Officially Done

      "The mind is willing, but the body is weak."

     This was my sentiment of thought when I finally decided to quit playing lacrosse at age 50, after playing competitively for 35 years.

"The body is willing, but the mind is weak."

     This is the sentiment I have now, after officiating high school and youth lacrosse for four years.  So I'm quitting.

     Getting back into the game of lacrosse as an official has been something I've enjoyed - to a degree. Not playing anymore and having had my fill as a high school coach for 15 years, becoming a high school and youth official seemed a chance to reconnect to the sport I've loved since my teenage years.  At age 58, I'm light years away from my playing days' speed, but I can still move well enough up and down the field as an official.  Learning the techniques of proper pacing, spacing, and angles from my fellow veteran referees has been immeasurably helpful in effectively doing the job.  So my body is willing and capable.  My mind and my psyche however, are not.  My mental stamina has fallen well behind my physical stamina, so I'm giving it up.

     Coach Bob Knight always preached that in sports competition, "The mental is to the physical as 4 is to 1".  Having talent will only bring about a certain level of success, he'd say.  The thinking part and mental toughness is what's needed to maximize those talents and bring about one's full potential.  This was a philosophy I fully subscribed to as a player and as a coach.  And though it's a principle meant for players, I find it fittingly applicable to officials.  I'd change the ratio of 4:1 to more like 10:1 when it comes to officiating, or maybe even 20:1.  The ability to remain mentally strong through all the adversity a referee endures during the course of a game and a season is quite challenging.  My fellow officials seem able to do it, but I've concluded that I cannot.  Not anymore.  I've had enough of all the verbal abuse.  I can't take the profanity directed my way.  I'm done absorbing the constant barrage of yelling and criticism.  From coaches, from players, from parents, from spectators.  I've had enough, and it's not worth it to me anymore.