For the Love of the Game

Katie McCracken Gore has always loved the game of football. She grew up in the late 1980s and 1990s when the Dallas Cowboys were in their prime. Winning three Super Bowls in four years, the question was not will they make it to the playoffs, it was who will they play in the playoffs. This experience gave her a strong love of the game and a good knowledge base of the rules.

When Katie went to Lincoln Middle School here in Abilene, her dad, Brett McCracken, took his love of football to a new level. He started refereeing on his days off from being a nurse. During the season, McCracken was gone most Thursday and Friday nights, as well as Tuesday nights for the Abilene Football Officials Chapter Meetings. But Katie saw her father do something he loved as a side-gig to being a nurse. And from this early age, Katie learned the importance of exercising different areas of your mind and body. Nursing worked his mind and body in one way, and refereeing worked other parts of his mind and body.

Katie went on to Abilene High and was on the drum line with the marching band. To support her, McCracken took off every Friday night from refereeing (a coveted time slot) to watch his daughter play and enjoy the Abilene High football games. Katie enjoyed the game as a fan and by participating in creating the magic that music brings to Texas football.

In college, Katie was spoiled to enjoy the Texas Tech football games, with all of their tradition and pride. She met her husband at Tech. After the thrilling Tech vs. University of Texas game in 2008, her husband got hurt in the excitement of the win. The next day, as they were waiting in the emergency room for some care, Katie acknowledged the sacrifice she was making to be there with him. “The Cowboys’ game was on,” she admitted. She knew it was true love when he stood up slowly, through the pain, and changed the channel to the game.

The shift from watching football as a fan to refereeing as a job happened when Katie and her husband moved back to Abilene to work in law – her husband as an Assistant District Attorney with the Taylor County District Attorney’s Office, and Katie with First Financial Trust and Asset Management Company. Knowing how much fun her dad had refereeing, one day she asked him, “So, can women do this?” Her dad was enthusiastic and supportive from the beginning. This was right when Sarah Thomas started officiating NFL games. Thomas was the first woman to officiate a major college football game, bowl game, in a Big Ten stadium, as well as the first full-time female official in NFL history.

Katie started in the rookie class at Abilene Football Chapter of the Texas Association of Sports Officials. She was comfortable being the only female. Although walking into the full chapter meeting on Tuesday night for the first time was a bit intimidating – one female in a room of about a hundred men, the men of the Abilene Chapter were, and have always been, incredibly supportive, welcoming, and nice. Katie already knew so many of the other referees because of her father’s connections. Many of them had attended her wedding! Several extended offers of help on the field in the form of texting during a game if she had a question. Plus, people in the officiating crew work closely as a team to try to make sure every call is correct.

The officials in the Abilene Chapter are like family. They ride to games together and do pregame chats in the car. They make sure everyone gets safely back to the car, especially after a heated game. If a certain call is in question, the crew will work together to figure it out. Ultimately, the White Hat (Referee) has the final say. “Since we have the close-up perspective on the field,” Katie explains, “our view is limited. We all work together to make sure we make the right calls.” The default strategy is to flag anything in question and then discuss with the other refs.

Katie prefers being a Head Linesman. Details matter in officiating just like they matter in her career. As Head Linesman, she makes sure nobody moves before the ball is snapped. She verifies who is eligible to run down and catch the ball. Once the play starts, one of her duties is to watch the play unfold and track forward progress. She keeps track of penalties, timeouts, the line-to-gain, as well as sideline management of the players, coaches, and chain crew.

Refereeing is an active, dangerous job. Many collisions have happened, and once, Katie was knocked out and sprained her MCL. Her dad was across the field at that game. The one thing she remembers, though, is a woman in the crowd yelling to her, “Get up, Lady Ref! You can do it!” That gave her strength.

In January of 2019, Katie decided to start her own practice, focusing on estate planning, probate, and guardianship. She was able to get her practice established just before the shutdown of 2020. About six months after opening her practice, Katie gave birth to her daughter, Larkin, who is named after Katie’s dad. Because of the flexibility of owning her own business, Katie was able to stay home with her daughter and still grow her practice. She continued to referee as well.

Refereeing during COVID-19 was unpredictable. Often, games had to be canceled at the last minute if there was a Covid-19 outbreak in the team. But Katie still refereed, both while pregnant and nursing a baby.

Now that life is back to normal, refereeing has picked up again. One of Katie’s most exciting games was the Hawley/Albany rivalry game in 2022. Katie got to officiate that game with her dad. The teams were both expected to have fantastic seasons, and the game was lively. “I don’t even remember who won!” Katie explained, as she is more concerned with the details of the games and not the big picture. It does not matter who wins as a referee. And it shouldn’t. Officials are more concerned with ensuring the game is called correctly for the sake of the players, coaches, and fans. (Hawley ended up winning 26-14, and they went on to have an undefeated season.)

Katie Gore’s most interesting game to officiate was Lubbock Christian versus Argyle’s Liberty Christian. The game was held at Anthony Field at ACU as a central location for both teams. Not only was the game special because of being able to officiate at such a beautiful stadium, but also Katie found out one of her favorite Dallas Cowboys players, Jason Witten, was the coach for the Liberty Christian team. Luckily, Katie knew about this a few days before the game and could mentally prepare. She played it cool the entire game, but was not too proud to ask for an autograph on her game card and a picture with Witten after the game.

When Katie is in the stands watching a game, she is truly able to just be a fan. She is not critiquing the referees because that would take the fun out of football, and more importantly, officials do not criticize other officials. Friends who miss an exciting moment, though, will often bombard her with questions about the play. If her dad is around, he will explain things, but she tries to simply enjoy the game. “My husband cannot watch law shows on TV because the inaccuracies bother him,” Katie explains, “But I’m able to leave the refereeing on the field.”

Katie and her dad will officiate a few games together each season and enjoy every time they’re on the field together.

As Katie looks forward to this season, she mostly looks forward to those special games with her dad. “He was supposed to retire last year, but I begged him for one more season,” Katie said.

By Laura Daulton

Photos By Shayli Anne Photography