For third-year Commerce student Aaryan Saxena, an extensive journey in refereeing started at just 13 years old.
Wanting to drum up some extra spending money as a young teenager, he noticed one of the only jobs available was refereeing youth soccer games. With a pre-existing love for the sport and interest in earning his own allowance, it was an easy decision to study for the required exam and pay the fee to begin his career.
When he arrived as a first-year student at the University, he visited a job fair at the Aquatic and Fitness Center and ended up being hired as a student referee for U.Va. Intramurals. Two years later as a third-year student, his passion has taken him from the AFC courts to Division I games and even to Europe. While officiating on Grounds, however, Saxena takes the lead on managing equipment, overseeing athletic facilities, keeping raucous playoff environments contained and maintaining a safe and fun environment for fellow students.
During his tenure at the University, Saxena has advanced at U.Va. Intramurals to serve as an Intramural Sports Supervisor, where beyond officiating games, he has trained and advocated for more than 80 student hires.
Though most student referees view the job as a way to make money and stay involved with sports they love, for Saxena, officiating takes on a different meaning.
“I really appreciate the responsibility and the turbulent environment of officiating in a high-stakes situation,” Saxena said. “It [is] an adrenaline rush that you just can't buy anywhere else.”
He also said that officiating allows him to foster a collaborative athletic environment for students.
“There's something I really enjoy [about refereeing], a certain part of the integrity of the game, working with the other people to help maintain a safe, fair and fun environment,” Saxena said.
Even in a sports culture where blaming the black-and-white stripes is a national pastime for viewers — with vitriol trickling down from professional to fraternity leagues — referees of all sports have a primary responsibility to uphold the rulebook.
But Saxena takes the pressure in stride, respecting the regulations while simultaneously balancing positive relationships with players.
“You learn a lot about communication, what to say, how to say it, how to manage people in very difficult situations and de-escalate them,” Saxena said.
Still, he recognizes that the position is not a good match for everyone. Saxena said that the environment requires a strong ability to mediate between groups without backing down. Although it has its share of difficult moments, he notes that the energy from fans and players — even when directed against him in tense playoff or championship matches — is one of his favorite aspects of the job.
Spurred by his depth of experience, Saxena has developed a strategy for refereeing intramural sports where he incorporates a certain level of flexibility towards rules depending on the sport or kind of team involved. Players often have different stances about how strictly they want to adhere to a rulebook, so Saxena prefers to create a dialogue between the teams and himself.
In his view, creating a positive student experience is more important than calling every single offsides in soccer or double dribble on the AFC courts — particularly for teams who just want to shoot around or want less interruptions to the pace of play.
“If both sides agree on a certain style of playing and they're happy with that and it's not jeopardizing anyone's safety, then I adjust the style of management and player coordination … to make sure that I'm providing the best experience that I can,” Saxena said.
This style of officiating is certainly more demanding, requiring him to be in tune with both game rules and active play. However, Saxena sees it as a valuable part of his work.
Though he has already accumulated a laundry list of accomplishments, Saxena’s almost decade-long stint is nowhere near approaching a halt. He has aspirations of pursuing refereeing professionally and has even written an unpublished book on the subject. Titled, “The Politics of Officiating,” the book details Saxena’s unique philosophy — that refereeing is ultimately a consumer service, even at a professional level.
Although the salary for a professional referee relies on abiding by and enforcing a rulebook, their decisions often determine fan experience. On top of the usual emotional investment from die-hard supporters — made even more intense by the expense of attending professional sports games — Saxena said that a sharp increase in sports betting adds another layer of stakes to the work referees do.
“A lot of money could be riding on single pass interference … it's a very multifaceted profession at higher levels,” Saxena said. “There's a lot of nuances that go into the work that we do as officials, and it's more than just making the right calls or wrong calls.”
Beyond intramural games, Saxena has worked up to officiating NCAA Division I soccer games in the Sun Belt, Atlantic 10 and Big South Conferences. Further experience in the United Soccer League and Major League Soccer NEXT shows Saxena has plans to keep advancing.
Refereeing has even taken him across the world, with him recently concluding a summer in France officiating U17 and U19 teams, as well as working in Germany, England, Albania and Egypt, taking his experience worldwide and learning from other officials as well as players who have their own approach to the game.
“You learn a lot from the players, and you learn a lot about the game environment. Getting that experience is essential to trying to move up.” Saxena said.
Looking ahead, Saxena notes that pursuing professional refereeing is a steep uphill climb. For the NBA, potential referees undergo a lengthy training process. For professional soccer leagues like FIFA, the training process can last over a decade, with similar timeline requirements for major global tournaments such as the World Cup. Relationships between referees are no less important than passing fitness and game rulebook training sessions, and upward movement can be extremely daunting.
“It is certainly an industry where you can be the best ref and still not move up,” Saxena said.
For now, he will settle for being a familiar face for students who frequent the AFC and intramural athletics. Despite the job’s complexities and stressors, Saxena says there’s no place he would rather be.
“No doubt [refereeing] has been the greatest time of my life, these last eight years, and especially the last three years here at U.Va. as an official,” Saxena said. “It's been absolutely fantastic.”
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