Two students put their life ‘on the line’

By Nikki Leonardo
Photo by Glenn Judah

PHOTO CAPTION: Flagler baseball players and volleyball line judges Glenn Kiture and Brett Cooper discuss the ongoing volleyball match between points. Both Kiture and Cooper are Sport Management majors at Flagler. They volunteer as line judges and Kiture says there is no pro Flagler bias.

It has been a really close game with the scored tied. Embry-Riddle sets the ball, and the middle blocker attacks. The ball lands on the line. What is the call? In or out? It all comes down to Flagler athlete, Glenn Kiture, line judge for the Flagler volleyball team.

Kiture’s line judging career started as a favor to a friend, and it turned out to be something he enjoyed and has continued.

“The first match was difficult for me because I was nervous, but now I got the hang of things,” he said.

Line judges do more than call the ball in or out. They have to handle judging matches involving girls they may be friends and classmates with, which could cause conflicts on and off the court.

According to Kiture, “It’s nothing really to handle. They know that I have to be fair to both teams and I will not cheat either [team].”

Kiture is a junior on the Flagler baseball team, and is able to handle the heat from arguing teams and fans and looks at judging the games as an opportunity to prepare for the baseball season that lies ahead.

“I actually like a little bit of heckling,” he said. “It will prepare me for what my teammates and I will have to go through when our season starts.”

Being an athlete at Flagler may make it difficult for someone to be impartial when judging a game, but that never crosses Kiture’s mind.

“It’s not that hard at all,” he said. “There are athletes on both sides of the court and I respect each and every one of them. So I try my best to make calls to the best of my ability.”

A down side to being a member of the athletic department and line judging is the possibility of his credibility being questioned. Even though he hasn’t been judging for very long, he hopes it is something that will never happen.