Finding his (referee) stripes
Senior Jeff Findlater found his calling through TU’s Campus Recreation Office
By Kyle Hobstetter on August 1, 2019
Jeff Findlater always loved sports. When he came to Towson University, the Lanham, Maryland, native decided to play intramural sports and try his hand at refereeing.
In 2016, Findlater joined the Campus Recreation staff as an intramural sports official. Later on in his time at TU he also joined the school’s club basketball team.
Three years later, Findlater is an intramural sports manager, but continues to find himself in the referee stripes.
Earlier this year, Findlater officiated at the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) National Flag Football Championships at the University of West Florida in Pensacola.
He applied to officiate the national competition after refereeing at the regional event at the University of Maryland, College Park, and was one of 49 students selected to participate.
After his performance at regionals, it was suggested he apply to go to Florida. After receiving notification that he’d been picked, he was a little surprised to get the invitation. But what surprised him more was that he was chosen to officiate one of the competition’s playoff games as well.
“With playoff games, it’s one game, one loss and it’s over,” Findlater says. “So it’s important to have the rules down pat so you’re not making any mistakes that could affect the game in a negative way.
“So when they called me for the playoff game, I was excited because I’m getting acknowledged for my hard work. I felt like I deserved to be there, so I was filled with joy.”
His path to being an intramural referee began in high school when a controversial call cost his soccer team the game.
But instead of getting mad at the referees, Findlater wanted to be able to experience games from their side. So when he got to TU and saw that Campus Recreation was hiring intramural referees, he jumped at the opportunity.
“I saw Campus Rec was offering this job, and I was saying to myself that I know how to play the sport, now I want to see how to officiate it and see how hard it actually is,” Findlater says. “It’s really given me a new view of sports in general, because officiating is not easy.”
Along with giving him an opportunity to referee a national competition, being a part of Campus Recreation has also helped Findlater figure out what he wants to do in the future.
Originally a computer science major, Findlater switched to sport management as a result of his Campus Recreation Office experience.
Following his December graduation, he hopes to stay in the field by obtaining a graduate assistantship at a school where he can improve the recreation department.
“I’ve loved this experience, so I want to stay in recreation” he says. “I want to keep helping people in ways that allow me to utilize sports in my daily life.”
He’s also spent the year as a student manager for the Towson Tigers women’s basketball team. This season he was able to help the team as it went on to its first NCAA Tournament in program history.
As he enters his last academic term at TU, Findlater says he’ll miss the people he’s worked with at Campus Rec and on the women’s basketball team. But he knows he’s prepared for whatever comes next.
“I used to be lazy,” he laughs. “But being here has really forced me to grow up and take more responsibility. People are looking for me to be the one to lead.”