“When I was a little kid playing, I liked watching what the referees did, so when the opportunity came to do it, I jumped on it.”
Chris Poole, born in Atlanta, had to wait to get “off the boat” to begin his officiating career.
“I joined the Navy right out of high school. My first 10 years of service, I was on a ship. I worked with ammunition. I was able to get into recruiting and security my last 10 years, and got into officiating in 2000.”
Chris first worked flag football on base. Eventually, he got into Pop Warner, and finally into high school this past season.
In his first year of Pop Warner, he had a midget game with a lot on the line. One site’s team was mostly white and the other was mostly black. Racial overtones entered the game.
“At first, the word “boy” was heard. During a runback, we had multiple flags and fouls, but in particular, we had a “head-hunting” call. When the victim got up, there was some pushing and shoving and my partners tried to get involved. All the sudden, that kid took off his helmet and threw it at his opponent. I quickly ejected him, then I was told by the crew chief that I couldn’t, but then he ejected him.”
In Chris’s second season in Pop Warner, another tense situation occurred. “There were some racial slurs coming from the fans. These slurs changed from racial remarks overall into physical threats to us as officials in general. We stopped the game and solicited game management for assistance. At first, no one would admit guilt, but when the commissioner threatened to throw everyone out, fingers got pointed and the parent was ejected.”
Don’t we all remember our first varsity assignment. Though Chris had years of assignments with Pop Warner, even as a Referee, he was excited.
“As I pulled up the school, I felt a sharp pain “down there.” They called for an ambulance and as they put me on the gurney, I started throwing up. I passed a kidney stone that night in the hospital. The clock operator filled in for me.”
No worries, he got back on the varsity field the next week.
“I referee football because I’m giving back to the youth. When I was a kid, others did it for me so I could play, so now I’m doing it for them.”
…and doing it well.