Blessed are the peacemakers

Hall finds similarities in faith, sports.

Published: January 21, 2012

By Dwain Hebda

The similarities between John Hall III's roles as an aspiring deacon and a basketball referee may not be immediately apparent to the layperson, but the 52-year-old Hall begs to differ. He said he finds a lot of similarities between heaven and hardwood.

"I am called to be a peacemaker," he said. "It's often difficult to do that, but it is my job as a referee and my calling as a Christian to continue to be that peacemaker and fairly implement the rules of the game."

Hall's career in stripes has included refereeing in the Little Rock Parochial League, as well as high school and college basketball. He has also officiated soccer and has recently begun on a football officiating crew as well.

He got his first taste of a ref's whistle while at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana, which he attended after graduating Little Rock's Catholic High in 1977. While no big shakes as a high school athlete, he played basketball, soccer and tennis in college and at the direction of a coach, started refereeing.

t was a skill that would sit dormant until Hall was 35, married and like a lot of people, starting to feel the physical toll of athletic competition even at the recreational level. Refereeing surfaced as a way to stay involved with the sport he loved.

"An opportunity opened up and I got back into it," he said. "And I've just been having the most fun with it."

Getting one's start in refereeing isn't particularly difficult, Hall said. Referees are certified by written test in each state by the appropriate regulatory body. In Arkansas, that body is the Arkansas Activities Association in conjunction with the Arkansas Officials Association.

Moving up the ranks from keeping fifth graders in line to officiating college athletes, however, takes time and expertise. In addition to game experience, which he compiles to the tune of about 100 games per season, Hall attends a summer referees camp that acts as a tryout for high school and collegiate officiating jobs. If a school or conference representative likes what he or she sees in a ref, an invitation to work games is extended.

In this manner, Hall has worked his way up the ladder to call games at the NAIA, Division II and Division III collegiate levels. He has worked the Gulf South and Great America conferences, which includes most of the smaller colleges in Arkansas and also features such schools as North Alabama University, Delta State University and Rhodes College.

Along the way, he has developed some very simple philosophies that help him do his job better. First and foremost, he maintains a respect for the game that doesn't allow him to overstep his role in a contest. The best officiating, he said, allows a flow to the contest that enhances, but doesn't upstage, what the fans have come to see.

"The fans don't pay money to come watch us. They pay to see the players play and the best job we do is when you don't even know we are there."

That doesn't mean that officials are not vital to a quality product. Hall said providing a structure of fairness and safety is as important to players' development as the coaching they receive.

Hall said the things most fans see or hear about in terms of coaches' abuse of officials represent only the worst of the worst cases. He said while it does happen and acknowledging that all coaches will, during the course of a game, disagree with a call, the vast majority are in the business of making their players better. Hall considers himself a component of that.

"Players at the Division II or Division III levels are in it because they love the game and they want to be out there," he said. "There are a fair number of coaches who don't focus their game plan on working the refs, but to make their players better. Every referee makes bad calls and every coach will question those calls and that's OK."

Wherever Hall officiates, his faith follows. He's often the only Catholic on the officiating crew and so he goes about his business in a manner that speaks to his beliefs. If his fellow officials are comfortable with it, he will lead them in a pre-game prayer and if they are not, he says it for himself. Coolness in the face of irate fans or emotional coaches, he said, are the best training a future deacon can get.

"A referee is nothing but a communicator," he said. "Learning to communicate with people who are in an emotional situation can be very difficult, but I can see situations where as a deacon I will be dealing with people who are in highly emotional situations as well. It's good training on and off the court."

Hall's time in refereeing has had another unique payoff over the past five years, that being his eldest son Wesley putting on the stripes himself. Wesley, a 2007 graduate of Catholic High School and 2011 graduate of Christian Brothers University in Memphis, started calling games while in high school and has worked his way up to officiating at the high school level. He credits his dad with getting him started.

Wesley said being as young as he is gets him some extra scrutiny from the coaches he deals with, most of whom have no idea he is as experienced as he is.

"It's usually not blatant," he said. "A coach will tell one of the other officials that they need to help me out or keep an eye on me. You learn to cope with it. It's part of the camaraderie that I like about refereeing. The three refs are on the same page. We have each others' back."

The Hall family, members of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock, also includes John's wife, Theresa, who is the associate Catholic school superintendent, son Luke and daughters Jessica and Rebecca.

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