Each semester, ISU students flock to the intramural fields and courts to suit up for games. They don’t dress in the worn-out cardinal and gold players’ jerseys though – they suit up in black and white stripes to call the shots as officials.

About 250 students find themselves on the field as referees for intramural sports each semester. With approximately 70 percent of the student body participating in the more than 50 intramural sports competitions, intramural officials have a big job.

Students who want to become intramural officials must participate in training sessions, said Randy Heimerman, intramural sports program coordinator.

“We have three meetings before officials ever blow a whistle,” he said.

These meetings include information on the sports, information about rules and a practice clinic. At the clinic, officials learn where to stand and what to look for during games.

Aside from being paid anywhere from $6.75 to $7.50 an hour for their work, students also learn conflict-resolution skills, how to interact with others and how to work in what can sometimes be a hostile environment, all while developing friendships, Heimerman said.

“A lot of the officials live with each other,” he said. “They go to the bars together and hang out together.”

Kyle Manz, senior in agricultural studies, has been officiating intramural sports for four years. His three older brothers also attended Iowa State and worked as intramural officials.

“It’s another way to stay close to sports after high school if you’re not going to go to college to play sports,” he said.

Manz said his favorite sports to officiate are basketball and football because they were his favorites in high school.

Over the years, Manz said he has witnessed a lot of injuries, usually because of “noncoordinated people.”

The intramural program doesn’t keep statistics on injuries, but Heimerman said he would guess that between 1 percent and 2 percent of participants are hurt during intramural games.

“We run into an occasional broken bone, but mostly it’s just lacerations,” said Heimerman.

In addition to seeing injuries, Manz said he’s also witnessed several fights.

“The other night I saw a fight, which isn’t abnormal,” he said. “There are always people who take intramurals as the state championship.”

When he does see a fight, Manz said he usually breaks it up and ejects those players for the night. Players involved must then talk to Heimerman and can be banned from playing intramurals for a semester or a year depending on the severity the fight.

“The major problems are sportsmanship,” Heimerman said. “Fists hardly ever fly.”

In his nine years at Iowa State, Heimerman said clearly remembers only five fights. Most of the time people just “talk trash” to one another or have disagreements.

Collin Dotson, senior in mechanical engineering, is in his fifth year of officiating intramural events. Dotson said he got involved officiating as a freshman because he liked being around sports and thought it would be fun.

“In terms of officiating other students, some students can be rowdy, but after they see you year after year officiating, they realize that you really know what you’re doing,” he said.

“Usually if something happens in the game and you call a foul, they’ll be mad, but after the game they’ll apologize and tell you ‘good job.'”

Dotson said his favorite part of officiating – aside from getting paid for something he enjoys – is helping students become better at the sports, he said.

“Doing intramurals has opened other doors for me,” Dotson said. “I started officiating junior high basketball, JV basketball and junior high football.”

Paul Murray, senior in exercise and sport science, usually plays three or four intramural sports a year and has seen many officials in action over the years.

“They typically do a pretty good job,” Murray said. “There is an occasional bad call, but that happens.”