INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – The youth sports neighborhood in central Indiana is mourning the lack of a beloved referee who died during a highschool basketball game.
Witnesses stated Jeff Tamarri collapsed on the court after a medical emergency Friday night time.
Nicknamed Jeff the Ref, the 63-year-old Tamarri officiated 1000’s of youth sporting occasions over greater than 30 years.
From the basketball court to the soccer area, officiating youth sports wasn’t only a job for Tamarri. It was a calling.
“We all love it, but of the people that I know that really love it, Jeff is certainly at the top of that list. He was always out there for the right reasons,” fellow referee Kevin Brown stated.
That’s why Tamarri’s sudden dying Friday night time on the basketball court is so powerful.
“He truly died doing what I know he loved,” Brown added.
Jeff the Ref, as the children referred to as him, related with 1000’s of younger athletes over three many years in central Indiana. He grew to become an instance of integrity, coronary heart and love of the game.
“He had a calming presence, and I always said officials need to lower the temperature in the room,” Brown described. “Some people are really gifted at it. He was really gifted at it.”
Tamarri died simply shy of his sixty fourth birthday. He collapsed during a girls’ basketball game at Monrovia High School.
“It was a simple offensive rebound right in the middle of the second quarter, and he turned around to get position on it, and best I can tell, he had some sort of cardiac event,” Brown described.
The medical emergency prompted an enormous response at Monrovia High School. The Monroe-Gregg School District superintendent stated individuals within the crowd with medical coaching, workers and paramedics all tried to save lots of Tamarri’s life. The gymnasium was even cleared so witnesses and responders might work on him.
“I have no doubt in my mind that they did all they could,” Brown stated. “Unfortunately, I just don’t think there was much to be done.”
Now, these who knew Tamarri greatest are honoring his legacy, his huge smile, care for children and his affect on coaches, crowds and colleagues. Those related with Tamarri stated video games in Indiana simply received’t be the identical with out Jeff the Ref.
“We’d see a lot of faces, same faces, different sports, so from Grand Park to the youth leagues in Danville and Zionsville is where we worked a lot in the last few years,” Terry Taylor, who refereed with Tamarri, stated. “Yeah, there was a lot of upset kids Saturday when they found out.”
Copyright 2025 WTHR through NCS Newsource. All rights reserved.