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Does Appearance Still Matter?


Bobref

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We are seeing increased prevalence among our younger officials of aspects of appearance that were once taboo, e.g., facial hair, visible tattoos, etc. Here’s an interesting take on it from Referee Magazine. Would love to hear some coaches and administrators weigh in on this. After all, you are our clients/customers.

https://www.referee.com/does-appearance-still-matter/

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On 12/23/2019 at 1:49 PM, Bobref said:

We are seeing increased prevalence among our younger officials of aspects of appearance that were once taboo, e.g., facial hair, visible tattoos, etc. Here’s an interesting take on it from Referee Magazine. Would love to hear some coaches and administrators weigh in on this. After all, you are our clients/customers.

https://www.referee.com/does-appearance-still-matter/

I used to have a vet on my crew who got an elaborate patriotic themed tat that went down his arm. He told me up front before he did it and offered to wear a flesh colored sleeve. I asked some AD’s and coaches about it. The answers were pretty predictable according to age. I didn’t ask him to wear a sleeve, however his employer does, Indiana State Police. 

I’m 54, I’m old school, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Clean shaven, good looking clothes, shined shoes. As a supervisor for club SB, I harp and harp at guys about their uniforms. Hard to take an official serious when he stinks and wears dirty wrinkled clothes, and 2-3 days beard.

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On 12/25/2019 at 4:37 PM, Impartial_Observer said:

I used to have a vet on my crew who got an elaborate patriotic themed tat that went down his arm. He told me up front before he did it and offered to wear a flesh colored sleeve. I asked some AD’s and coaches about it. The answers were pretty predictable according to age. I didn’t ask him to wear a sleeve, however his employer does, Indiana State Police. 

I’m 54, I’m old school, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Clean shaven, good looking clothes, shined shoes. As a supervisor for club SB, I harp and harp at guys about their uniforms. Hard to take an official serious when he stinks and wears dirty wrinkled clothes, and 2-3 days beard.

I like this answer from the standpoint that, until society/business has moved to a point where it won't have an impact, it has an impact.  I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that a person's ability is not tied to whether they have a tattoo or an earring or long hair, etc., but I'm also quite realistic.  As a university professor, I constantly get students complaining that, "If a company can't see past my *fill in the blank hairstyle*, my *fill in the blank number of piercings* on my *fill in the blank appendages*, and my *fill in the blank special piece of clothing* then that's their problem."  Note that this complaint often comes after the student has not made the next round of interviews or not gotten a job offer.  I'm in that same age group as you, just a little older, and maybe it's just a generational item, but I like the idea of making sure that I, or my students, remove any elements, both substantial and superficial, that may have a potential impact on letting their abilities shine unhindered by perception.  I know it's not necessarily considered fair, but if it's not their rai·son d'ê·tre, then I typically tell my students to weigh what ends up being most important and then going with that.  It's often amazing to me how many of them don't mind not wearing their nose rings from 8-to-5 if it means getting a nice consulting gig after sitting empty-handed for a bit.

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Right, wrong, or indifferent it’s a free country, you can choose to do whatever you want, but you can never escape the consequences of those decisions. 

I would also say it’s not just purple hair, gages in the ears, a hog ring in the nose, etc., poor grammar, poor social skills, and other non-appearance factors will also cause people to dismiss individuals. I will admit I’ve said more times than I care to remember made it known, I don’t trust people with a week handshake. After teaching my kids to be polite and say please and thank you, it was one of the first social skills I taught them, how to shake hands, and to never trust anyone that gives you a limp fish. Other tools like looking people in the eye when you’re talking to them, speaking up, being clear and concise, many of these skills are being lost as our society moves to less personal forms of interaction.

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On 12/28/2019 at 11:01 AM, Bobref said:

I just tell younger officials to look at the NFL and D-1 officials. They set the expectations of coaches and administrators. Disappoint those expectations at your own risk.

This is true but a side impact also is some hires are made not based on ability and experience but on physical appearance. The people working at those levels are still very good officials, but some are moving up much faster because they look the part. They would have benefited from another couple years each of high school and small college football. I think it has had at least a minor impact on the quality of officiating at the NFL and D1 levels.

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