Officials play crucial role in success of sport

“While officiating can have the stigma of becoming a thankless job, research shows that officiating can be a very rewarding endeavor and more than 80 per cent of officials cite ‘love of the game’ as their top reason for becoming an official. These individuals have a passion for sport and becoming an official allows them to remain close to the sport they love while giving back.”

We’re at a critical time when it comes to sports officials. Simply put; we need more officials in Nova Scotia. Sport organizations in Canada have seen attrition rates of officials of up to 30 percent, with Hockey Canada reportedly losing up to 10,000 officials each year. In our province we are working diligently to recover from the drop-off of officials we saw during the pandemic.

Officials play a crucial role in the success of our sports system. Officials often blend into the background, but thousands of events rely on them. Just like our coaches and volunteers, our competitions do not happen without the commitment of our officials. For our provincial sport organizations, it is a major investment of time, effort and money to recruit and train new officials. We’ve seen many of our sports face a shortage and as a result, look to new ways to attract and retain them.

While officiating can have the stigma of becoming a thankless job, research shows that officiating can be a very rewarding endeavor and more than 80 per cent of officials cite “love of the game” as their top reason for becoming an official. These individuals have a passion for sport and becoming an official allows them to remain close to the sport they love while giving back.

In Nova Scotia, we are looking for ways to take action to address the shortage and attract more referees, timekeepers and judges across the board. A recent focus of our provincial sport organizations has been on recruiting more officials and supporting them through their development and journey.

There’s a lot being done in our sport system to attract new groups to officiating to allow our sports to grow in sustainable and healthy ways. Efforts are being made to encourage more women and girls to become officials with female specific training clinics. This strategic approach reduces barriers to entry for women and girls and is further supported with mentorship initiatives. We are seeing female officials mentor young individuals to help support them through their journey and develop their skills. We look to examples like this as a template to allow our provincial sport organizations to reach new communities in our province and extend the invitation to groups who have otherwise been overlooked when it comes to calling the game.

The health and growth of sport in our province depends on inclusive approaches to encourage everyone, at every level, in every community, to become involved in sport. Officiating is a big part of that potential. Across the province, we are collectively making the call to the next generation of sports officials, whether it’s current athletes, former athletes, parents or others in the sports community to step up and give back to sport so participants can continue to enjoy a positive experience at all levels.

We all must continue to work toward creating welcoming and supportive environments for officials to ensure that they have a positive experience, resulting in a better sport experience for everyone.