Instant replay has changed the landscape of professional sports and added more eyes to what officials and referees see in any given contest. A new pilot project in Washington state is adding cameras to high school sports, with a twist.
In an effort to address unruly behavior, a high volume of ejections, and concerns over the safety of officials, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) and Washington Officials Association (WOA) announced an initiative earlier this month to test the use of body cameras on referees, starting with basketball.
Approximately 100 basketball officials across the state have already begun wearing cameras, and the project will continue throughout the school year with soccer, baseball and fast pitch softball officials.
The officiating organizations are teaming with Reveal Media, a global maker of body-worn camera technology, whose devices have been used in the lower levels of the English Football Association and are being tested with a youth soccer association in Canada. The WIAA and WOA are the first partners, professional or amateur, in the U.S. for Reveal.
The body cameras, which are always recording, can be activated by basketball officials during a game to create a timestamp for future viewing. Once the camera does get activated, it begins showing what the official is seeing. There are three possible triggers for such activation:
- Unsportsmanlike technical foul.
- An event that creates an unsafe/dangerous environment for the official, such as fighting or fans storming the court.
- Discriminatory or harassing behavior that causes a stoppage in play or delays play from resuming.
WIAA Assistant Executive Director Justin Kesterson told GeekWire that in situations where there is a camera activation, the WIAA and WOA offices have the ability to review each incident.
“If the incident led to an ejection and the school appeals, we can use the video as part of the appeal,” Kesterson said. “However, we will not use the video to go back and retroactively eject a player or coach if the officials did not eject them originally.”
The video will also be used as part of any investigation if there has been an assault on an official or to pick up unruly behavior, including audio, from the stands.
Kesterson said that since Jan. 5 there have been activations for instances in games, but so far the organizations have not had to go through a response or appeal process.
And the reception from schools, players, coaches and parents has illustrated more curiosity than pushback.
“Schools understand the need for this trial program and why we are taking this step,” Kesterson said. “Once we have further explained how the program works and that the videos are only sent to our offices and cannot be edited by the officials or anyone else, it has helped ease some of the worries.”
The move to address poor behavior among sports participants and fans, and to protect officials, shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has witnessed such incidents in person or seen any number of viral videos online. Smartphone cameras always seem to be rolling and sometimes catch violence against officials, as in this youth basketball incident, and this from high school football, for example.
Beyond the body cameras, one Washington state legislator wants to try to curb bad behavior by upping the punishment for such violence in schools.
A bill introduced in the state House of Representatives last week would make fighting at schools among students or adults a class C felony, according to the Everett Herald. Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, said his priority is to toughen the punishment for parents or students who intimidate or hurt sports officials.
WIAA and WOA will conduct a review of the body camera pilot project following the conclusion of the school sports season.
