'Thankless Job': Referee For 42 Years Honored By Vienna Council

VIENNA, VA — With a nickname like "the Referee," there's no doubt Steve Salyer made an impact in his 42 years of refereeing in Vienna.

While he is no longer refereeing, Salyer got his time in the sun as Vienna Town Council honored him with a proclamation Monday. The proclamation presented by Mayor Linda Colbert noted Salyer was a longtime Vienna resident and refereed youth basketball since 1983.

The proclamation noted he refereed every level of youth basketball, also helped with Vienna youth football and coached youth basketball teams.

"Most years, Steve would be covering 11 games on Saturday and eight on Sunday," Colbert read from the proclamation. "Steve would consistently take time before after and during the games to speak to the players about the importance of good sportsmanship, fair play and solid fundamentals. Not only was he there to do his job, but also took pride in educating and helping to shape the younger generation of athletes into good role models."

Allen Kenney, a commissioner of Vienna youth basketball for several years, noted Salyer has been an advocate for refereeing amid refereeing being a "thankless job." There has been a growing safety concern from referees in American youth sports due to the behavior of parents or coaches.

"He was our first choice for a referee because he did such a great job of keeping the kids in line, but also teaching sportsmanship and also doing a great job of keeping coaches like myself in line, and I certainly benefited from Steve's wisdom on numerous occasions even we had disagreements," said Kenney. "It's a very thankless job to referee youth sports these days. And Steve did it with aplomb and also was a great advocate for the officiating community."