A Maine high school gym teacher is one of the top collegiate lacrosse officials in the country

May 4—Neither Josh Blaisdell nor Mark McInnis played high school lacrosse.

So how did these products of 1990s Maine high school athletic programs become two of the top men's collegiate lacrosse referees in the United States?

"We've definitely had to fight for everything we've wanted. Nothing has been handed to us," said Blaisdell, 44, a physical education teacher at Lawrence High in Fairfield.

Blaisdell grew up playing football, hockey and baseball in Kennebunk.

McInnis, 47, ran and played basketball at Winslow High. He scored 1,170 career points, a school record that stood for 30 years.

What they never lost — and now apply to their officiating — is a strong competitive spirit combined with a Pine State-bred pride in doing a job well.

"I've yet to have a perfect game as an official, so there's the constant motivation every time I step on a field or court to try to have that perfect game," McInnis said. "And, just like a coach or athlete, one of the motivations is can I get to that (NCAA) Division I championship game?"

The answer, is yes.

Both McInnis and Blaisdell have worked two NCAA Division I title games. McInnis worked his first in 2017 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. That year, Blaisdell worked the Division III title game, his first crack at the Final Four weekend that men's lacrosse holds each year — semifinal and final games in all three divisions played at one site.

In 2021, the pair worked the Division I final together, when Virginia beat Maryland, 17-16. Last year, Blaisdell officiated the final when Notre Dame beat Duke, 13-9, in front of 30,462 fans at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field.

"Josh and Mark are absolutely among the best officials. They're well within the top 20, 25 in the country," said Fran Doyle, the men's lacrosse assigner for three Division I conferences and all Division III games in the Northeast.

McInnis, a global vice president for IBM who lives in Scarborough, says Blaisdell is "probably top two or three in the whole country. He's just out of this world when it comes to officiating."

Blaisdell, who lives in Fairfield, calls McInnis a key mentor and a good friend.

"When I first started, he was one of my role models," Blaisdell said. "He was so professional. His even-keel demeanor, I strived to have."

They've also officiated Division II and III championship games and several NCAA final fours.

This season, they've been an in-demand duo, traveling together to officiate some of the premier matchups in the country.

On consecutive weekends, they worked Georgetown — ranked No. 6 in the country at the time — at No. 10 Denver; No. 4 Virginia at No. 6 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome; then they were on the field last Saturday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, as unranked North Carolina upset No. 2 Duke, 15-12.

They were scheduled to work conference championship games this weekend, Doyle said. McInnis had the America East title game in Albany, New York, while Blaisdell was at UMass for the Atlantic 10 final.

Unlike the high school officiating landscape, where almost every sport experiences a shortage of officials, Doyle said he has enough referees. McInnis and Blaisdell, though, work so frequently, and at top spots, because of their skills and reputation. Coaches want them on the sidelines, Doyle said.

Pay for top college officials varies by conferences. McInnis said the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten pay more than other conferences, with a range across Division I of $700 to $1,200 per game for on-field officials. Blaisdell also is an official in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL), the only pro league operating in the United States. Blaisdell said he isn't allowed to discuss his pay for working in the PLL. Those officials work four games in one weekend at a single site.

Game officials are responsible for their own travel arrangements during the regular season before getting reimbursed. They schedule flights, book hotels and rent cars.

That changes for the NCAA tournament, when the NCAA arranges and pays for all travel costs.

The logistics of getting from their homes in Maine to a game site in Denver or North Carolina can be difficult. Both McInnis and Blaisdell said there are assignments that require taking a personal day from their full-time job on a Friday to reduce travel stress ahead of a Saturday game.

"It's a challenge at times, but I love it so much, it's worth it, even if it does mean a few less hours of sleep," McInnis said.

THE PATH TO THE TOP

After graduating from Kennebunk High in 1998, Blaisdell went to Springfield College. He had been an all-conference quarterback, hockey player and baseball catcher but had never played lacrosse, unlike a few of his best friends.

Those friends included current college men's lacrosse head coaches Nick Myers (Ohio State), his brother Pat Myers (Lafayette), and Pete Toner (Gettysburg).

At Springfield, Blaisdell played his three primary sports and, for one season, served as the emergency lacrosse backup goalie.

"I was like, I don't know anything about this, but give me the equipment and I'll give it a shot. That winter break, Nicky Myers brought me to the front of Kennebunk High School and fired shots at me," said Blaisdell, who noted that he returned to baseball the following spring.

It wasn't until he was well into his career as a physical education teacher, which included a several-season stint as Lawrence's boys' hockey coach, that Blaisdell took up lacrosse officiating.

Now he can't get enough of it. Two days after doing the Duke-UNC game, he was officiating a prep school contest at Kents Hill. The next day, he was calling an Oak Hill-Messalonskee game in Oakland. High school lacrosse officials in Maine make $92 for each varsity game. Blaisdell will also officiate middle school games. He took up soccer officiating recently just to "get out of my comfort zone." As soon as the college lacrosse season ends, Blaisdell will work in the PLL.

He has also set a goal of being an official at the 2028 Summer Olympics, when lacrosse will make its Olympic debut.

Blaisdell said the way he "manages" a game has to be different depending on the level of play. But his intensity and attention to detail does not change.

"And shame on me if I treat a junior high game I'm officiating as any less than that Duke-North Carolina game," Blaisdell said. "If I was a player, I would be so disappointed in an official if he came down and did one of my games and was treating it like it didn't matter."

McInnis laughs when he talks about how many games Blaisdell will work. McInnis' job, which also requires extensive travel, limits him to working the weekend college circuit, with an occasional midweek New England game.

"Josh, he'll work a middle school game and probably gets yelled at by a parent (who) tells him he can't ref, and then the next day he'll be officiating in the PLL," McInnis said.

McInnis had a more direct path to becoming a lacrosse official. After starring at Winslow (Jason Reynolds broke his basketball career scoring record in 2023), McInnis played four seasons at Colby College (1993-97). He began officiating while at Colby.

"My dad (Edward McInnis) was one of the founding fathers of Maine lacrosse officiating and he was also the assigner," McInnis said. "Once the hoop season ended at Colby, I would ref high school games. There were only a few teams then. Mostly prep schools and some of the bigger schools."

McInnis stepped away from officiating early in his work career, which included time in New York City. He put the black-and-white stripes back on about 20 years ago, around the same time he began to ref basketball.

McInnis has reffed "12 or 13" Maine basketball state championship games, including Orono-Oceanside in the Class B final last season.

EARLY ATHLETIC TRAITS TRANSFER TO OFFICIATING

Former coaches say they are not surprised Blaisdell and McInnis are top-tier officials.

"He was very detailed. He paid attention," said Joe Rafferty, Blaisdell's football coach at Kennebunk. "He'd ask, 'what did I do wrong?' He wanted to know, and he wanted to know how to correct it."

Rafferty said Blaisdell's determination, grit and physical toughness stand out as key traits. When told of Blaisdell's goal to officiate in the 2028 Olympics, Rafferty said, "I would not be surprised if he's on that (Olympic) field. I would be more surprised if he wasn't, to be honest."

Dick Whitmore won 637 games as Colby's men's basketball coach, and McInnis played on several teams in the mid-1990s that won at least 20 games.

"That a guy from Winslow, Maine, is one of the best in the country, I just think what a wondrous thing that is," Whitmore said. "He's just very even-keeled. He was very intelligent about the game. In basketball, he was always on top of everything."

Whitmore, 81, is still coaching. He was an assistant with the Scarborough High's girls' team this past season. McInnis reffed one of their games.

"When you see him come out on the floor, you know it's going to be a well-called game," Whitmore said. "That's the status he has."

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