Chris Slovick doesn't believe in doing one thing at a time.

The more plates he has spinning, the better.

He had four majors at two colleges, and he officiates as many as four different sports in the course of a year.

Look up multitasking in a dictionary and one would see a picture of the 25-year-old Saxonburg resident.

"Thank God for early November," Slovick said. "That's the only time I get off. That's it."

Not that Slovick is complaining. If he's not officiating a basketball game during the winter, he's most likely watching one as a fan.

"I don't have much of a social life, I guess," he said, laughing.

How can he? In the fall, he does 10-plus high school varsity football games. Throw in three junior high games each week and his schedule is jampacked.

Things really get hectic for Slovick in the winter, when he does as many as 80 basketball games throughout the season.

In the spring and summer, baseball and softball games occupy much of his time.

He's also a substitute teacher by day.

He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with degrees in English, rhetoric and journalism and got his undergraduate teaching degree from Slippery Rock University.

His passion for officiating began on Aug. 8, 2003.

"I was working for minimum wage at Trader Horn and wanted to do something else," Slovick said. "My brother drove me four hours to Harrisburg to take a 30-minute test and then drove me back four hours."

His passion quickly grew and he added more and more sports to his docket — even Australian Rules Football.

He officiated that sport for a league at Schenley Park. But the league fell apart.

"It's a great sport and it has a cult following," said Slovick, who remembers watching the game on ESPN growing up. "That would have been my fifth sport."

But Slovick is content to stick with the four he already officiates.

He said he enjoys football the most, but is addicted to officiating basketball games.

"I compare it to cigarettes," Slovick said. "You know it's going to kill you one day, but you keep going back for more."

There isn't a game Slovick will turn down.

"The only way to get better is to do those games at 8 a.m. on a Saturday morning — doing the games no one else wants to do," he said. "I do 80- to-90 (basketball) games a year, and 40-to-50 are games no one else wants."

Slovick hasn't had much trouble with coaches, players or fans.

He's quickly learned what to do, and more importantly, what not to do.

"If you are hearing the crowd, you're attention is someplace you don't want it to be," Slovick said. "Then you start making mistakes. When I do a game, I rarely hear the crowd."

While Slovick started young in the game of officiating, Joe Drobney of Harrisville is what one would call a late bloomer.

"Let's just say I'm in my early 50s," he said, being coy about his age. "I don't see myself as an old-timer. It's never too late."

Drobney officiates baseball and wrestling.

He is planning on getting certified as a football official this fall.

Why?

"Because I found I get really bored," he said. "I have so many baseball games in the summer and so many wrestling matches in the winter, that in the fall, I get bored. I told my wife (Lori) and she's a pretty good sport about it. She's been very supportive and that's the main reason why I do it."

Baseball is Drobney's passion, he said. Wrestling is the most difficult.

It is also the most demanding, particularly when he does the big weekend tournaments.

"You can get on the mats at 9 a.m. and not walk off until 7:30 at night," Drobney said. "You get breaks here and there, but you're doing it all day."

Both Slovick and Drobney have one thing in common. They can't imagine life without officiating sports.

"This is something I can see myself doing for a long, long time," Slovick said. "Right now, I'm just going to see where it takes me. I'm always trying to get better."