Flag-football officials deal with a controversial burden every game they officiate: Rating a team based on sportsmanship in addition to calling the game.

Sportsmanship ratings are crucial to a squad’s future success. A poor sportsmanship rating after a game can affect future intramural eligibility.

Dan Payne, a recreational services graduate assistant, said sportsmanship rules must be implemented to keep the game fun and respectable.

“We have this strict sportsmanship scale because we want people to have fun, but not embarrass the other team while doing so,” Payne said. “We try to teach our officials to recognize that when somebody goes over the line … anything that is personal to the officials or another team that is not tolerated.”

After the a flag-football contest, officials meet and discuss the level of sportsmanship the competitors demonstrated. Using a scale of 1-4 — with No. 1 being the best sportsmanship and No. 4 being the worst — officials reach decisions under the criteria of how players treated the officials, opponents, and themselves.

A 4 score results in an automatic mandatory meeting between the team captain and Associate Director of Recreational Services Mike Widen.

Widen said only about five of those meetings have taken place this season, and all have run smoothly. The meeting is meant to get a player’s side while also letting the team’s captain know why Recreational Services doesn’t tolerate poor and demeaning behavior.

“Those meetings, I think, have been very positive,” Widen said. “It lets the captains know where we’re coming from with a sportsmanship emphasis, and it kind of gives me an idea of reasons maybe they think they’re getting the short end of the stick.”

Receiving a second No. 4 rating results in a flag-football squad’s dismissal from the league, which hasn’t happened this season.

However, even one low grade can cripple a team’s playoff hopes, because a team must maintain at least a 2.5 sportsmanship average throughout the season to be considered playoff eligible.

Additionally, a No. 4 sportsmanship rating in postseason play, which begins on Tuesday, results in the team’s elimination from the postseason.

Payne said flag-football should be conducted in a positive recreational atmosphere, and sportsmanship should never merit a No. 4 on the grading scale.

“Anytime an official hears something, we want them to penalize or hold that against a team,” Payne said. “The best thing [an official] can do is try to relate with the team and the players, make them aware that you, as an official, are not out to get them.”

Sigma Chi senior quarterback Nathan Ley said he dislikes how sportsmanship penalization is conducted, but he understands a policy must be in place.

While the rule and the official’s opinion of sportsmanship can sometimes be irritating, he said, he understands the difficulty of the job.

“I think people recognize that it’s just kids like us that are refereeing these games,” Ley said. “On some level, we hate them. On some level, we respect them. And on some level, we are impartial because we know they are just trying to do their job.”