Family in stripes: 5 decades of local basketball officiating

After all the years he and his family dedicated to officiating high school basketball in Snohomish County, perhaps it was fitting that Mark Myers was treated to one more exciting finish.

In Myers’ final game as a referee on Dec. 13, the Jackson boys basketball team hit a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime against Meadowdale. It gave Myers an extra four minutes of game time to soak up his final few moments behind the whistle, on an evening when numerous family members, friends and fellow officials were in the stands.

“It couldn’t have been scripted any better,” Myers said. “It’s funny, because as we get older, we get a little bit sore and a little bit less juice, but … it was just one of those evenings you didn’t want to end. All good things come to an end, but I couldn’t have asked for a better game.”

Mark was the last to hang up his whistle as a high school basketball referee in the Myers family, which has an extensive history of officiating in Snohomish County and the surrounding area. Over the past five decades, Mark, Dennis, Rick and Chris Myers totaled a combined 90-plus seasons on the court as referees.

“They are just so giving and caring and donate so much of their time,” said longtime high school and college official Steve Landro, who has worked alongside them all. “They’re all very helpful, great people. And officiating in Snohomish County would not be where it is today without them.”

A half-century family legacy

The first of the Myers family to officiate was Mark’s father, Dennis, who began in 1969 at age 26. Dennis had previously been working the game clock and keeping the scorebook for his brother, Roger, who was the basketball coach at Woodway High School.

“I decided I could do better than (the officials I was watching),” Dennis said. “And of course, I found out right away that it’s a lot harder out there.”

Dennis went on to officiate for 36 years and worked five state tournaments. However, his contributions spanned far beyond his time on the court.

Dennis was a three-time president of the Snohomish County Basketball Officials Association and wrote the association’s original constitution and bylaws. He also spent many years in charge of assigning officials to games throughout the area. And to this day, he still attends games as part of a program that observes officials and provides feedback to help them improve.

Dennis was inducted into the Washington Officials Association Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first Snohomish County referee from any sport to receive the honor.

“He’s helped me immensely, and everybody,” said Landro, who climbed into the college officiating ranks while continuing to referee Snohomish County high school basketball. Landro has officiated various levels of college hoops over the past 26 seasons, including five years as an NCAA Division I women’s referee. “He’s always been a great mentor, a great teacher.”

Dennis’ younger brother, Rick, began officiating in 1981, embarking on a 25-year career as a local basketball and football referee. Rick, who died in 2017, worked three basketball state tournaments and a football state title game. And like his older brother, Rick was also a three-time SCBOA president.

Rick’s son, Chris, now a King County detective, also spent a few years as a basketball official.

“(Rick) was one of the best people ever to help younger, newer officials,” Landro said. “He was always very giving of his time.”

With both his father and uncle heavily involved in officiating, Mark, 44, seemingly was destined to become a referee. As a kid, he often came home from school, took a nap and then tagged along with his father to watch whatever game he was officiating that night.

Even at that young age, Mark already had a strong understanding of the game. Dennis pointed to a state championship game he officiated in 1985.

“After the game I said, ‘Well, Mark, how (did) you like it?’” Dennis recalled. “And he said, ‘Well, dad, you missed the block-charge (call) on the baseline.’ So he was 12 years old, but he was already tuned in.”

Mark officiated youth basketball in the area as a teenager before beginning his SCBOA hoops officiating career as a senior in high school. He then spent the past 27 years as a local basketball referee — 20 years in Snohomish County and seven in the Seattle area — and worked five state tournaments.

“Just watching (my father and uncle) over the years, I was always just around basketball and fell in love with it,” Mark said. “… I had some amazing mentors, so I got to see how it was done right.”

A labor of love and sacrifice

The life of a high school basketball referee certainly isn’t easy.

On game nights, in addition to working their own contest, varsity officials arrive early to evaluate the junior-varsity referees. That makes for particularly long evenings, especially when factoring in traffic. And there’s also additional time spent at various meetings and camps.

Dennis and Mark both pointed to family support as the biggest reason they were able to officiate for so many years.

“A lot of people don’t realize the sacrifices that (officials) make,” Landro said. “It’s a lot of time away from family. … You have to have incredible spouses to put up with that.”

In addition to the time and travel commitments, the in-game criticism from parents and coaches can often make officiating a thankless job. However, Dennis and Mark both said that wasn’t as much of an issue for them.

“Snohomish County — our fans and the coaches — were not hard to work with,” Dennis said. “The fans didn’t ever bother me. I didn’t hear them. I guess that comes from playing baseball and fastpitch softball. You concentrate and you don’t hear the fans.

“My wife would tell me what they said afterward, though, and that was kind of interesting,” he added with a laugh.

In addition to their love of the game, Dennis and Mark said being around the players and the high school basketball community as a whole was a big reason why they kept coming back to officiate year after year.

“It really felt like a community,” Mark said. “That’s what I loved about Snohomish County — I got to know the coaches really well (and) I got to know players. … I just really, really enjoyed the people side of it.”

Decades of memories

During their lengthy careers, the Myers were part of many memorable games and moments.

One of the most notable was Snohomish star Jon Brockman’s game-winning, three-quarter-court heave at the buzzer against Mount Vernon in 2004. Rick and Mark both were on the floor for that iconic shot from the future University of Washington standout and NBA player.

“I’m on the baseline behind (Brockman), so I get to watch the flight of the ball,” Mark said. “Jon takes that one step, chucks it and I’m thinking to myself, ‘Holy cow, that’s going in.’ And sure enough, nothing but net at the buzzer. … The entire crowd at Snohomish emptied onto the floor.”

Brockman was on a long list of big-time players the Myers officiated. Yet while Mark acknowledged it always was a thrill to referee next-level talent, he said it was equally enjoyable to witness a benchwarmer get a few moments in the spotlight at the end of a game.

“Every kid is a unique situation,” Mark said. “It’s just been a ton of fun for me, all the kids that have come through. I can name a million kids that aren’t household names that were super special human beings and came from great families and really were program kids. Those kids stick out more than the big names.”

Two of the most memorable nights for the Myers came in the mid-2000s when Rick and Dennis got to officiate with their sons.

For the final game of Rick’s career, he worked with both Chris and Mark on his three-person crew. According to Mark, it was the first time three family members had officiated a high school basketball game together in Snohomish County.

“Rick was always kind of in the background and didn’t want the spotlight, so we tried to respect that as much as (we could), while making sure that we recognized the amazing (work) that he had put in,” Mark said. “… It was really a special evening.”

And near the end of Dennis’ career, he and Mark got to work a game together at Jackson High School. Mark said that was the main reason why he asked for his career finale earlier this month to be at Jackson.

“He was Superman to me,” Mark said of his father. “Being on the same floor with my hero was pretty awesome.

“He’s touched a ton of lives in this county (and) he’s mentored a lot of young officials,” he added. “I’m super proud to call him dad, just because of all the people he’s selflessly made better.”