Whistle Blown Wrong: Accepting Imperfections in Sports
By Riley Qiu ‘28
Serena Williams, one of the most prolific tennis players in history, holding twenty-three Grand Slam singles titles, battled in an exhilarating match with Jennifer Capriati in the 2004 U.S. Open quarter-final match. After the three sets of scores of 2-6, 6-4, and 6-4, the game ended in a controversial decision that led to Capriati’s win. However, someone other than the athletes drew the audience’s attention: the referee, Mariana Alves, who made several questionable calls during the match. In the mere two hours and fourteen minutes of the match, Alves made at least three major incorrect calls, frustrating Williams and the audience. Alves’ repeated immediate calls for replay heavily impaired the game’s flow, causing the fans to question the outcome. Even commentator John McEnroe had to exclaim, “Give me a break.”
Incorrect calls made by human referees have left their mark on sports history. Impactful games like the one between Williams and Capriati, obstructed by the mistakes made by Alves, have encouraged the continuous development of technology in sports review, like the “Hawk-Eye” electronic review technology. Though new developments are being implemented in games worldwide, amateur games like those hosted by high schools still rely heavily on human judgment. Therefore, frustrating mistakes are inevitable, especially in the lives of high school athletes.
Coach Rachael Abernethy of Girls’ Varsity Soccer revealed similar experiences. She claimed that at a game at Rivers two years ago, the Wolfpack was facing a loss near the end of the game. The team “needed a goal in order [not to] lose the game,” when a soon-to-be captain of the team was fouled. According to Abernethy, the foul was so severe that the player “flew in the air and fell on the ground.” Because the alleged foul occurred in the box, the referee should have granted Milton’s side a penalty kick and a goal-scoring opportunity. However, rather than calling a penalty, the referee let the game continue, and soon the clock ran out, leaving Wolfpack immensely unsatisfied.
Unexpectedly, later that evening, Coach Abernethy received an email from the referee. apologizing for the mistaken call. While finding mistaken calls “upsetting,” Abernethy offered an alternative perspective: though erroneous calls did change the outcome of the game, the referees are all part of the culture of the game. Without the superiority of technology during their soccer games, the human referees are part of the lesson that soccer teaches athletes, that is, to embrace all human errors. For the importance of learning to interact with referees, Abernethy expresses not wanting “technology to interfere with that human-to-human interaction.”
Indra Li ‘27 of Varsity Girls’ Volleyball also conveyed having experienced “frustrating” calls made by referees. However, she said, “There’s never been a perfect game.” Though calls can be upsetting to the team, Li believes that athletes should not channel “their anger on the referee,” because ultimately, one is not “competing against the referee,” but “against the other team.” While calls can cause bitterness during the game, these challenges can also teach the team to work together and beat the opponents with their skills. As Li put it, if the referee “is going to call [the team] out on their technicalities, then [they] just have to play even cleaner and deal with it.”
Ultimately, as Li asserts, “You can’t just focus on the past; just focus on the future and what you can do.” Indeed, a bad is merely one of the many challenges that athletes have to overcome in the game. While few athletes can resist the urge to channel their anger and frustration on an error made by a referee, many find value in the human interaction between players and referees.