Here’s how to begin your prep officiating career

So, you decide you’d like to become a high school sports official. How do you begin?

This is what Dana Pappas, the commissioner of officials for the New Mexico Activities Association, suggests regardless of the sport:

First, reach out to the NMAA, by phone (505-923-3110), on its website (nmact.org and click the “for officials” tab) or by emailing Pappas directly (dana@nmact.org).

It costs between $40-$65 to register, depending on a person’s ambitions. The higher level someone wants to attain, the higher the registration fee.

Pappas said the NMAA will help anyone get started with rules tests and, in the case of football, a mechanics test, and also hook them up with the officials’ association in their region where they will receive much of the instruction and background needed to begin.

The one major expense for newcomers is buying uniforms/equipment. In football, a starter kit costs about $150. Soccer costs vary, as officials utilize many different colored shirts, but a new official does not have to worry about buying more than one initial shirt color, Pappas said.

Usually, she said, an official will recoup their startup expenses very quickly once they are certified and begin working games.