
‘Sisterhood’: Sarah Alpough part of ground-breaking all-female officiating crew in Lafayette Parish
by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor
Sarah Touchet Alpough was going through her normal routine before officiating a District 3-5A girls’ game on Jan. 28 when Southside visited New Iberia Senior High.
After 15 years as a member of the Louisiana High Schools Officials Association, it’s like clockwork for Alpough to arrive ahead of time, get dressed, and meet with the other members she’s working with that night. It’s varied between two and three-member crews which carry different mechanics for those involved.
But this particular game, though, was different. Alpough was serving in the lead role of a three-person crew with two other women and the gravity of the moment hit her ever before stepping foot on the court.
Never had she worked with two other women on a crew, getting paired with UL-Lafayette students Peyton Hines and Alicia Blanton, a revelation that gripped Alpough when she realized it was a scenario that played out for the first time in Lafayette Parish history.
“I talk to them, and looked at them and told them how awesome it was,” said Alpough, a native of Erath. “Then tears started flowing. They’re looking at me like a deer in headlights. I told them they didn’t understand the magnitude of this. It may have been simple, but it was big. It really was big.”
Hines and Blanton are both in their first season as officials and were simply unaware of the ground they were breaking along with Alpough. For an association that’s battled to retain membership, especially females, the moment was a long time coming when Alpough made her two counterparts aware of their place in history.
“At that point, it was resonating with me,” Alpough said. “Then they got excited when they realized they were a part of history.”
Each week officials receive their assignments in advance for the week ahead and Alpough, the director of the City of Abbeville’s Tax & Permitting for the past 27 years, glanced at the email and noticed she would be part of a crew of three officials.
Alpough didn’t initially look at the composition of the trio that would have such large ramifications. As the lead official, she followed up in a group text to confirm their availability for the game and mentioned meeting up with them at the game.
“It didn’t really dawn on me,” she said.
The revelation finally hit home on the day of the game. She conducted her usual pre-game routine and convened with the principals from both school and security to lay out the ground rules which are standard before each game.
Before the teams were introduced, all three officials walked onto the floor together where Alpough could sense chatter in the stands.
“You could hear the fans,” she said. “The whole gym seemed to like it.”
Clearly, officiating crews with three people help to make games run smoothly and there’s a greater appreciation for well-officiated contests among coaches, players, and fans.
“I’ve done a lot of three-man games, and it helps out,” Alpough said. “I was so proud of them. They don’t have the three-man mechanics down pat because they’re new. They were so attentive to me as the leader, and I was directing them to do certain things with my eyes.
“I didn’t find they missed any calls,” Alpough said. “There was nothing strange or out of the ordinary that happened to make the coach that lost think they lost because of officials. I don’t want that to happen. They didn’t look like rookies on the court.”
Dealing with the pitfalls of the game
The 53-year-old Alpough’s a 2016 inductee of the Erath High Hall of Fame after a standout career in basketball and track.
Her leap into officiating didn’t take place until 2010, finally able to break through a barrier of ‘stage fright’ that lingered for over a decade.
“That had a tight choke hold on me,” she said.
Alpough’s foray into officiating almost didn’t gain steam. She nearly walked away on several occasions but resisted the temptation and decided to follow her heart.
Her love of athletics, which led to a place in her alma mater’s hall of fame, was the overriding catalyst for seeing her new endeavor through.
“I loved being a part of building younger players and I have carried that role into my basketball officiating role,” Alpough said.
The leadership she displayed during her playing days would serve Alpough well during her days as an official, especially when she progressed to the point of taking the lead role in games.
Alpough wasn’t deterred when retention in the association waned, especially among females. Pre-season meetings may have drawn a sparse number of between five and six women. That result could taper off because of the demands of the job that call for dealing with the verbal assaults launched from the stands by fans, or the sideline from coaches.
“You have to have tough skin,” Alpough said. “It was very rough. I went through crying spells. You go through a lot. For males it’s hard, but for us, it’s double for female and we have to work that much harder than our counterparts.”
Once officials are certified, having passed a test with a minimum score of 80, they can cut their teeth with middle school games for the year, before advancing to the second year like Alpough to officiating both girls’ and boys’ varsity games.
Alpough had a trusted confidant in Heman Broussard, who worked for 27 years calling games for the LHSAA, receiving plenty of input on her craft before he passed away two years ago.
“He taught me a lot about the game and officiating, how to handle myself,” she said. “He brought me under his wing. He trusted me.”
It was Broussard’s recommendation to Alpough that she get involved in officiating AAU games that would help take her to another level.
He was right.
“AAU has really molded me into the official that I am,” she said.
Most of the experienced officials told Alpough to expect a sharp learning curve until the fifth season when games tended to slow down.

After five years of laying the foundation, Alpough was ready to build a career that’s included being the lead official in two and three-member crews, along with her first appearance in 2015 at Marsh Madness in Lake Charles – home of the LHSAA’s state championships.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” she said of working the state championships. “I went and enjoyed it and if I go back, I’ll love it. If I don’t go back, I’m still going to be the best official every time I get on the court. You’ve just got to keep working.”
A week after the completion of the high school season, it’s back to the frenzied AAU floors where officiating upwards of eight games a day can be the norm.
Compound that with a taxing high school season and officials such as Alpough, trying to steadily improve with each game, can work up to eight months by the time AAU season ends.
“Would I do it for free? No,” Alpough said. “The extra money is great. All of these years when we were about to get off work, my co-workers wondered how I worked all day and went to another job. I told them it’s not a job and that it’s fun. At work on a game day, I’m anticipating going to the court. It’s extra money, you’re getting exercise and you’re doing something that you love. You can’t beat it.”
Developing a ‘sisterhood’
To handle the rigors of an eight-month season, Alpough attends CrossFit sessions five days a week beginning at 5 a.m.
“It’s no joke,” she said.
Maintaining a schedule of five games a week during the high school season also pushes the commitment levels of officials who can run up to three miles per game. Keeping a healthy, well-balanced diet is another component of becoming a successful referee.
“I’m not a small girl and never have been,” said the 5-foot-10 Alpough. “That’s a struggle, but I stay in shape.”
Alpough has remained compliant with passing grades each year on her annual certification test. She’s followed that by attending in-person camps every two years throughout the state, conducted by college officials.
“I always love to learn,” she said. “You can learn every day.”
That continues throughout the season where Alpough’s daughter or friend attends each of her games and film her in action. The immediate feedback on her mechanics and positioning on the court along with clips from Hudl tape, has been another teaching tool.
Officiating the game she once played has morphed into more of a physical contest where the footspeed of the players has increased noticeably, she said.
“We used to allow them to be more physical in 2010,” Alpough said. “Kids are getting injured so much that you have to change. If you put two hands on a player, it doesn’t matter if you displace them or not, it’s supposed to be a foul.”
Alpough estimates that 98% of her work during the high school season is derived from girls’ varsity games, both two and three-member crews, while that percentage shifts dramatically in the summer to officiating 85% of boys’ games.
What’s become of paramount importance during Alpough’s climb over the past 15 years has been the tangible bond enjoyed with other officials who faced similar odds to persevere.
Because of her persistence, Alpough has been part of a strong ‘brotherhood’ among the association to develop a growing ‘sisterhood’ that was on full display with Hines and Blanton for everyone to see last week in New Iberia.
“As long as God keeps me healthy,” Alpough said. “As long as he keeps these legs and knees able to run up and down the court, I’ll be there.”