Clark County Press, Neillsville, WI

November 5, 2008, Front Page & Page 2

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon

Refereeing still fun after 40 years

Neillsville Referee Bruce Rayhorn poses in his official’s jacket and cap.   Rayhorn a retired physical education and health teacher has refereed high school athletic contests for 40 years.

By Peter Spicer

Neillsville Referee Bruce Rayhorn will enjoy wearing the pinstripes for his fortieth year this fall, officiating for basketball, baseball and softball games throughout the area.

Rayhorn was one of 19 referees recognized in the Oct. 24 edition of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Bulletin for refereeing 40 years.

Rayhorn grew up in Loyal, where he played football, basketball and baseball for Loyal High School.

"I played everything in high school," explained Rayhorn.  "I was just one of those sports nuts."

Rayhorn began refereeing junior varsity and junior high athletic events in the fall of 1968 while a freshman at UW-La Crosse after joining the Official’s Club and becoming a certified WIAA referee.

Rayhorn continued to play baseball as a pitcher and infielder for four years at UW-La Crosse.

After graduating from UW-La Crosse, Rayhorn began a 33-year teaching career first at Almond High School, which later became Almond-Bancroft High School, where he coached football, basketball and baseball.

After three years at Almond, Rayhorn began teaching physical education, health and driver’s education at Granton High School, where he was a head boys’ basketball coach for 20 year and head baseball coach for 17 years.  Rayhorn tried his hand coaching cross country as well.

The evenings Rayhorn wasn’t coaching one of his teams, he was refereeing football, basketball, baseball or softball in the Cloverbelt, Marawood and Wisconsin Valley conferences.

When Rayhorn’s son began playing varsity basketball for Loyal High School, he resigned from coaching basketball at Granton High School to watch his son play.  However, Loyal’s coach resigned shortly thereafter; the school began looking for a coach.

Rayhorn was not initially interested in the job; however, he eventually accepted the position and made the most out of the opportunity when the school district could not find anyone in the area willing to coach the team.

"It was a unique experience," said Rayhorn.

After Rayhorn retired from coaching in 1996 and teaching in 2005, he began refereeing more games, which gave him an opportunity to remain involved in high school athletics.  Rayhorn reduced the number of games he will referee this season; he plans to officiate up to 25 basketball games in 2008-09.

"My whole life has been around sports," said Rayhorn, who resides 10 miles south of Neillsville with his wife, Pat.  "I still enjoy the games."

During his baseball officiating career, Rayhorn has officiated nine sectional contest and four sectional championship games.

Although most fans and athletes exhibit great sportsmanship, some fans are not as pleasant to referees as other fans.

"I don’t mind fans getting on me," said Rayhorn.  "That’s part of the game."

One reason fans become angry with officials is their knowledge of the rulebook.  "The fans are unaware of some rules," explained Rayhorn, who added basketball’s three-second and over-and-back violations are commonly misunderstood by most fans.

Parents of athletes competing often exhibit the most unsportsmanlike behavior toward referees during games, said Rayhorn.  However, most athletes and fans are respectful of referees and exhibit great sportsmanship, he added.

"The fans have been pretty good," said Rayhorn.

As a longtime coach, Rayhorn understands why coaches disagree with calls during basketball games; he allows them to discuss calls with him more than many other referees.

"I’m a lot more tolerant of coaches," said Rayhorn, who generally gives coaches and players warnings before issuing technical fouls.   "I’m very willing to listen to [coaches].  I’ve been in both shoes."

Rayhorn has seen many changes in high school athletics during his 40-year refereeing career.  Most of those changes are positive ones, said Rayhorn.

When the WIAA allowed three-point field goals, it changed the pace of basketball games, said Rayhorn, who added teams trailing in contests can catch up quickly if they have good shooters.

Glass backboards, which are currently used, are much better than the steel backboards previously used in basketball, said Rayhorn.

However, Rayhorn is concerned about the lack of referees in high school athletics.

"We have a major problem," said Rayhorn, who added many aging referees continue to work because few young people are willing to officiate.  One reason for this problem is many young people don’t want to deal with the abuse they take from some fans.

Implementing a mentorship program could be one solution to this problem, said Rayhorn, who explained the program would pair veteran referees with younger referees.  After athletic contests, the veteran referee could discuss the younger referee’s mistakes and positives decisions.  Rayhorn would like the WIAA to consider a program such as this.

Rayhorn encourages young people interested in athletics to become referees.

Rayhorn continues to referee throughout the area, including Wausau, Wisconsin Rapids, Eau Claire and Nekoosa.  He plans to referee as long as he’s healthy and enjoying it.

Officiating at the WIAA state baseball tournament is one of Rayhorn’s goals.

Rayhorn uses his experience officiating baseball to help the WIAA.  He applied and was the only official accepted in 2007 to represent high school baseball in the state as a member of the WIAA Officials Advisory Council, which allows him to discuss and suggest rule changes.  Rayhorn will begin serving the second of a three-year term with the council this fall.

"It’s an honor," concluded Rayhorn.