Debra Schamber (center), a 25-year officiating veteran, became the first woman to work a 5A football championship game on Saturday. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
Debra Schamber became the first woman to officiate Colorado’s Class 5A football championship game when she and her crew handled the Cherry Creek/Valor Christian matchup on Saturday.
“It’s not about the individual accomplishments,” Schamber said on Monday. “We’re a crew. Can’t do it by myself.”
Cherry Creek won the game, 25-24, in what some are already calling a classic.
“It was a good game. I enjoyed it,” said Schamber, who ran track at Manual High School. “From my perspective, it was an easy game (to officiate). It was two good teams. They just wanted to play ball.”
It was the second championship game for Schamber, who also did the 1A game in 2007. She has been a football official for 25 years, and is also a 19-year veteran as a basketball referee.
Schamber (far left) and the rest of her crew before the 5A game Saturday. (Jack Eberhard/JacksActionShots.com)
“She’s really the consummate professional official that gives credit to her crew,” said CHSAA associate commissioner Tom Robinson, who oversees officials. “She always stayed under-the-radar with no complaints about games she received or didn’t receive. And all the while, she was working to be the best official she could be.”
That Schamber became the first female official on the 5A title game was a particularly fitting, Robinson added.
“Because of who she is, it really is more about it being a pleasant surprise,” he said. “It’s not something that was orchestrated. It was natural and organic — one of those, ‘A-ha! That makes sense.'”