Staff Writer
Born on Sept. 26, 1947 to Austin and Ola Orser, Harry Orser grew up in Mars Hill. His father was employed at a local furniture store while his mother worked at a bank on Main Street. Orser attended and graduated from Aroostook Central Institute in 1965, and, in 1966, the school was renamed Central Aroostook High School. After Orser graduated, he headed to Ricker College, where he studied to acquire a bachelor of arts in business and economics in 1969. But two years prior, Orser had refereed his first basketball game, an event that would lead to a 40-year involvement with the sport of basketball.
“Tom Griffin encouraged me to get involved back in 1967,” said Orser, who started officiating middle school games in Mars Hill. His going rate was $5 for two games which may have been why the County native decided to enroll in the class and become certified.
After taking the written test, Orser was required to take a floor test in order to pass the course. “Back then, we didn’t have the striped shirts. Officials wore plain gray shirts but the candidates had to wear starched white dress shirts for their floor tests. The president at the time, Mr. Crawford, was an old military man and he required that we all be white-walled on the sides, too.” Orser headed up to Fort Kent with two other candidates to referee the Fort Kent-Madawaska junior varsity game. “Back then, Madawaska and Fort Kent had a rivalry similar to Caribou and Presque Isle. They were Class A schools, and it was packed. We got there for the JV game and it went into triple overtime,” recalled Orser.
Despite the pressure, he passed muster and became a member of the Northern Maine Basketball Board in 1969. That game was the first of many he would attend that winter. “That first year I started, I spent a lot of time subbing so I was free to travel anywhere. I refereed 89 games that season, anywhere from Fort Kent to Island Falls.” Orser also did some “international” officiating that first year. “Bud Porter is an honorary member of the board and he used to take Roger Shaw and myself over to Canada for the men’s games. We learned how to referee when the play was more rough and the language was harder.”
With hard work and a love for the game, Orser quickly progressed up the officiating ladder. “I made it to the tournament for the first time in 1982,” said the veteran ref, beginning a traditional trip to Bangor every February that would last 25 years. The last time Orser was in Bangor to officiate a tournament was 2007. “I chose to be done then,” he said. “I wanted to open up a slot for a younger [official] to go … since I’d been down so much.”
Orser’s experience wasn’t just limited to middle and high school, and officiating college-level games is like learning a whole new way of refereeing. “I officiated college games for about 30 years around Machias, Husson, UMPI and UMFK, but I preferred high school. They’re really two different ballgames,” he said. “Anyone who does both needs to learn to separate the two. The rules are technically exactly the same,” Orser said, “but colleges want to get away with more pushing.”
While making high school calls at a college level game might be annoying for teams, Orser cautions against doing the opposite. “If someone refs mostly college games, they might tend to let a little more go in high school, but that really shouldn’t happen.” Maine has seen a decrease in this problem though, thanks to Peter Webb, who has made an obvious effort as MPA commissioner to unify Maine’s high school-level sports.
“Officiating,” said Orser “means having a level head.” Emotions aren’t a requirement for the job. In fact, they’re quite the opposite and the best referees are typically the most calm. “Mike Cote is a good example. He just went out there and did his job. Ideally,” Orser explained, “the fans should forget who’s refereeing.” And that happens when referees remain composed. “Bob Buckley is pretty easy going too. He just does his job – nothing fancy. You’ve got to be Mr. Cool out there and, once it is over, leave the game there.”
Refereeing nearly 2,000 games in a 40-year span means officiating at least one or two generations of athletes, but Orser finds humor in his longevity as an official. “I was [refereeing] a girls game about five years ago and I called a foul on the end line. The girl I called the foul on turned around and said ‘Didn’t you referee for my mother?’ And I felt like saying ‘No, it was probably your grandmother!’” said Orser, laughing.
And not only has Orser seen numerous family members play high school ball, but he’s also witnessed gradual changes simply in the rules of basketball. He had just become an official when Northern Maine when from having two to three officials per game. “It changed because of the constant pressure, motion and spread offenses and the three-point shot,” he explained. “The county was the first area in Maine to [move from two to three officials] and they made that change in 1970-71. I was still pretty young but that rule change helped me referee some extra varsity games.” But the rule was initially dropped and brought back in about 12 years ago.
“The tournament used to only have two officials per game, but once they started using three officials in Bangor, schools around Maine started using three as well.”
After officiating six state games, traveling to Bangor for the better part of 25 years, and refereeing the Caribou and Presque Isle rivalry games five times, Orser decided to retire from active officiating. “I was playing my retirement year by year and every year someone would say ‘No, you’ve got to come back,’” said Orser. “I chose to end my time in Bangor in 2007 and to retire this year … I decided to go out on my own.” And the veteran official certainly has his reasons. “I just decided that 40 years was enough. Refereeing is a young man’s game and very few people go over 40 years as active officials. They gave me a nice rocking chair with my name on it,” he said, smiling.
Now serving as an inactive member, Orser’s time as a referee has come full circle. Since taking his first refereeing class, taught by Peter Webb in 1968, Orser has served in various roles. In the past 20 years, he’s served as board president, secretary and interpreter. “I started teaching the officiating class in the mid-90s, when I became the interpreter,” he explained. Beyond advertising for future candidates, Orser’s job as interpreter includes teaching a four-month class from late September to early December. “The class meets every Monday night during that time and from there we take perspective referees to floor tests.” As time has passed, Orser has experienced more of a challenge recruiting younger people into officiating. “There’s so much more to do now, and game start earlier. The average person works later, until 5 and doesn’t have time to get to a 5:30 game,” Orser said.
Throughout his journey as an active basketball official, Orser has had many influences but the one person he is most thankful for is his wife, Rhonda. Orser and his wife will have been married for 40 years next August, and he couldn’t have done as much as he has without her. “To be a ref or any kind of sports official, you need to have an understanding wife,” explained Orser. “She washed my uniform so many times. During one stretch, I officiated 47 consecutive high school and college games, and I’m very thankful for my wife for putting up with this for 40 years.”
Orser may not be actively officiating Aroostook County games any longer, but his love for the sport remains obvious. “Basketball is a thing you’ve got to want to do. You’ve got to want it and put the time into it.”
Staff photo/Abigail Hunt
FORMER BASKETBALL REFEREE Harry Orser retired from active officiating earlier this year. Orser spent 40 years officiating high school and college games, traveling to Bangor for the annual tournament 25 times before stepping down as one of Aroostook County’s longest active officials.
