Referees are authority figures that have the job of presiding over a game from a neutral point of view and making decisions to enforce the rules and keep people safe. These rules are often put in place to create a fair game and to keep the participants safe. With improper rules, a game can quickly turn into a dangerous affair that is almost guaranteed to result in injuries. But even with proper rules, the referees need to enforce them to make the game as safe as possible for everyone involved.

Poor refereeing has become ever more present today since people have seen it as a way to make money. This is particularly true in lacrosse, as there are many referees that have never even played lacrosse before. This has resulted in poor officiating that has often led to dangerous games. Their lack of enforcement on slashes or hits to the head often leads to the physicality increasing in games as opposing teams seek revenge for each action. Eventually, this leads to violent plays such as head hunting, when a player attempts to only hit the opponent’s head with  baseball swinging slashes. Even if the referee does call a penalty, the player still had the chance of receiving a major injury. Proper enforcement of the rules will help keep both sides in check so that it is less likely for violent incidents to occur.

This is important in all sports, as safety should be a priority. While making all calls perfectly is an ideal, calling the dangerous penalties is more important than calling the gameplay ones, such as offsides. It is better that all players are able to walk off the field at the end of the game than for refs to call all the minor, non-violent infractions and potentially allow players to be injured. Referees should make sure to do their jobs correctly in order to make the game better for all and safer.