Former player enters officiating portal at age 47

By Ron Brocato, Sports
Clarion Herald

Aging is an unfortunate part of life, and that’s especially true in the industry of sports officiating.

With every season, wear and tear on the human body slowly takes its toll, and that’s never more evident than in the activities of an official, who finds it vital to keep pace with well-conditioned athletes less than half their age.

The Greater New Orleans Football Officials Association faces a slight turnover every year, and age or attrition takes them off the rolls, while the best of them are scooped up by college conferences.

As the years pass for the most dedicated veteran field officials, they move on to become game and play clock operators, whose only stress is climbing the stairs to get to their positions in the press box.

Eddie Allemore, who has served as the GNOFOA supply chain manager and assignment secretary since 2021, greeted 156 registered members and 37 “rookie officials” at the association’s first meeting of the season on July 16. That’s not a large number considering most games are played on just one night of the week.

Most officials are former players whose love for the sport and camaraderie with their peers have kept them coming back to be a part of the autumn tradition. And that was the case for first-year official Todd Golemi, whose high school football career ended in the 1994 state semifinal round game when his Jesuit team lost to Ouachita.

An orthopedic product sales representative for the past 21 years, Golemi, at age 47, is excited to get back to the sidelines after all these years.

A conversation with veteran referee Chris Fourcade, a former Sam Barthe and Ecole Classique back, ignited his interest.

“Chris talked about the excitement of getting back on the field and the comradeship of the officials and being a participant rather than a spectator,” Golemi said.

That piqued Golemi’s interest “to use my time and talent and to give back to the game I love.”

But just wearing stripes doesn’t earn one of the seven officials’ positions on the field. And, according to Allemore and the veterans who started from scratch as playground officials, it takes a few years to earn high school varsity status.

“It will take a little time, but with enough (repetitions), I’ll learn it,” Golemi said. “This group brings you along at a decent pace. We start as wing officials (line, field and side judges).”

As positions open, the young official moves on to a more permanent position as a head linesman, back judge, umpire or, if good enough, a referee (the white hat and crew chief). Golemi has his eye on the umpire position, which is unusual for a former running back to be facing the line of scrimmage from a middle linebacker’s spot on the field.

While playing for Jesuit under coaches Danny Abramowicz (1991) and then Mark Songy (1992-94), Golemi became one of the Blue Jays’ all-time leading rushers with 3,484 yards over his career. His 276 points rank third in scoring behind fellow Jays Chris Markey (374 points) and Pat Screen (301 points). Jesuit went 10-4 in his final year before he signed with Villanova in 1995.

Having grown up in a Catholic environment at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Kenner and then at Jesuit, Golemi continued his Catholic education in Philadelphia.

“I was going to LSU as a student because I knew I wasn’t going to make a team whose backs were Marshall Faulk and Rondell Mealy,” Golemi said. “Then Villanova (an Augustinian Catholic university) offered me a partial scholarship.”

After playing in one game against Boston University as a freshman, the coach gave him the “full ride.”

Scott Senner was a star in his own right during his prep career under Jesuit coaches Billy Murphy and Frank Monica. His career culminated in All-District and All-Metro honors as a senior in which he was the featured back and a 1,000-yard rusher in a Catholic League championship season.

Wanting to maintain a degree of the satisfaction football offered, Senner answered an ad in the newspaper that sought new officials.

That was 32 years and three 5A state championship games ago, working as a line judge or one of the clock operators. He still serves as a replay official at some key games and still runs the sidelines at age 57.

His advice to the aspiring officials is “Be patient, take as many reps as you can and do this job for the right reasons.

“If you’re doing this for the money, you’re going to fail,” he said. “It’s hard work; meetings on Mondays, state tests, rules clinics. This goes on from the summer through November.”

Senner points out that it will take time to see a football field as a varsity official. It took him three years.

“You might get a clock, then a jayvee, freshman or playground assignment to get your feet wet,” he said. “Then you get put on a crew with a veteran official, who corrects your mistakes. I played and understood the game and was lucky enough to get on the fast track in my third year.”

It soon will be time for a new brigade of game officials to bolster the dwindling ranks. The season is almost here.

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