The first call in the career of Amanda Sauer came in the stands of a high school football game in Westchester, N.Y.

There was no yellow flag and no conference with the head referee, just a casual observation from the bleachers that the refs on the field had missed a call.

The call from the stands caught the attention of a football official sitting next to her and helped launch her career as a referee. This year Sauer became the first woman to officiate a Mid-American Conference game. 

“I said something in the bleachers and the guy next to me was a football official and said ‘If you can see that from up here you should start coming to officiating meetings,’” Sauer said. "I just kind of fell into it that way and then it just kind of has taken off since then pretty quickly, from high school to college to Division I and here I am now working the Big Ten and the MAC."

Sauer now finds herself as center judge for Big Ten and MAC games. This season, she officiated games at Illinois, Iowa, Akron, and Toledo, among others. 

She officiated the Kent State vs. Toledo game at the Glass Bowl on Oct. 10 and worked a total of seven MAC games this season along with two Big Ten games.

Sauer was hired this year as part of the Collegiate Officiating Consortium, consisting of the MAC, the Big Ten, the Missouri Valley Conference, the Pioneer League, and four Division III conferences.

"The whole idea of the Consortium is trying to get better consistency across a broader landscape and I thought this would be a start in the right direction for a feeder program," said Bill Carollo, a former NFL referee and current coordinator of football officials for the Collegiate Officiating Consortium. "If you can start with people at 25 or 30 years old at the Division III level and work with them and give them the same training that you would receive at the Division I level, then that would create a larger pipeline to identify younger officials that meet all the criteria we looking for."

Sauer, 39, started officiating high school games in 2011 and has quickly moved up the officiating ladder. In 2013, she worked as an umpire for three Conference USA games and in 2014 worked four more Conference USA games as an umpire.

This year Sauer has transitioned from umpire to center judge, a new position this year for the MAC. The center judge brings each officiating crew to eight officials on the field.

As a center judge, Sauer lines up opposite the referee in the offensive backfield and has a different vantage point of the game from the umpire who lines up in the defensive backfield. She says she prefers the ball moving away from her as center judge as opposed to the ball, and often the players, coming towards her as an umpire.

"As umpire you watch the guards and center all day long," Sauer said. "As the center judge I am responsible for the left tackle, but I do have quarterback responsibilities, if he comes my way, I do help the referee out. We kind of tag team on quarterbacks and punts and kickers and all that stuff."

As a single mother of three children living in Oakmont, Pa., the officiating life can be tough on Sauer. She has to balance her weekly preparation for games with the day-to-day responsibilities of being a mother.

"During the week I am basically mom with them," Sauer said. "But, I watch football and study my rules every day. I scout the teams that I'm going to be working that weekend. I watch game tape from the week before. Then I do conference calls with the crew that I am working with that week."

The hiring of Sauer as a MAC official is an important step for a conference that promotes diversity among its workforce.

"It's important to us that we make efforts to ensure that we are doing everything possible to facilitate a diverse group of officials," MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said. "I think that is what Bill has done and continued to do. Amanda is not there because she is a female. She is there because she has earned her stripes and worked her way up through the system and has earned the opportunity."

Carollo, said he first heard of Sauer several years back when she was working high school games and some Division III games on the East Coast. He said he could see that she was talented but wanted her to gain more experience.

"She worked really hard and worked as many games as possible," Carollo said. "She continued to improve every single year and then she had the right chemistry and right character to fit into our officiating organization. You don't just go to a game for three hours and go home and do your regular job the rest of the week. It takes time, effort, and attention throughout the entire week and throughout the season."

In 2013, Sauer attended the NFL's Women's Resource Initiative in New York. The Initiative is offered by NFL Player Engagement and is designed to draw more women into the football community.

Through the initiative Sauer met Sarah Thomas, the NFL’s first female official. Sauer said she still leans on Thomas for advice and considers her a good friend and a mentor.

"Any time I have a question about football I will call her," Sauer said. "She's very good about the rules. She has clearly broken the glass ceiling and she has done it so gracefully, it's remarkable. So, I've learned a lot from her."

Thomas introduced Sauer to Gerald Austin, a former NFL referee and the coordinator of football officials for Conference USA. Austin gave Sauer her first opportunity as a college official.

"I'm learning a lot from Bill right now and I learned a lot from Gerald," Sauer said.

Sauer loves the back and forth conversation with players during games, she loves talking with coaches before the games, and she loves the camaraderie of each crew.

She said there is no better feeling than throwing a flag and knowing that you have made the correct call.

Officiating has become an integral part of Sauer's life and she encourages other women to get involved.

"It's unbelievable," Sauer said. "I love doing it and I love the people that I meet. It's so rewarding. I've never heard any flack from any player or any coach. The other officials have been very receptive and warm. I've never had any issues there. If you love watching the sport, you're going to love it a thousand times more to be involved and to be officiating it."

Contact Brian Buckey at: bbuckey@theblade.com or 419-724-6110.

First Published November 29, 2015, 6:23 a.m.