353rd Armor Regiment Soldier referees games in spare time

Photo By Chuck Cannon | Sgt. 1st Class Donnell Macklin, Headquarters and Headquarters Ccompany, 3rd Battalion, 353rd Armor Regiment, acting first sergeant, referees a girls basketball game. Photo by Angie Thorne, Guardian  

FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, UNITED STATES

03.13.2020

Story by Angie Thorne 

Fort Johnson Public Affairs Office

FORT POLK, La. — Most Soldiers put a great deal of focus and time into training. But they do have interests and hobbies outside of their Army-fueled life. Sgt. 1st Class Donnell Macklin, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 353rd Armor Regiment, acting first sergeant, said he handles a lot of the administrative duties for his unit. That includes everything from combat readiness and training slides to taskings and more.
But when his day as a Soldier is done, Macklin puts on a different uniform. He has a life-long love of sports, especially football, which he has played since a child. That passion has given him the desire to work in sports. Macklin took that enthusiasm and channeled it into a job as a sports referee in his spare time. He said he feels his work as an official could help him transition from the Army and possibly into a career he will love as his retirement date draws near.
“My long term goal is to get into college officiating. After I get out (of the Army), I would probably start at the high school level, move into junior colleges and then work my way up to conference level play like in the Southeastern Conference,” he said.
Even though Macklin said football has his heart, he also calls games in basketball, baseball and softball.
That means he never takes a break.
“Those sports carry me throughout the year. It keeps me busy,” he said.
Macklin said his Family isn’t with him at Fort Polk, so he has plenty of time to focus on being a referee or umpire, depending on the sport.
“From the time I get off work, I stay busy with refereeing. I keep a calendar for my Army work commitments and a separate calendar for my sporting obligations. It makes my weekends go by fast and I love it,” he said.
Macklin originally thought he might go into coaching, but since he began refereeing a year ago he said his perspective changed. He said he enjoys being part of the action.
“Being an official puts me right in the heart of the game watching plays breakdown in real time. It’s probably a little more exciting than being a coach that only gets the sideline view of things,” he said.
Macklin is a member of different officiating associations that cover a wide range of games in multiple parishes including Vernon, Beauregard, Rapides and more. “The farthest I’ve traveled so far has been Tyler, Texas for a youth football tournament,” he said.
Macklin said distance doesn’t matter and he likes to stay busy.
“I tell all my associations and the assignment secretaries — the people that make the assignments — that that when I’m not at work, I’m always available to call a game,” he said. “That’s because I like staying busy, as well as seeing and experiencing new places. It’s an adventure.”
Another reason Macklin said he loves being an official is because of his interaction with youth and the passion they put into their sport.
“I think the drive that keeps me doing this is seeing the progression of kids learning and growing through sports. It’s something like what we do here in the Army by molding civilians into Soldiers. Coaches say they tell kids to do something a hundred times, but until an official tells them, it doesn’t always stick,” he said. “I like the idea of sharing in a small part of that kid’s success and then following them from youth sports to, possibly, college recruitment,” he said.
Macklin said at the end of the day, he feels like what he does also helps local communities in a small way.
“If you don’t have people willing to step up and call games, they aren’t going to happen,” he said.

• Date Taken: 03.13.2020
• Date Posted: 03.13.2020 12:11
• Story ID: 365167
• Location: FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, US