Greenfield man earning his stripes as an official

David Sciranko grew up loving football from a young age, but he eventually decided that instead of playing the sport he loves, he would like to officiate it.

Sciranko is from Harlan, which is a football town of football towns. With 41 state playoff appearances, Harlan Community has about the most of any football program in the state.

“This is my second year officially officiating, but I can remember since I was in grade school, reffing my age group on the sideline,” Sciranko remembers. “I decided I was maybe better at reffing than playing with my peers, and I had reffed flag football at my church camp before.”

Sciranko’s first game officiating was a Nodaway Valley/O-M junior varsity game last season. His goal has been to get his feet wet at the sub-varsity level before he decides if he wants to commit to a more rigorous schedule of varsity games.

This season, Sciranko has taken the chance to shadow two different varsity officiating crews at games around the area, including some at Nodaway Valley/O-M and some at Creston. This is all in addition to his day job at the Greenfield Fareway store.

While many times, officials will lament that fans are becoming worse and worse today and coaches won’t stay off of officials during games, that hasn’t been Sciranko’s experience.

“One good thing about football is you’re away from the fans a lot, so most of the time you’ll hear the coaches. Most of the coaches have been pretty nice and understanding,” Sciranko said. “I’ve run into a few coaches who will always be yelling out things we missed, but other than that, the coaches are usually pretty good.”

At the sub-varsity level, there are possibly more mechanics involved to officiating than if you’re reffing a varsity game, because crews are typically smaller in size.

“On a varsity crew there are five guys, but for the games I’ve done, there either have been three other guys or two other guys with me,” Sciranko said. “Each person on the field has their own position. I’ve been on the sideline a lot, so there, I’m responsible for a lot of calls down that line of scrimmage, like false starts, offside and holding. Then on deep passes I may have to sprint down field to catch a pass interference or a face mask or horse collar tackle.”

A shortage of officials has also been highly documented across Iowa, however Sciranko said he hasn’t seen that as much. The only way he would see that is through the number of openings there are — and he acknowledged there are always plenty.

“I don’t see the ref shortage as much as an activity director or assigner will,” Sciranko said. “I’m just a guy waiting for them to come and say they need an official here, here and here. There are offers all season long. I’m sure there are some areas that need officials more than others.”

Shadowing a varsity crew almost every Friday this season has opened Sciranko’s eyes to the demands of varsity officiating.

“Varsity officials are calling a game that has meaning and those kids are competing for a trophy, whereas the most my games matter for are a starting spot or for learning the game better,” Sciranko said. “I’ve just always loved football, ever since I learned about it, and I can’t stay away from it.”

Sciranko recommended that if people are interested in becoming an official, there is a list of things they should have in mind before taking that step.

“You should have a knowledge of the rules, a love for the game, a sharp eye and the ability to be impartial no matter who is playing,” Sciranko said. “I didn’t get a chance [to be on a varsity crew] this year so I’m going to try again in one or two varsity games next year [and go from there]. Maybe next year I can build my confidence up and be the white hat [crew chief] on a couple of junior high games as well.”

Information on becoming an official for any sport is available at iahsaa.org or ighsau.org.