From behind her camera lens, Rachel Georges always had a keen eye for the detail that accompanies youth football games. As a hobby, she photographed her son RJ's games since he began playing the sport six years ago in York, Pa. She instantly noticed a holding penalty and could see a false start from afar.
"Last year I was on the sideline taking photos, and I was talking to some grandparents between plays," Georges said. "I was pointing out various penalties that I was watching happen right in front me, and the guy asks me, ‘Did you ever think about becoming an official?' Then I hear a guy say to him, ‘Girls can't do that. Girls can't be football officials. What are you talking about?' That was all I needed to hear."
Jim Guinan, a former NFL and Big East official and grandfather of Patrick, RJ's teammate at Central York Middle School, handed Georges his business card and told her to call him when she got certified.
"He's an officiating evaluator for the NFL," she said. "I didn't know who he was or what he did."
Georges, a USA Footballofficiating member,had no problem getting certified, all right. She scored a 91 percent on the football officiating test administered in August by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.
So far, she's worked 55 high school, junior high and youth games. Her first JV game, played in November, was a memorable - er, not so memorable - one. She was the head linesman and took a helmet to the face.
"It was a reverse and the play was coming my way," Georges said. "The hit was incredible. I hit my head hard, and it was on artificial turf. There were four guys making the tackle, and I got hit and was sprawled out. I was knocked out for about 30 seconds. My first thought after I came to was ‘God, I hope they don't have that on film.' I don't know if they do, and I don't want to. I don't want to relive that."
The play happened with about three minutes remaining in the third quarter. She sat out the rest of the quarter, gathered herself at break between quarters and got back to the task at hand to start the fourth.
"I was walking onto the field in the fourth quarter, and the other officials all came over and asked if I was OK. I told them I had to suck it up," Georges said. "Then the kids who made the tackle all came and apologized. I told them ‘Don't apologize. You're just doing your job."'
Georges landed a couple of black eyes for her efforts that day. Even so, she'll always be thankful for hearing someone doubt that a woman could officiate in America's favorite sport.
"I was like, ‘We can do anything.' I had never really thought about doing it, but it's been a lot of fun. It's one of the best things I've ever done," Georges said.
RJ, the center and long snapper for Central York's eighth-grade team, lauded his mom's interest in the sport.
"He just told me, ‘You can never officiate one of my games because if you make a bad call, I don't want anyone knowing you're my mom,'" she said. "RJ will have friends over for games in the backyard, and they'll ask, ‘Mrs. G, will you come out and ref us?' And I ask them, ‘How much are you going to pay me?!' I was worried if he would be embarrassed when I became an official, but he's been really cool with it."
In fact, Georges has chosen not to officiate any games within her school district. She'll often drive 40-50 miles to work games. This fall brought with it her first chance to work high school playoff games, on the chain crew. She doesn't have to make multiple phone calls to the assignment desk to find a game.
"They all want me there," she laughed. "They're fighting over me for the chain crews. Seriously, they've been great. My biggest fear was worrying about what the guys would say. Nobody has said anything bad. Mostly it's, ‘You really know what you're doing. Some of the senior officials wouldn't even know that.' It's really neat to be a part of."
Georges developed her knowledge and was able to secure such a high score on the test thanks to some devoted studying practices. Her husband is a pilot for U.S. Airways on international routes, and she's a flight attendant, mostly for domestic flights. "If he's taking a good trip, I'll pick it up," she said.
"We had a layover in Glascow, Scotland, and for two days I sat in my hotel room studying to become an official. Then I sat in a hotel room in Dublin for a night studying; I was so worried about taking the test. I probably read the high school rulebook 10 times. I'd be on the field with my son's coaches asking them questions."
Guinan, in fact, led Georges to USA Football and its bevy of officiating resources.
"I told Jim that I wished there was a video that could give me some of the basics of mechanics, and he told me to go to USAFootball.com," Georges said. "It's been awesome, just awesome, with all the different things they offer to officiating members.
"I like the videos where they show the two-man and three-man and four-man crews. It's a great tool to have to go over and over. For someone like me, who did not grow up playing football and is just getting into it, it's been an awesome tool."
And it helped her overcome what could have been a stressful testing day. The trip to the PIAA convention was certainly an interesting one.
"They call each sport up to go take the test, and when they said, ‘Football,' I got up with all the guys," she said. "I was the only female in the group. I walked past one of the staff members and she said, ‘You go, girl!'"
Georges didn't think much of the first couple of questions, so she opted for Plan B.
"I started from question 100 and worked backwards," she laughed. "I finished the test and then went downstairs to find out what I needed for a uniform. I was down there and [a PIAA staff member] found me and said, ‘We need to talk.' I told her to give me the bad news. She said not only had I passed, but I got a 91. I ended up having to get the smallest pants they make shipped from Pittsburgh."
Within a week, Georges was working scrimmage games. One of her requirements of the local officials' chapter was to treat her as an equal.
"Don't treat me like the girls; treat me like one of the guys," said Georges, whose family holds Philadelphia Eagles season tickets. "They've been really good about that. There are 82 guys and one of me in the York Adams officials chapter. They're nothing but the best."
In case you haven't figured it out, Georges wouldn't trade in the whistle and pinstripes for anything. Not even a night out in Glascow or Dublin.
"You have to have the confidence to go out there and do it," she said. "That, and a good group of guys to work with. The key is the guys you're working with."
Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.