating football at every level and are able to constantly learn and gain valuable experience from everyone.”
Tomidy (Greece Arcadia) grew up in Rochester’s 19th Ward and later moved out to Greece where he attended high school.
“A co-worker of mine encouraged me to join the RCCFO back in 2015 and I have been part of the organization ever since,” recalled Tomidy. “The amount of support I have received from so many people has been great. Everyone that I have been associated with is more than willing to help you become a better official. The people you meet during your career is one of the best things about getting involved.”
He too connected with the NEFOC in 2020 and is in his third year of college officiating and second on the field due to COVID. In addition to this year’s Stagg Bowl, Tomidy, along with Hill and Britton also officiated a 2022 Division III First Round playoff game.
Britton has been a member of the RCCFO for 12 years, joining back in 2011. He too has has been a part of sectional games and finals, along with his college experiences. He joined the NEFOC in 2015 and notes the 2018 Cortaca Jug game along with the 2022 Stagg Bowl as some college highlights. Britton recalls his first ever games were on a youth Sunday in Brockport with veterans Jim Coccia and Chris Guyett, the current chapter secretary.
Guyett shared some comments on behalf of the RCCFO in regards to the current and former members who have reached some fantastic milestones in their officiating careers.
“Football at any level benefits from exceptional officiating. Officials must be confident and be looking to improve each and every game they work. Football officials need to be decisive, handle conflicts, have clear communication and embody leadership. Every official needs to have a dedicated level of commitment to the game.”
“With the RCCFO, we pride ourselves on training, football fundamentals, mentorship and guiding each official on their path, whatever that path is or will be. We work to develop and build the next generation of football officials, nurture a sound officiating pipeline for youth to high school and even onto college, that helps enhance the overall perception and understanding of football officiating. All the while, helping broaden and grow the pool of dedicated skilled football officials for the schools and associations we serve.”
“We take pride in knowing that officials that have come from the RCCFO have taken our organization’s grass roots development which has allowed them to flourish at the next level. Each college official, finds themselves to be fortunate to be working with the top officials in the region / country and experiencing the excitement of college football.”
“When officials advance, it is because of their development. Regardless the road chosen and traveled, everybody benefits. Recognizing those who do ‘move-on’, is a great recruitment tool that shows future officials that with hard work, dedication and due diligence, the sky is the limit.”
Every official noted the camaraderie established with their colleagues as one of the biggest benefits in their career. It serves as fellowship, a sounding board, and place to find constructive criticism as you strive to improve yourself every time you are on the field.
As a few recalled that your first game is never your best game. Hill remembered his first contest, a JV game at Churchville-Chili. “I was bad.”
Tomidy was also assigned a JV game to start his career.
“I was a deer in headlights … I thought I knew what I was doing but I didn’t.”
Seven years later, after a lot of hard work and grass time, they were both working a collegiate national championship game.
Hill and Tomidy both encouraged anyone to give it a try if interested.
“Get involved, meet new like minded people and invest some time in it … chances are you are going to enjoy yourself.”
Nearly every sport in high school athletics, locally and nationally, is in need of officials. Anyone interested is encouraged to contact their local high school athletic director for more information. You never know, it could lead to you being in the ‘big game.’
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