Officials rally to assist cancer-stricken friend
Amy Donaldson
In fact, it really didn't even slow him down. The 30-year veteran called the 5A state championship game.
But, despite being in good physical condition, his friends said he felt awful.
"After that tournament, he began to search in earnest for what was wrong," said his longtime friend and fellow official Stevan Davis.
The answer was something no one expected.
Critchfield had esophageal cancer that had metastasized in his back. It is as serious as cancer gets.
He called Davis in May to tell him.
"I was one of the first people he told," said Davis. "We began to talk what he should do ... We decided we weren't going to stand idly by. We were going to do what we could to fight it."
Critchfield's fight is one made more difficult because he is self-employed, as a real estate agent, and not only is he without health insurance, his cancer treatments have made it difficult for him to work.
"It was sobering that an athletic, very healthy guy could have cancer," said Davis, who met Critchfield while officiating basketball games at the local Mormon wardhouse.
"This" was officiating.
Wearing stripes at high school football games, basketball games and most recently volleyball games is the way Critchfield chose to serve the youths of this state.
Over three decades, he's officiated thousands of high school and college basketball and football games. He's called 18 basketball championship games and nine state football championship games.
"We just knew we had to do something to help," said Davis.
Officials are a sort of lifelong fraternity — only now a lot of women belong to the club. They are the people fans either never notice or blame with all the venom they can muster. Still, we cannot play the games we love without them.
This environment only bonds officials even more tightly together. They understand each other; they know what it feels like to be called names, threatened, even spit on. They know what it feels like to put on a uniform night after night for pennies so that teenagers can demonstrate their athletic talent, so that communities can rally around those teams.
"It's about the kids," said Clint Barnes, a friend and fellow official whose been at it for 42 years. "Our wives look at us like we're crazy when we go out and do it four or five nights a week. But the camaraderie is also one of the reasons we do it ... There is something about officiating where you bond together and there is always someone to help pick you up."
Recent comments
Mr. Critchfield,
if you remember me it may not be to fondly,...
Joel Pyne | Sept. 11, 2008 at 11:46 a.m.
Kelly,
I wish you well, you would not remember my name even though...
Fellow official | July 22, 2008 at 1:16 p.m.
Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement and praise. Although...
Kelly Critchfield | July 22, 2008 at 8:34 a.m.
