By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The mini-basketball program in the Otis-Bison school district uses the
high school students to help teach the game of basketball to younger children.
Scott Goodheart remembers helping with the program, and very few people wanted
to referee the youth games so he always got stuck refereeing. That high
school assignment has turned into 17 years as a registered official and
recently being named the Director of Officials for the Kansas State High School
Activities Association.
“With having a father that officiated and I didn’t play sports after high
school, officiating was a good transition for me to give back to the game,”
said Goodheart.
Goodheart recalls his first varsity game as an official in Spearville, Kansas
against Greensburg (Kiowa County).
“I bet if I were to go back and watch that game, I probably wasn’t very good,”
joked Goodheart. “Some people would probably argue that I’m not very good now.”
RELATED STORY: Scott Goodheart selected as KSHSAA director of officials
Goodheart has officiated volleyball, softball and basketball over the years and
has been the league commissioner for the Heart of the Plains League since 2016.
The Kansas State University graduate has spent the last few years being an
unofficial “spokesperson” for referees and working to mentor and recruit
officials in Kansas.
“With this Director of Officials position through KSHSAA, it’s a lot of stuff I’ve
been doing before but now I get to put more focus on it being a fulltime job,”
said Goodheart. “Like I tell all officials, we’re the best recruiters for
officials. We need to be supporting these individuals.”
Goodheart noted statistics show if referees stick around after their
third
year, they are likely to work as an official for a long time. As
KSHSAA's Director of Officials, Goodheart will be in charge of
recruiting, mentoring,
training and retaining referees. The 2022-2023 school year was the first
year
KSHSAA implemented the position.
“The director of officials position is something surrounding states have done,
and now Kansas is getting the ball going with it,” said Goodheart. “States and
associations realize there is an importance for it. They see there is a need
because of the shortage of officials.”
Goodheart believes promoting officiating to students in colleges across the
state is a good place to start the recruitment process and preaches the importance
of community support.
“We want to show these kids that there is not a better way to make money on the
side as a part-time gig in college,” said Goodheart. “The other thing is
finding those employers that will give their employees the flexibility in allowing
people to officiate. Officiating is a community service. If there are no
officials for games, those kids aren’t playing games.”
Goodheart was named the National Federation of State High School Associations
Boys Basketball Official of the Year in 2014, but reminds everyone that you do
not have to be an award-winning official to get started.
“I kicked the biggest call of my life in Lyons, Kansas one night,” said
Goodheart. “There was a play that was a clear block, but I blew my whistle and had
my fist closed. I kicked the call, but we’re human and officials are going to
miss calls. That’s the beauty of officiating…it’s kind of an art how
you deal with it but it also uses your intelligence of the game.”
Goodheart and his family will relocate to the Topeka area this summer, and he will officially
begin his KSHSAA position in July but will stay busy prior to that date with
officiating clinics and conferences.