The Olympics is the pinnacle of sport, testing the best athletes in the world against each other in the pursuit of golden glory.

But behind the athletes are some other elite performers, the officials. They too are the very best at what they do, and it is their job to ensure everything runs smoothly and efficiently throughout the Games.

Wadalba Community School PE teacher Zeke Newman and James Boyer from the NSW Department of Education’s School Sport Unit are among the many hundreds of officials supporting the world’s best athletes in Paris.

Zeke, at his first Olympics, is one of the elite hockey umpires at the Games. His love of hockey started as an 11-year-old on the Central Coast and has since taken him to all corners of the globe.

“I was a handy player in my teens. I played at a representative level, but when I was about 18, I realised that my future in hockey wasn’t as a player,” he said.

“I’d started umpiring as a 12 or 13-year-old and I realised that umpiring was my ticket to continue being involved with hockey at the highest possible level.”

Zeke has umpired the world’s best hockey players at tournaments on almost every continent, receiving his international badge in 2014.

Before flying to Paris, he said he was still coming to terms with achieving a long-held dream.

“It’s the Olympics, the pinnacle of every sport, but particularly hockey,” he said.

“You’re on the world stage, in front of everybody. I think that experience is what I’m most looking forward to.”

James, one of the world’s best basketball referees, is at his second Olympics after debuting at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

His journey to elite sporting officialdom shares parallels to Zeke, picking up the whistle from an early age.

“I started playing basketball at about 7 years old and around 12 I knew I was never going to make it as a player, which looking back on it was a pretty big call for a 12-year-old to make,” James said.

“When I was about 16, I remember I was at a goal-setting session, and I said I wanted to be an international basketball referee and to go to the Olympics. But to play out how it has – I never expected it.”

With one Olympics already under his belt, James said the goal this time around was to showcase his abilities to the world.

“Tokyo was a really interesting experience. Because there were no crowds, you almost felt a little ripped off,” he said.

“I got to referee one of the quarter finals in Tokyo and it was a one-point game that Japan won. It was an incredible game, but without the crowds there was something missing.

“It was a bit devastating, for the players and me. This time around it’s going to be very different. The atmosphere and the buzz.”

Both James and Zeke have chased their dreams while juggling full-time careers.

Zeke has been teaching since 2016 at Wadalba Community School on the Central Coast. James started teaching PE at Pennant Hills High School in 2008, before moving to the School Sport Unit in 2018.

Zeke said sticking with his umpiring pursuits, even while teaching, had paid dividends.

“Umpiring is a hard thing to do, particularly moving into senior hockey. A lot of kids will start umpiring but give it up well before they become an adult,” he said.

“For me, umpiring was an opportunity to be involved in the sport I love in another way and look where it’s taken me, but it also requires a lot of hard work and effort.”

James said much like elite athletes, sporting officials had to make sacrifices in pursuit of being the best.

“Getting to the Olympics was what drove me,” he said.

“I’ve missed birthdays, weddings. My sights were set on making it to the very top. There were a lot of sacrifices, the same as with any sport.

“There’s been self-doubt along the way, and at my first Olympics I kind of felt like I was maybe making up the numbers a little bit – perhaps a little bit out of my depth.

“But I’ve been in really good form this year and this time around I feel like I’m meant to be here.

“I know what it takes to perform, and at the end of the Games if I can say ‘I did a really good job’, I’ll be really proud of that.”