[Swan217]

I'm actually surprised that FIRST didn't have any standards for scheduling refs, not that I think it's a bad thing. When I originally signed up for the GLR, I had no hope that I'd actually be a referee, even though I checked the box. Therefore it came as a very pleasant surprise when I got the position. Not that I think I didn't deserve it. I've been in FIRST for 6 years, and I think I know the rules as well as, if not better than, many.

That being said, I think that what you should have done (or do next time) was notify the head referee about the possible conflict of interest BEFORE the match began. If the HR knows about possible problems, then he can look out for them and solve them on the spot. Afterwards may be too late.

I agree with FotoPlasma. I'm not a referee at any of the regionals that my team is at, but if I was, then I'd personally try to avoid those kind of situations of partiallity (Is that a real word?). If I knew I would be refereeing a match with my team, then I'd sit out or switch with another ref to minimize my influence on the game, even though I know I'd never intentionally favor one team over another.

To play Devil's Advocate - What if FIRST made it a policy to not allow HS students be referees? While myself, Jeff Waegelin and other college FIRST alumni may be qualified to ref, maybe high school students refereeing other students isn't that great of an idea. Maybe the anonymous poster is right. I don't know - Does anyone have any POSITIVE ideas/experiences about High School students refereeing their peers?

To start off - There was a HS student from Huskie Brigade reffing Detroit (sorry, don't remember his name) - how did he do as a ref?