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Is $ the Answer to the Shortage of Officials?


Bobref

Question

This guy thinks so. I think it’s “an” answer, but not “the” answer.

https://www.carolinacoastonline.com/news_times/sports/article_99b0d308-9173-11ec-b038-77c3f1609b35.html

Only way to rectify shortage of officials is pay up

ZACK NALLY "Keep Pounding" column

Feb 19, 2022 

There was already an officials shortage before the coronavirus pandemic, but the last two years haven’t appeared to help the cause.

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) reported this week that a survey of state high school associations revealed that approximately 50,000 officials are no longer in the workforce since the 2018-2019 season, the last full season unaffected by the pandemic.

An editorial released by NFHS CEO Dr. Karissa L. Niehoff via HighSchoolOT.com detailed a situation wherein officials nearing retirement age were pushed into it by the challenges of the pandemic.

To address the issue, the NFHS is planning a first-ever National Officials Consortium Summit in April to address the vacancies and how new officials can be recruited. The summit will also be attended by the NCAA and more than 30 national-level sports organizations including governing bodies for Olympic sports.

The issue persists nationally, but we may see a significant impact locally as spring sports prepares for the new season in March.

At the conference tournament basketball games at West Carteret on Thursday, baseball coach Brooks Jernigan was on a Zoom call discussing options this spring concerning the umpire shortage. The potential challenges are so great that doubleheaders with four teams at one site was floated as a possible solution.

Just before the pandemic started, the N.C. High School Athletic Association reported an 11-percent drop in officials. A 17,000-person survey held by the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) in 2017 reported that there were “more officials over the age of 60 than under 30.”

Low pay, long training with little compensation and poor attitudes toward officials from coaches, players and fans are all primary reasons for the growing shortage. There is also the growth of fledgling sports, such as girls lacrosse and girls wrestling. Like the officials shortage of the 1980s due to a boom in soccer growth, the addition of more matches and games only compounds the already difficult situation.

The NFHS has created the #BecomeAnOfficial Program, but the recruitment efforts are falling short. The organization, among others, is calling for improved behavior toward officials to help encourage would be applicants.

In this reporter’s opinion, though, the shortage comes down to the almighty dollar. Officials are responsible for their own equipment, their gas and time spent in travel, and pay only ranges from $50 for a volleyball game to $100 for a basketball doubleheader.

Like many employers are learning right now, raising the pay is the only sure way to attract new talent. In the same way, winning makes problems go away in sports, money makes all the other challenges of being an official go away.

If you want more officials, pay up. That’s the only real solution and one that’s needed right now to avoid a debilitating problem that is only going to grow worse.

 

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57 minutes ago, Coach_K said:

I have talked to numerous basketball officials, and for those of us who are "younger," officiating takes time away from the family.  I got into basketball officiating because when I was an AD there was a mass shortage in my area.  I've been an official since 2016 with no problems of filling up my weeknights.  When I had no kids or even 1 my wife was fine with me officiating.  But as time has progressed and now I have 3 kids, I have taken less and less games because I want to see them, help them with homework, and tuck them in at night.  I have games scheduled for next year, but I am thinking about hanging up the whistle because I want to be around my family during the winter.  I won't be able to in the fall because I coach football and coaching football is more important to me than officiating.

I do not know what the answer is but here is my shot (these are in no particular order):

1. Money

2. Time- (I dont know how we make it better)

3. Coaches (How they treat officials)

4. Fans (How they treat officials)

5. Number of games- (with the number of travel teams rising in all sports except football, what is more important the school season or travel season)

6. Acceptance of officials (Male and female)

7. Official education/transparency (tell officials why they are getting a lower rating from a coach or school or not advancing in the tournament)

I am sure there is more, but that is my two cents.

Very insightful observations — especially for a basketball official. 😂

Seriously, every survey ever done has sho that the top 2 reasons officials leave their avocation early are family and job. Unsportsmanlike behavior by coaches/players/fans ranks below those two.

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