The lights flash in Moby Arena. Inside the tunnel, the players are all excitement and fired up energy. The voice of the announcer booms over the PA as the teams rush onto the court. Jorge Perez (B.A., ’89) smiles as the players suddenly realize they’re playing in front of thousands of people. Perez blows his whistle, tips up the balls, and races up and down the court as the team of young kids, known as the Junior Rams, get their first experience playing in Moby Arena in front of a roaring crowd.
“It’s one of those experiences they’ll always remember,” Perez said. “I enjoy seeing the community coming together and seeing the families cheer on their kids.”
Since 2013, Perez has been officiating Junior Rams games. The Junior Rams are a joint venture between Colorado State University and the City of Fort Collins that not only helps instill Ram pride in local youth at a young age, but also gives the players the unique opportunity to play on Canvas Field and in Moby Arena during halftime of Rams home games.
“I’ve really come full circle because I used to attend this fine institution and now here I am officiating the Junior Rams games.” Perez said. “It’s a good way for the city and the University to come together, and I’m lucky that I get to give back to CSU in this way.”
In many ways, Perez and Moby Arena have always been linked and many of the milestones in his life seem to connect back to the building named after that famed white whale.
“Here’s an amazing fact: I played basketball for [Poudre High School] and we got to play games in Moby twice in 1983. My high school and college graduations were in Moby. I coached basketball camps at Moby and now I officiate games here,” he said with a smile. “I just laugh that I’ve been in this town for 51 years and have been in Moby many, many times.”
Perez arrived in Fort Collins at the age of eight and after going through the Poudre School District, headed over to Northeastern Junior College in Sterling before enrolling at CSU.
“No one in my family went to college and when I look back at not having anyone to give me advice, I made some mistakes and had to learn along the way. I’d always enjoyed history and my social studies classes, so I decided to transfer to CSU,” he said.
Working to put himself through college and taking the experience one day at a time wasn’t always easy for Perez, but when he graduated from the College of Liberal Arts with a History degree he landed his dream job and became a social studies teacher in the same district he had grown up in.
“Many of my college classmates who were teachers had to go out of town or even out of state to fulfill their dreams, but I only had to go two miles,” he said. “I’ve been very lucky to have taught in the district where I graduated elementary, junior high, and high school for 20 years.”
After two decades of teaching, as well as coaching many of the school’s sports teams, most people would have happily retired, but then he got the opportunity to try something new.
“Since I’d been coaching for all those years, I was told they needed referees at the basketball camps held at CSU, so I decided to try it and wound up starting an officiating career at the end of my teaching career,” he said.
Perez enjoyed being a ref so much that he began officiating for the City of Fort Collins who would eventually hire him as the Athletics Supervisor for its Parks and Recreation Department where, among many other duties, he gets to train and teach the next generation of referees.
“What I didn’t realize existed until I got into it is there’s a real fraternity between the officials where we’re all friends with a bond that extends on and off the court. You kind of have to be because no one is ever cheering for us” he said with a laugh.
Be sure to check out (and maybe cheer on) Perez as he officiates the Junior Rams during halftime on March 5 when the Rams take on Boise State at Moby.
