This story appears in the May/June edition of USA Lacrosse Magazine. Join our momentum.

A three-time NCAA championship-winning goalie at Syracuse, Matt Palumb has carved out a similarly impressive career as an official over the last 30 years. He has been a USA Lacrosse member since 2006.

WHY I STARTED OFFICIATING

To be perfectly honest, I initially got hooked by the money. My grandfather passed on a 1973 Dodge Dart to me that I was driving around campus my freshman year at Syracuse. I couldn’t afford to keep gas in it. My dad was a teacher, a high school football coach and in the winter he refereed high school basketball. “Why don’t you get into hoops and ref before your season starts?” he told me. I realized I could leave campus for an hour and a half and do two city league rec basketball games and walk back into my door room with $38 of cash in my pocket. That wasn’t bad in 1987. I had the best pocket cash in college. 

BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT THE JOB

That we hold grudges or care who wins. There couldn’t be anything further from the truth. Film doesn’t lie. Regardless of the personnel or who’s coaching, we’re reffing plays, not people. Guess how many Syracuse games I have refereed in my life? None. There’s a great saying in officiating: “Anticipate plays, not calls.” You never want to anticipate a call. That’s the worst thing you can do.

WHY OTHERS SHOULD DON THE STRIPES

Officiating for me has been the biggest test of my composure, people skills and integrity. I’m going to get my son into it. It’s a wonderful growing tool for a young person. As you get into your late teens and early 20s and are finding yourself, it was the single most important thing that I was involved with that made me become a man, so to speak. I love it.

OFFICIATING PHILOSOPHY

You don’t want to be an “I got you” guy. I’d rather talk to you before and prevent it.

WORDS TO LIVE BY

These are games, and we have to remember that. It’s OK to have a little laugh here and there and enjoy it. That’s why we all got into it.

44

I was No. 10 in college because my idol was the goalie who played at Syracuse prior to me, Tommy Nims. He played football for my dad and died of a complication with diabetes when he was about 30. Becoming a ref, I wanted to shake that player mentality. 44 is the most famous number at Syracuse and was worn by Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, Derrick Coleman and more greats. When I was a student, one of our little watering holes on campus was called 44’s. I’m a Syracuse guy through and through. 

100

Average number of contests (lacrosse and basketball) Palumb officiated every year before the pandemic. 

17

The number of games Palumb was the head official for over the course of 17 days during last summer’s Premier Lacrosse League Championship Series.