Dwindling officials a growing concern

Here’s a suggestion to those who make a habit of criticizing and riding the officials at high school sporting events: Why not try it yourself?

The timing couldn’t be better. Various sports are in need, in some cases resulting in overworked officials and even cancellation of games.

“It depends on the sport, but in general there is a dearth of officials right now,” said Beau Rugg, an Ohio High School Athletic Association assistant commissioner and the organization’s director of officiating. “It ebbs and flows, specifically in some pockets of Ohio. We’re woefully short in some sports.

“Recruiting is a No. 1 charge for us. We’re trying to get into high schools now and get folks interested. We’re thinking younger. We’re hoping that the 96 percent who don’t play sports at the next level might want to stay involved. The reality is when our veteran officials retire, there’s nobody stepping up to replace them, and that’s a concern.”

Since the 2010-11 school year, the number of prospective officials has dipped by as much as 40 percent in some sports, according to data provided by Rugg’s assistant, Ben Ferree, who handles certification classes.

Those taking classes dropped from 600 to 419 in baseball and from 325 to 174 in softball. In football, officials attending classes fell from 422 to 290, in

basketball from 920 to 662, and in volleyball from 310 to 192. There are 15,225 certified officials in Ohio, down some 1,400 over that span.

“The numbers vary from year to year, but on the whole, trend down,” Ferree said.

“I don’t know if there is any one factor that is causing the decline. I would say it is a confluence of factors, including the amount of money officials make, the amount of ire officials receive from fans, players and coaches — especially in the social media age — and the amount of time it takes to dedicate to officiating. With the shortage, the officials that we do have are often working three to five nights

a week, and that can put a strain on any household.”

Perhaps the chief area of concern is in soccer.

Mike Althoff, who assigns soccer officials for the Central District, said many throughout Ohio are licensed to work soccer, but that also includes youth, adult and recreation league matches. Some rarely see a high school field.

“We’re really, really stretched thin,” Althoff said. “On weekends, there are cases when some folks are driving all over the place, doing three or four games spanning from morning to late in the evening. We’ve had to reschedule some varsity and JV games and play them back to back so the same crew can work both games. Most high schools prefer to have three officials, and that’s pushing it sometimes.”

Retired official Chris Williams, a Gahanna-based observer for the OHSAA and auditor of the Licking County Soccer Officials Association, said the shortage of high school soccer is reaching the critical stage.

“We had a meeting for officials about a month ago and about 90 percent of them were 40 or older,” he said. “Those people will step down in time and there’s not enough younger people coming in to replace them. My understanding is that this is not only a statewide thing, but coast to coast.”

Althoff echoed Ferree’s assessment about the dwindling numbers.

“The younger kids just laugh when we try to recruit them,” he said. “Lots of coaches and parents in our sport are nasty and obnoxious, and it drives people crazy. They want no part of it.”

Rugg said some sports, namely football and basketball, are on fairly solid ground.

—Steve Blackledge sblackledge@dispatch.com @BlackiePreps

“We typically have trouble with baseball and softball because of all the cancellations and rescheduled games,” he said. “We started off pretty tight with lacrosse the first year. Games days were dictated by the (coaches) association because of the lack of officials. Tournament time is tough in a lot of sports.”

Rugg stopped short of saying that the quality of officiating has been compromised by the shortage.

“The veterans who are out there are doing a great job,” he said. “The average age of officials is high, and that means they’re more experienced. That’s why we’re recruiting younger folks. Ideally, you want to create an environment of survival of the fittest. That way, you’ve always got your best out there working.”