Mississippi
All-Black female Mississippi football officials make history
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — When Murrah opens the Mississippi highschool soccer season Friday in opposition to Cleveland Central at South Jackson Subject, the matchup will function the primary all-female crew to officiate highschool soccer within the state.
And it is going to be an all-Black feminine crew, which, The Clarion Ledger reported, could also be a nationwide first.
“From every little thing that we’ve been in a position to collect from the Nationwide Federation of State Excessive Faculty Associations, we really feel like that’s the first time that there’s been an all-female Black officiating crew in a highschool soccer sport,” MHSAA assistant director Greg Freeman mentioned. “I believe it goes to indicate that we don’t discriminate in opposition to anybody. We would like anybody that desires to come back out and be part of the sport and be an official. We would like them to come back out and work arduous.”
“It’s wonderful and it’s overwhelming on the identical time,” mentioned Adrienne Barnes, a part of the crew, who’s coming into her nineteenth 12 months officiating youth and highschool sports activities in Mississippi. “That is our first time working all collectively on the sector. We’ve identified one another. We’ve labored collectively in different sports activities however by no means on the sector. Sometimes they by no means have a couple of feminine on the sector.”
Girls from throughout the state make up the crew that can officiate on the Murrah-Cleveland Central matchup, a part of the primary week of Mississippi Excessive Faculty Athletic Affiliation play. The ladies have labored a number of preseason scrimmages forward of Friday’s 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
MHSAA officers assigner Curtis Lowe mentioned every official will return to her respective crew the next week.
Barnes mentioned a problem from her son led her to become involved in officiating.
“He was 6 or 7 years previous and I used to be fussing at an umpire on the sector,” she mentioned. “He mentioned ‘They’ve a very arduous job. I guess you received’t do it.’”
Barnes mentioned she began to give attention to forming an all-female crew final fall. Related crews work in Oregon and Texas.
The MHSAA has practically 50 girls refereeing highschool soccer video games, Freeman mentioned.
“All of them work on Friday nights,” Lowe mentioned. “Simply don’t work collectively and I made a decision to get them the chance. Seven girls collectively.”
Barnes has labored with former MHSAA official and present NFL referee Sarah Thomas, who grew to become the primary lady to officiate within the Tremendous Bowl in 2021.
Barnes hopes that Friday’s sport will assist open extra doorways for ladies in officiating.
“I hope that extra girls get invited to the larger present. I hope that extra minority girls get alternatives since you don’t see lots of us, even in girls’s sports activities on the increased ranges. That’s disappointing and it’s sort of lonely, to not have somebody there who really understands the place you might be,” she mentioned.
Barnes might be joined on the sector by Sarah Fleming, Sherri Vaughans, Fran Adams, Felicia Davis, Alona Alexander and Dominique Sutton together with clock operators Phylicia Cotten and Constance Clark and chain crew Tamika Lipsey, Timika Morris and Charmaine Smith.