Turning a Dream into a Reality: Connecting My Lacrosse Journey to HR

It started off as a dream, then it became a reality. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve wanted to become a referee. To set the scene, I would go to my older brother’s basketball games when I was younger. At the time, I was about four or five years old, and no one my age was at the games. The technology that we live with now was not really a thing then, so I needed to entertain myself somehow. It was during this time, I saw two older gentlemen wearing striped shirts, blowing whistles, and running up and down the basketball court. So, what did I do to keep myself entertained? I mirrored their behaviors by standing on the side of the basketball court and running up and down the sideline. Whatever hand signals the officials did, I did as well.

Similar other kids, I played sports like basketball, baseball, and soccer growing up. However, my real interest was lacrosse. Since my older brother played, I knew I wanted to follow in his footsteps. In fact, I played lacrosse from 1st grade all the way up to my sophomore year of high school. But as I got into high school, I started to lose interest in playing sports, and instead all I could think about was wanting to referee. My freshman year of high school, my brother was my head lacrosse coach, and he decided to become a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) boys lacrosse official. Once again, I had someone to look up to and show me the ropes of my interest. I took a break from playing lacrosse my junior year of high school and decided to focus on school. Then, over the summer of 2015, I really started to think about becoming a boys’ lacrosse official. Discussing this in depth with my parents and my brother, I knew this was going to be a tough decision. But, in November of 2015, I decided that this was the path for me which resulted in me taking the PIAA boys lacrosse certification exam in December of 2015. Prior to taking the exam, I was nervous about sitting for the certification, consistently thinking about whether or not I was going to pass. After a few weeks, I received my results letter in the mail. I remember sitting with my dad in the kitchen and opening the letter feeling nervous at the time. After reviewing the results, I felt nothing but excitement because...

I HAD PASSED! 

To this day, I remember my first ever game as a lacrosse official like the back of my hand because, funnily enough, I officiated it with my brother. He was able to show me the ins and outs, and I remember saying to myself in my head, “Wow, this is a totally different perspective.” When you become an official you start off doing middle school and youth games, then gradually work your way up to JV, varsity, and then college. In 2018, I did my first varsity game, feeling nervous at the time, but knew I was ready for the challenge. Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lacrosse season was cancelled in 2020, so it was not until 2021 when I became a full-time varsity official. Then in June 2024, I was voted into the Executive Board as the Board Secretary for the Greater Philadelphia Lacrosse Officials Association (GPLOA), the association I have been a part of since I started officiating. Additionally, I assist the GPLOA Board President with our annual cadet class.

No matter the outcome of the game, the officials will get blamed for the team that loses, regardless of whether they made a good call or a bad call. That alone makes this one of the most difficult jobs. Now that I am overseeing higher level varsity games, I spend hours upon hours watching my own film trying to see where I could improve upon, reviewing if I made a great call, or determining if I made a bad call. In addition to watching my own film, I travel hours to watch games and learn other officials’ mechanics to see what they are calling and not calling. At the end of the day, it is all about keeping the game fair and the calls consistent.

For people outside of officiating, there is a lot more to it than just making calls as you see it. There are so many factors that play into whether or not a call was made. For example: What is the score of the game? How much time is left in the game? Maybe we missed a call, so to keep it consistent we are not making the call. These are just some of the factors that play into the decision-making officials have to consider. In a sense, officiating a sport is like the field of human resources (HR) because we try to keep things fair and consistent. At the end of the day, HR may get blamed for something that may not even be in our control. HR enforces policies and procedures, just like referees, to ensure that everything is flowing smoothly the way it should be. In addition, HR is responsible for ensuring that the company is making ethical decisions. Officials also go through training and development in order to professionally develop. We educate coaches and players on rules that they may not be familiar with. Also, as officials, we train and develop each other so that we can perform the best for these student athletes. Finally, we are always recruiting officials to join us and make an impact on the sport of lacrosse.

About the author:

Ryan is pursuing his Master of Science in Human Resources Development from Villanova University and is the Benefits Specialist for the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit. Ryan graduated from the Fox School of Business at Temple University with his Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resources Management. Outside of work and officiating, you can find Ryan at his grandparents’ house in Cape May, New Jersey.

Learn more about Ryan on his LinkedIn!