Monday Q&A: A whistleblower for all the right reasons

There might not be a more familiar face on the football fields, baseball diamonds and basketball courts of the area’s high schools than Bret Silveira.

For the past 30 years, Silveira, 50, has officiated games at every high school and community college in the area, building relationships with players, coaches and even some fans while keeping the peace during contests that through their competitive nature can become heated.

And among other things, keeping the peace in games is the direct parallel for Silveira between officiating and his full-time position with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department as deputy director of the Police Activities League.

The Ceres High graduate, who Thursday marks his 24th anniversary with the Sheriff’s Department, has no plans to hang up his whistle.

Q. I assume there’s a lot from your job with the Sheriff’s Department that applies to officiating.

A. I started off doing stuff with kids right out of high school when I started coaching football. I started officiating then, and this is my 30th year officiating basketball and baseball, and seventh year in football. Most of the stuff I’ve done in my life has been with dealing with youth – in good situations and not-so-good situations. Officiating is a way to stay in shape and give back to the kids. I enjoy being around the programs I played in when I was younger. I like staying involved and giving back to the community.

Q. Since you’ve officiated hundreds of games locally over the years, people recognize you when you walk into the gym. Since officials prefer to remain anonymous, is being recognized a good thing or a bad thing?

A. If you’ve officiated in an area as long as I have, it’s hard to be anonymous. I like to think that more of the fans would be excited when I come in, because I do have experience and a good reputation. But I understand that there are a portion of fans and coaches who aren’t excited, because maybe we haven’t had the best relationship in the past. But that comes along with the job.

Q. What’s the toughest part of officiating?

A. That’s a tough question for me because I enjoy officiating so much – as much or more than I did 30 years ago. Officials’ relationships with coaches have changed over the years, and I think for the better. There was a time when officials had an us-vs.-them relationship, but in the last 10 years, there’s been more communication between officials and coaches, and an understanding that we’re both there for the kids. That’s created better environments for officials and coaches.

For example, when Gary Porter first started at Modesto Christian in 1996, our relationship wasn’t the greatest and I’ll be the first to admit that. He challenged me and I challenged him right back. As we went through the years and I worked his games and his tournament, we got to be good friends. I was excited to see him retire and to be able to go out the way he did, and to be able to turn it over to a great young coach in Richard Midgley.

But that’s an example of how the relationship between officials and coaches has changed. Hopefully, I’ve changed with it, and I think I have mellowed a lot more. I do understand the relationship more and I certainly understand more that all of this is about the players, that we have to do what’s right for the players. As officials, we have to work hard and do the best we can, and the players will benefit from that effort.

Q. So if you had a dime for every time you heard a parent scream from the stands, “Over the Back!” or “Let them play,” or – my favorite – when someone confuses baseball with basketball and yells “Come on, blue ...”

A. That goes along with the job. It’s tough to take care of when you’re 19 years old and just starting as an official. You take it personal. But over the years, you realize it’s not you, it’s the fact you’re wearing the stripes. It’s the same at work in that it’s the fact you’re wearing the badge. As a sheriff, a lot of the time you’re working with people in negative situations, and they react to the badge, not you. It takes a long time to figure out how to separate that and to not take it personally. There are some people who get personal – some people whose games I would rather not officiate because there’s a personality conflict. Yes, that conflict is 50-50 most of the time, but in those cases, it works out better for the kids if you just stay away from their games.

Q. If you could say one thing as an official to parents whose kids are out on the court, what would it be?

A. Understand that the officials put in as much time, work and effort in the off-season with meetings, training and camps as the players do. The people who assign officials to games understand that and are making the effort to place the right officials with the right level of games. They should just let the officials call the games. If you have a question, figure out the right situation and meet the official one-on-one and ask them about it. Communication is everything.

Q. But if a parent walks up to you after a game, that’s generally not going to be a good situation.

A. It’s probably not. As I’ve matured and gotten older, I’ve tried to defuse those situations with something funny or not relating to the play or incident they’re talking about. Or I’ll simply admit that I make mistakes sometimes, but I am trying to do the best I can every time out.

Q. When I was playing, we’d occasionally get legendary local officials like Chuck Hughes, Jerry Streeter or Bob Stuhlman. If there was a real obnoxious parent in the crowd, maybe one of them would pull out a card that said something like “I am a trained official and you can be, too,” and it would have a phone number for an officials training program with an invitation to become an official. That’s one way to do it.

A. Yeah, back in the day, I’d offer my whistle to a parent from time to time. I’d tell him that we’d love to have him out here with us because we always need good new officials.

This story was originally published January 11, 2015 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Monday Q&A: A whistleblower for all the right reasons."