'The best job I could possibly imagine' - #lakewoodnews

Castle Rock resident Dan Apol will be the only United States referee among the 16 who will officiate at the beach volleyball matches during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Apol, 44, who left for Rio Aug. 1, was not apprehensive about going to the seaside Brazilian city that has been plagued with adverse stories. The Summer Olympics officially opens Aug. 5.

Those stories have included the Zika virus threat, plumbing and electric problems in Olympic Village housing and polluted Guanabara Bay. And, on June 30, body parts washed up near the beach volleyball stadium on Copacabana Beach.

"I saw that they had found a leg by the stadium, and the next day I was reading the newspaper and saw they found eight burned bodies in New York City," Apol said. "I would be more concerned to go to New York City."

Apol has visited Brazil 10 times and says the people are wonderful.

"There are a lot of things that come in the media that are pretty negative about the Games coming up, but I'm pretty sure they are going to handle everything perfectly," he said. "I don't have any concerns."

Apol, who makes a living as a fulltime volleyball referee, started refereeing volleyball matches when he was a student at Michigan. He works NCAA Division I games and Paralympic matches and has been a ref on the FIVB Beach Volleyball Tour since 1999.

He also refereed the beach volleyball matches at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

"The first Olympics I didn't know what to expect," Apol admitted. "It was the most stressful 19 days of my life. For the last two months I've been thinking about these 19 days that are coming up and know it's going to be a pretty stressful time."

But experience helps, he said.

"I know what to expect on a lot of levels and it's not all fun. There's a lot of meetings and a lot of details."

Plus, the spotlight could at times be focused on him during the beach volleyball action, which will take place Aug. 6-18.

"It's on TV in front of millions of people and if you screw up it's pretty obvious," he said. "That's really something you don't want. You don't want to talk about that in meetings ..."

Referreeing beach volleyball can be different than calling an indoor match.

"Each has their own quirks," said Apol. "Weather is a lot to deal with in beach volleyball. We'll do six to seven matches some days on the big days of the tournament. It can be pretty hot.

"Basically as far as the calling, the ball handling is what gets the fans involved --; whether or not the bump (pass with both arms together) was hand-set cleanly or not. There seems to be a little contention with the fans. There are a lot of people hollering at you."

But the job is worth it.

Apol figures he has logged more than a million airline miles and travels about 100,000 miles a year.

"I get a lot of offers from people wanting to know if they can come along and carry bags," he said. "I'm never going to be rich in money from this, but rich in experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's the best job I could possibly imagine."

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/The-best-job-I-could-possibly-imagine,232899