And many more: Gary Whitely reflects on 50 years of officiating in the Panhandle
Gary Whitely still remembers his first officiating assignment. It was all the way back in 1974 when he was right out of the military. There was a P.E. teacher at Amarillo College named Red Meyers who approached Whiteley and a friend of his while they were playing a pickup basketball game.
"Red Meyer came over and said 'I've been watching you guys,'" Whiteley recalled. "He said, 'You look like you know the game and we can't get anyone to call this junior high game today. It pays five dollars, I've got shirts and I've got whistles, will y'all go do it?' I looked at my buddy, he looked at me and thought five dollars paid pretty well."
Whitely and his friend took the gig and Meyer told him to take the Buchanan exit, stay on the road and go past Amarillo Boulevard to locate Horace Mann Junior High.
"We understood why they couldn't find anyone to go to Horace Mann Junior High after that," Whiteley said with a chuckle.
Still, that's how it started. How's it going now? It's 50 years later and Whitely is still calling games for the Amarillo Officiating Chapter. He was recently honored by Amarillo ISD with a special plaque commemorating his five decades of service.
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Five decades is a long time for any occupation. For youth officiating? That's a few lifetimes. So what's kept Whiteley going all this time?
"I just figured there's not many things that you can get a little exercise and make some money with," he said. "I love to watch all those competitive faces out there. I know those kids work hard and want to do the best job they can so I want to make sure that both teams get a fair shake."
Whiteley has seen it all over the years. From the evolution of the game in general to expansion of girls basketball at the high school level. He's called several years at the college level and noted the speed of the game and how much quicker it all moves these days. He's also noticed less of a strain on his knees since they decided to use three officials instead of two.
He's also a favorite among coaches. By his own estimation, he can count the number of technical fouls he's issued on one hand over the years and he doesn't believe he's ever ejected a coach.
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"I coached for several years so I've seen both sides of it," Whiteley said. "They have to trip me and make some blood shed for me to do something like that."
It's been quite the road for Whiteley, and he's still going strong. So, does he think he'll still be officiating another 50 years from now?
"No," he said with a laugh. "The end is near, just not here yet."
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Gary Whitely reflects on 50 years of officiating in the Panhandle
