California Track & Running News Apr-June 2013, VOLUME 39 NUMBER 2 | Page 22

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22 ct&rn • April–June 2013

“At first I was nervous,
but with the support and
tutoring from veteran
officials, I’ve grown confident. More importantly,
as a runner acting as an
official, I really appreciate
how I’m giving back to
the sport. The sport has
given so much to me. I
feel that officiating is one
of the best ways to return
the favor.”
—George Rehmet

and ’96 Olympic Games (Atlanta). He first became
involved as an official while serving as a Social
Studies teacher and cross country coach at Daly
City’s Westmoore High School.
“I started officiating with the AAU through
the all-comers meets we used to have at Redwood
City’s Sequoia High School. One thing led to another, and then I became super involved,” said
Connors, who broke two minutes for 800 meters
as a high school athlete.
“In the classroom, the kids’ scholastic motivation ranged from outstanding to none. But on the
track, I had all honor students. They were all motivated to jump higher or run faster in their sport.
That fact gave me the impetus and fulfillment to
coach and officiate. Plus, there’s great comaraderie among officials. Shirley and I have [officials] friends all over the country. We officiate and
then go out to dinner afterwards. It solidifies our
marriage.”
Shirley, 71, was first certified as a track & field
official in 1991 after officiating in other sports. She
wanted to spend more time with Dick because
“he was always gone on Saturdays, traveling all
over, officiating at meets.” It was her first foray
into track, although she had majored in physical
education in college and earned a Master’s degree
in kinesiology after competing in multiple sports.
“I’ve always liked working with children and
young adults,” said Shirley, who served as an elementary school teacher and coached high school
volleyball, soccer, and swimming. “Track & field
officiating is one way to help them improve by ensuring fair competition and safety in competition.
It’s rewarding watching them improve while being
neutral as an official.”

Shirley’s background in human kinetics led
her to choose the horizontal jumps as her officiating specialty as it gives her an opportunity to observe and analyze how an athlete’s technique,
form, and physical strengths and limitations relate
to jumping success or failure. She has officiated at
four U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials among
scores of other meets.
Today, a small but growing force of new track
& field officials are starting to gain the experiences and gratifications experienced by their
predecessors. George Rehmet (46, Daly City) is
one of them. Rehmet is a special education
teacher who works with learning disabled and atrisk youth, serves as the Coastal California Region
state representative for the Road Runners Club of
America (RRCA) and as the PA/USATF LDR Disabled Athletes chair.
Rehmet certified as a USATF official, specializing in LDR, in 2011. He responded to his running
club’s (Pamakids) call for officials to meet the
PA/USATF’s officials requirements for clubs that
desire to score team points in the association’s
Road Running and Cross Country Grand Prix circuits. Since then, he’s volunteered as a finish line
judge at a number of PA/USATF races and continues to compete when not officiating.
“Being an official can sometimes be challenging when tough calls need to be made,” said
Rehmet, “but I’ve gained a number of rewards
from officiating. n
Ma