Bruce Hulion retiring from SC High School League

As Bruce Hulion cleaned out his office at the South Carolina High League, he packed up numerous mementos and awards he’d accumulated over the years.

One piece Hulion wished he still had was a rock that was thrown in his direction while officiating a McBee-Bethune football game several years back. Hulion said fans were upset by a touchdown call he made.

“The fans and coaches went ballistic,” Hulion said. “They thought I had blown the call, but the ball broke the plane of the goal line even though the player’s head didn’t.

“So the coach’s antics got the crowd fired up, and when we lined up for the kickoff, I heard thump and when I looked up I saw a rock the size of a grapefruit. To this day, I wished I would have kept it. I could have painted it, put McBee-Bethune on it or something.”

Hulion said instances like having a rock thrown were rare during his officiating career, which began in 1975. His last full-time season as an official came in 1998, and he has been the head of the SCHSL’s Commissioner of Officials for the past 16½ years.

But Hulion will retire from that position this week. Former A.C. Flora athletic Charlie Wentzky, who joined the league office last year, will take his spot as commissioner of officials.

“It is going to be quite different, but it is going to be another stage of life,” Hulion said.

Hulion still will be involved doing officiating clinics and some games, but nothing on a full-time basis. He said retiring will let him work more in his yard and hunt and fish more, something he hasn’t had much time for lately.

Officiating has been part of Hulion’s life since his brother-in-law got him involved when he was 25 years old. He doesn’t remember the first game he officiated, but first-year officials then were given primarily junior varsity and B team games.

Hulion remembers throwing his first flag back in a scrimmage at A.C. Flora High and how nervous he was during his first varsity game.

“I had no clue what I was doing. I knew the rules backwards and forward, but having to apply them was different,” Hulion said. “I actually lined up on the wrong side of the field. It was just nervousness and trying to do things right.”

After that shaky beginning, Hulion went on to a successful second career as an official. He estimates he officiated more than 500 games, been involved in 12 state championships and several all-star games in 25 years as a full-time official. For seven seasons, Hulion did double duty. He officiated college games in the Division II South Atlantic Conference on Saturday after doing games Friday nights while working his regular job as chief financial officer at the Public Works Commission in Columbia.

But that ended when former SCHSL commissioner Ronnie Matthews offered Hulion a job as the league’s head of officials.

“Can I start tomorrow?” Hulion remembers telling Matthews.

Hulion had to wait a few months before he began, but was glad to make his second career his primary job. He still referees a couple games of year just to keep up his certification and because he enjoys it.

As the state’s commissioner of officials, Hulion was responsible for overseeing the state’s 2,500 officials, which includes more than 700 for football alone. Some of his daily tasks include coming up with the officials’ schedules, which are done two weeks in advance.

Hulion also is responsible dealing with complaints from coaches about mistakes made on Fridays during football season. He spends Monday and some of Tuesday dealing with those questions and said there are generally around five to seven big complaints a week.

Hulion said he can tell when region play begins because there is a little more volume of complaints because of the importance of the games. He reviews the questionable calls and reports to schools and officials after he has watched the video.

“Everyone wants to complain about this call or that call,” Hulion said.

Any discipline done toward officials is usually kept private, but there are consequences for mistakes. Officials might be suspended for games and it will go against their rating score, which determines what officials are assigned to playoff games.

Despite public opinion, Hulion thinks officiating has gotten better. He says officials are better educated, they have access to more video and interpretations of rules and because there is more public scrutiny forcing them to be on top of their game.

“The joke around the officials association is you don’t want to become a test question next year if you mess up,” Hulion said. “If an official can do their job without anyone knowing they are there, then they did their job.”