Abusive fans causing shortage of officials

Several high school football games in Georgia were moved from Fridays to Thursdays or Saturdays last season to accommodate a shortage of officials to work the games.

A recent survey by the National Association of Sports Officials has revealed what many officials suspected — it’s the fans.

“Yelling, screaming and berating the officials humiliates your child, annoys those sitting around you, embarrasses your child’s school and is the primary reason Georgia has an alarming shortage of high school officials,” GHSA executive director Robin Hines wrote in a guest editorial published on AJC. com.

According to the survey, more than 75 percent of former high school officials say “adult behavior” is the primary reason they quit.

■ GHSA associate director Tommy Whittle is stepping back to a part-time role with the association and turning over his most high-profile duty, that of coordinating football, to fellow associate director Kevin Giddens, the former Colquitt County athletics director.

Whittle is a former vice president of the Georgia Independent School Association who joined the GHSA staff in 2013.

Giddens served for several years as a GHSA region secretary and executive-committee member. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

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