Sports Official

Words by Terrell Manasco | Images by Al Blanton 

“Most people think you just go out there and blow your whistle,” says Bruce Kimbrell, relaxing in a living room chair as a steady rain patters against the windows of his home. 

Every weekday, Bruce wakes up at 4:15 a.m. and hits the gym. After a shower, he pulls on a blue Oxford shirt with “Cook's Pest Control” stitched on the pocket, the uniform he’s worn for over 20 years. 

“I'm what they call an ‘out-of-towner,’” he explains. “I’m fortunate to work out of my house.”

If you’re at a sports event, you may see Bruce wearing another uniform—one with black-and-white stripes. He began officiating AHSAA high school basketball and volleyball around the time he started working at Cook’s. “Some friends, including Willie Moore, said, ‘Why don't you come call basketball with us?’” Bruce recalls. “I’m thinking, ‘How hard can it be to blow your whistle?’”

The answer came soon enough. The first time he blew his whistle, nobody stopped. “They kept playing because I didn't blow it very loud,” he says. “But when you first start out, you're so intimidated.”

Bruce’s officiating schedule keeps him much busier since he added high school football and women’s college basketball to the slate. Sometimes that means traveling to games all over the Southeast. He has five or six collegiate supervisors and works the Gulf South, Peach Belt, and Southern States Conferences, as well as the local junior college circuit. “I’ve done Wallace, Hanceville, Lawson, and Shelton State,” he says. 

Bruce then recalls a humbling story in his officiating career. “February 17, 2018. We're at Columbus State,” he begins, his words slow and measured. “My wife, Connie, was with me. They told us it was Armed Forces Appreciation Weekend. I'm thinking, okay, they’re going to recognize them. Connie took a picture before I came out. She said, ‘You’ll be amazed when you come out of that locker room.’”

Rising from his chair, Bruce holds out his phone. “This....is what we walked out to,” he says, pointing to a photo in which the basketball stands are packed with over a thousand members of the military.

“They all marched in. It was...unbelievable,” Bruce continues. “Their band performed the national anthem. It was moving. I mean, you're here to do a job… and they're the reason you're able to do that job.”

Bruce reckons he’s officiated over 1000 games—just in basketball—averaging 40 to 50 per year. He emphasizes that it’s not about earning extra money.

“We take officiating very seriously,” he says. “Good officials pay $300-$500 for camps during the summer and have study groups to work on our craft—because we love the game.”

Traveling is a plus, but Bruce says the camaraderie is what he enjoys most. “I have made some lifelong friends that are my best friends to this day,” he says. “It's a great fraternity.” 78