The class teaches students how to officiate many different sports while providing a different perspective when competing.
LINCOLN, Arkansas — Lincoln High School has introduced a new sports officiating program, the first of its kind in the state, which teaches students how to oversee competitive sports.
Justin Bounds is an official for local sports leagues around Northwest Arkansas and a teacher at Lincoln Middle School who helped start the program.
"Why not start a sports officiating class here at the high school?" Bounds asked.
From the basics, like where to stand, to learning the official rules, they've been through it all this year, and now they've gotten into real action.
"If we refereed seventh-grade basketball games, we're getting ready for Youth League Baseball. Some of them have gone to the Fayetteville Boys and Girls Club and referee football there as well," Bounds said.
While officiating can look easy at times, there's more to it than you might think.
"I had an idea on how to officiate, but I didn't know much of, like, the actual rules and like, how the mechanics worked and the positioning on how to do it. And really, I just didn't know how hard it really is to officiate," said Korbin Price, a sophomore at Lincoln High School.
One of the toughest things these kids have to learn when officiating is how to deal with criticism.
"It can be very, very harsh, but dealing with it, you just kind of have to ignore it and just think about it. I know what I'm doing, and you have to be confident to quit listening," said Hannah Remington, a junior in the program.
"I'll hear it sometimes, I'll laugh, because I think it's funny whenever people yell at somebody for doing a job, they won't do it to you," Price added.
"We need to listen to the players. We need to focus on what's going on in the court and what the coaches are doing on the bench. We don't need to listen to what's going on up in the stands," Bounds said.
Learning to quiet that noise and focus on the job is all just a part of it, and as they hone their skills in the stripes, they also gain a new perspective when competing for their own team.
"It's really helped me, like, understand where the umps are going to be, how the umps are going to call things, and then it's helped me, like, understand rules better, like, deeper rules that I once didn't know about," Price said.
"It's very beneficial to any athlete. I feel like any athlete this class would be amazing to take just so you can understand the game. And I think it would help athletes around Arkansas to be more understanding and know what rush code they're in, to understand, like how they're calling it," Remington added.
With the success of this class, other schools are starting to take notice.
"I've talked to a lot of fellow officials that are all schoolteachers, and you know, they would love to do this at their school and they're all over the state, so hopefully it can catch on somewhere else," Bounds said.
As for the man who started it all, it's not just him teaching the kids, but the kids reminding him he's still a student of the game.
"They're making me a better official because they're coming in with questions. Well, this happened in my game last night. This is what the umpire did. This is what the official did. What was really the rule? So then we'll just dive into the rule book," Bounds said.
