Football officials work to keep the ‘Friday’ in Friday night lights

There is nothing quite like playing under the Friday night lights for a high school football player, but because of officials shortages nationwide games are often moved to weeknights.

The South Gulf Football Officials’ Association (SGFOA) is working hard to keep games in Southwest Florida on Fridays because whether you agree with their calls or not, without officials there would be no Friday night lights.

“We’re the third team out there,” SGFOA President Adam Weissberger said.

Just like the football teams, this one too gets to work in the spring to bring rookies and veterans up to speed.

As former players and coaches, now fans and fathers, the officials know what playing on a Friday night means.

Referee Jamal Crawford played for Bishop Verot in the 1990s.

“The Friday night lights, in my opinion, are like one of the best times of high school,” Crawford said. “It brings the community together, family, friends and it gives them that two to three hour window where nothing else matters but what’s in between these white lines.”

Crawford has been officiating for more than 15 years and there’s still plenty to learn and plenty of new guys to train, like Gregg Kaye who is back for his second year as an official.

The former conference commissioner is just as concerned about the tradition of Friday night lights as he is the impact a weeknight game has on academics.

“For kids that have to get up in the morning and go to school and be there before seven o’clock in the morning, the thought of a long trip on a Wednesday or a Thursday night could be so detrimental,” Kaye said.

As a former head coach, Ryan Caudill knows the effect that schedule changes have on schools on and off the field.

“It’s almost a heartbreak that we have to move some of these games to Thursday,” Caudill said.

That’s why when he put down his playbook, he picked up his whistle.

“The coach that coached me in high school changed my life so if I can just pour out to the kids in our area and just make sure they have that opportunity that is awesome,” Caudill said.

With every blow, every signal and every flag officials are doing what they can to keep kids playing under the Friday night lights.

As of now, the SGFOA has enough people to cover about 11 games at once.

To comfortably cover every Southwest Florida home game on a Friday night they need about 15.

If you would like to find out more about joining the SGFOA visit sgfoa.net.