She’s Breaking New Ground as a Football Official

Crystal Nichols stood her ground as 900 pounds of Jordan and South Gate High football players barreled toward her at the goal line.

It was a short-yardage sweep. Linemen pulling, linebackers pursuing and a ballcarrier fighting his way to the corner of the end zone.

Nichols did not flinch as the bodies tumbled in a heap at her feet just inside the orange sideline marker. She stood at attention and blew her whistle as her hands shot straight to the sky: touchdown.

South Gate running back Jairo Garcia emerged jubilantly from the pile and did a double-take as he tossed the ball to the striped-shirted Nichols.

“Here you go . . . ma’am,” he said politely.

Crystal Nichols is not the first woman to officiate high school football games in Southern California, but she is a pioneer of sorts. Nichols is the first African American woman to officiate varsity football games in the City Section.

The thirtysomething Michigan native is an aspiring actress who dreams of playing Broadway, Giants Stadium and Madison Square Garden.

“When I’m on the football field, I’m on stage,” said Nichols, in her fourth season as a football official. “I’ve learned in acting classes how to relax in front of an audience and how to do your best and stay focused. Let me tell you, that comes in handy when coaches are screaming at you and you’ve got to determine whether there was a clipping penalty.”

Nichols is “the best lady prospect I have seen come through the ranks,” said Carver Shannon, a former NFL player and NFL referee who is instructional chairman for the the Los Angeles unit of the California Football Officials Assn.

“Crystal has excellent speed, and she’s willing to use it,” said Shannon, who played for the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears and was a back judge in the league for five years. “She’s still refining her mechanics and getting a command of all the rules, but she’s on her way to becoming a very good official.”

Nichols, 5 feet 6 and 125 pounds, also hopes to stay on track for a career in show business. A property manager by day and Beverly Hills bartender by night, she attends acting classes several times a week at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in Hollywood. She has modeled, appeared in a music video, done several small-budget films and stage productions and performed in several actors’ showcases.

But Nichols’ first love is sports. She played basketball, ran track and was a cheerleader in high school in Lansing, Mich. She works out with weights at 5:30 a.m. several times a week and is an avid golfer.

“I’ve always been an extreme tomboy,” she said.

Seven years ago, Nichols became a high school basketball official and set her sights on becoming the first female NBA referee. Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner achieved that distinction last season, and Nichols--who has worked several pro-am leagues and tournaments--would love to follow in their footsteps.

“You’ve got to have dreams,” she said.

Nichols’ foray into football officiating began as a way to sharpen her skills on the basketball court.

“A couple of my friends said that if I did football, it would make me a better basketball official in terms of presence, character and making you tough,” she said. “So I figured, ‘Let’s check this out.’ ”

Lee Joseph, a former Pacific 10 Conference football official who assigns games for the Los Angeles section, said it is not uncommon to receive inquiries from women about football officiating, but few follow through.

To become a certified football official, candidates must annually attend six instructional meetings and pass several rules and mechanics exams. They begin with Pop Warner games, work lower-level high school games for a few years and gradually take on varsity assignments.

“We get some women who come to a meeting or two, but they don’t seem to last very long,” said Joseph, who still works as an observer of officials for the Pac-10. “They might go out to a scrimmage and then we don’t see them anymore.”

Nichols can relate.

“I remember my first scrimmage,” she said. “Here I am in the middle of the field, plays are going on and I looked up at the sky and said, ‘Dear God, why am I out here?’

“But something inside me said, ‘Stay strong, stay strong.’

“After I got into it, I began to really love the game. And I have to admit, my legs were starting to get sexier from all the running I was doing. I know it’s a girlie thing, but I like it for a lot of reasons.”

On the field, Nichols wears her hair pulled back and tucked beneath her cap. From a distance, she looks like almost any other official.

“I didn’t know she was a woman until I gave her the ball after the touchdown,” said Garcia, the South Gate running back. “I was surprised, but as long as they are doing a good job, it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman out there.”

Coaches agree.

“It was unusual to see her out there, but it was also refreshing,” Jordan Coach Doi Johnson said. “She did her job quite well. I tried to voice my opinion strongly on several occasions, with words I’d probably want to take back, but she was unaffected. I was impressed.”

Nichols has also won the respect of her colleagues, many of whom have been officiating high school football for decades. She listens, she asks questions and she avoids making the same mistake twice.

“She’s getting better every game,” said Atwood Granberry, a 30-year veteran who worked with Nichols during the triple-overtime game between Jordan and South Gate a few weeks ago. “I think she’ll be around for another 10 or 15 years.”

Nichols hopes that her presence on the field will inspire other women to accept the challenge.

“When I’m officiating, a lot of the high school girls that are keeping stats for the team will ask me, ‘Do you think I can do that?’ ” Nichols said. “I say, ‘Of course. You’ll be a step ahead because you already know how to keep track of penalty yardage and you’re watching the game closely.’ ”