Manchester High School

Well for starters, I’m not quite sure whether or not it’s appropriate for me to be writing a review for this school. I know that you’re not supposed to be writing a review for a place you’ve worked at. Now I’ve never technically worked at Manchester High School as an employee of the school. But I have officiated a couple of their football games in the past. So that’s what I’m going to base the review on.
Now because Manchester is so far from the city, there aren’t a lot of officiating crews that are willing to make that drive. But as we were a new crew trying to make a name for ourselves, we put the word out that we were willing to go anywhere and Manchester gave us a call. Ended up working two games for them last season.
This is a school that knows how to treat officials. For starters they put us in a large dressing room with showers. Which is nice, considering some schools stick us in little more than a closet, which can be tight with five guys, three of whom are a bit on the larger side (which would include me). There were multiple showers so we didn’t have to wait and take turns, and the water was hot.
As for the game itself, it’s pretty standard during halftime for the hosting school to have either water or a Gatorade and sometimes a hot dog from the concession stand for the officials. That happened here. Pretty standard. What wasn’t standard was what they had waiting for us after the game. A giant box with one hot dog, one hamburger and one slice of pizza for each of us. Plus two Gatorades and one soda for each of us as well. Awesome!!! Seeing as how much of an appetite you work up when you’re officiating a game, and seeing that Manchester is in the boondocks with no place to eat anywhere close, it was very much appreciated.
Another big plus was the pay day. Usually officials have to fill out a pay voucher and you might not see a check from the school until a few days, sometimes a few weeks, and sometimes even a few months after the game. At Manchester you fill out the voucher and they write you a check right there. More awesome!
The only sorta, kinda negative is the actual playing field. Manchester just restarted their football program about three years ago after some time off (a couple of decades I believe). And because of that, it’s not the best field. Our second game last year was in the middle of rain and it had been raining the entire day as well. By the time we got there, the field was a giant mud pit. Water up to the middle of your calf. Could barely walk, much less run. Bleccchhh!
But overall, Manchester High School is a good school that treats the refs well. We have a game there this week, and I can’t begin to explain how excited I am.
Mahalo, and enjoy.