BENTONVILLE — Editor’s Note: This is the fourth in a season-long series on people involved in Friday night football. The series will highlight those who play key roles in making high school football a special event each week in small towns and big cities across Northwest Arkansas.
Football officials are commonly considered as the gridiron’s long arms of the law, and their duties are simply to enforce the game’s rules and throw flags when those guidelines are broken.
James Brookhart, however, believes there’s another obligation officials have that many people just don’t see. The Bentonville resident, now in his 21st season of officiating games, says they can also be teachers — much like coaches — when opportunities present themselves.
“When you’re out there officiating, depending on the level you’re working, you have a tremendous opportunity to help kids learn the game,” he said. “If you’re asking for a fundamental philosophy for how I approach any game, that’s it. If there’s a way to help them learn the game, we’re going to try to do that.
“Obviously, you have to put that philosophy into perspective. If you’re working a varsity game and a lineman goes out and does a two-point takedown on a defensive end, that’s not the time to instruct him and not throw the flag. The situation warrants how you work the game.”
One example of this is what Brookhart calls “preventive officiating.” When a play goes one direction and a player on the other side does something wrong that won’t affect the play, officials will explain to the player what he’s doing wrong instead of throwing a penalty flag.
The practice is common during junior high and junior varsity games, as well as varsity games when possible. Coaches are often included in the talks, particularly with the younger players, so they know what is taking place.
“The younger the age group, the more you want to do it,” said Jim Lewis of Clarksville, who is the supervisor of football officials for four high school conferences in the state. “The umpires have a great opportunity to do it because they’re right behind the defense and close to a lot of players, and the white hats (referees) can do a lot of it between plays.”
A Local Beginning
Brookhart began officiating intramural flag football games while in college and discovered how much he liked it. He still wanted to find a way to stay involved in the game, as well as stay in shape and be active, so that led to a phone call he made in 1992 to then-Bentonville football coach Gary Orr.
Orr directed him to a person to help him get involved. Four weeks later, Brookhart made his debut as an umpire in Pea Ridge.
“I was scared to death,” Brookhart said. “I had been given some training, some instructions and formality on the rules, but until you get out there and put the stripes on and the whistle on, you have no idea how it works.
“All the questions were going through my head. As the game went on, I discovered that you develop a rhythm and you have a job to do on every play. Being a good official means executing those duties every time, the best you can. That helped me calm down a bit.”
He and his crew — head linesman Mark Johnson, umpire Mark Gay, line judge Bill Carver and back judge Rob Price — mainly work games in the northwest quarter of the state. Their most recent outing was Rogers High’s 47-42 victory over Springdale High last week at Mountie Stadium, which Brookhart called one to remember because of how clean the game was played by both teams.
Lewis — who oversees football officials in the 7A/6A-West Conference, as well as the 7A/6A-Central, the 5A-West and the 4A-4 Conference — met Brookhart seven years ago and considers him one of the best in the state.
“It didn’t take me long to see the professionalism that James displays on the field,” Lewis said. “When you see him, you see a person with the desire to improve himself with each and every game he does.
“Even when I have a question concerning a rule or how a rule is interpreted, one of the first people I call is James Brookhart. He knows those rules better than most officials, and he could probably sit down and write a rule book if he had to do it.”
Under The Lights
Brookhart said he and his crew arrive at their game together two hours before kickoff and go over rules, guidelines and instructions with both coaches. They will then take time to talk to among themselves and go over how they plan to work.
His favorite time on Friday nights, though, comes right before kickoff. It’s when the band starts playing the National Anthem.
“You’ve done all your preparation work,” Brookhart said. “You’ve met with the coaches, you’ve met with your crew and gone over everything. You’re prepared; you’re ready.
“Then you’re taking the field, you’re in uniform and all the juices are flowing. Then you take that moment to pause, take your cap off and listen to the National Anthem. It’s like ‘is this a slice of Americana?’ For me, it sure is.”
He considered taking his officiating skills to the college level, and spoke to several people about it. It was then he discovered how his weekends would be spent, and he wasn’t willing to sacrifice the time away from his family.
In fact, he has cut down the number of games he calls in a season. Any time Bentonville has a home game, he is in the Tiger Stadium stands because his daughter Allison and his son Parker are members of the high school band.
“I need to be dad when that takes place,” Brookhart said. “I need to support them, and I want to be there to support them. This is their time, and I want to be part of it, although at first it was hard to sit in the stands and not be on the field.”