From Jr Refs to MOA: Fairfield’s Six Young Officials Are Changing the Game

On winter nights in Fairfield, when the gym is loud and the student section louder, most eyes are on the players. But a growing story is happening in stripes, with six Fairfield teens who have traded rooting from the bleachers for calling the action on the floor. Every one of them began in the 127 Sports Intensity Jr Referee program. Today, they are registered members of the Montana Officials Association, working meaningful junior high and youth games—sometimes officiating the very friends they still pass in school hallways.

High school seniors Deron Lear, Travis Cartwright, Reed Von Stein and freshmen Cameron Keel, Ryan Mathison, and Beckett Rau didn’t begin under the bright lights. Their first whistles came in elementary and middle school gyms, learning to make confident calls while parents watched from just a few...